Investigating the State of Medicine and Hospitals in the Islamic Maghreb from the Arrival of Islam to the End of the 4th Century Hijri

The Islamic Maghreb, encompassing modern-day North African countries, was a vast land. It had a rich history of medical practice.  Since the beginning of the arrival of Islam in the Maghreb lands, the medical profession was common and the healers who came to this land with the Islamic armies called “fuqaha al-badan” (lit. “body jurists”), practiced the profession of medicine. The Bani Aghelab Muslim rulers pioneered hospital establishments in the Islamic Maghreb, founding the Damneh Qairwan. After them, the Touloni and Akhshidi rulers and others continued the tradition of building hospitals by building Damneh in Tripoli, Fes, Sousse, and Safaqas in today’s eastern Tunisia. Ibn Tulun also founded Atiq Hospital and Al-Asfal Hospital in Fostat, Egypt. The Muslim rulers stationed great doctors, such as Yohanna bin Maswayh, Ishaq bin Imran Israeli, Ain bin Ain, Ahmad bin Jazzar, Muhammad Jabali, Saeed bin Noufal, and Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Masri in these hospitals.
This article employs a descriptive-analytical approach to examine the role and contributions of Muslims in advancing medical knowledge, institutions, and hospitals within the Islamic Maghreb. The primary research question explores the extent of Muslim influence in this development.  The findings of the study show that medicine in the Islamic Maghreb was predominantly experimental from the Muslims’ arrival until the third century of Hijri. However, between the third and fourth centuries of Hijri, in the light of the efforts of doctors, medical knowledge evolved into a science-based practice. This contributed to significant improvements in medical care, facilities, and services, as hospitals expanded and became increasingly effective.