Hospitals in Islam - Essay Example

When a person was cured, it was attributed to divine intervention only (Swartley, 2005, 70).

Many hospitals were developed during the Islamic revolution, but it was Caliph Al-Walid I and Ummayad who founded the first hospital in 705 AD in Jundishapur. This was a Persian city in the Ahwaz province although some critics consider this institution was only a place where lepers because it imposed isolation. The physicians and attendants operating the hospital were paid for their services and it was at the hospital that Greek medicine together with Persian medical practices began to thrive.

The first Islamic hospital was built in 786-809 AD in Bagdad, Iraq, during the reign of Caliph Harun-ul-Rashid. The task of operating and heading the facility fell to Jibrail Bakhtishu, who was a well-revered physician. During his tenure, the hospital achieved fame and the building of other hospitals soon followed (Doak, 2010, 113). One of the latter hospitals to be built was the Audidi hospital in 982 AD, whose inception was started by Al-Razi who personally selected the building site due to the existence of germs in the area. He wanted a place where there were fewer germs and the hospital soon opened with 24 physicians who included specialists from different fields of medicine. They included physiologists, oculists and surgeons (Bonner, 2007, 95).