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@article{202937,
        author = {Ashfaque Ahmad and Rahemeen Bano and Sania Sultana and Mehsan Bin Hussain Barawaz},
        title = {Kitab al-Tasrif: The Celebrated Medical Encyclopedia of Al-Zahrawi (936–1013 CE)},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {12},
        pages = {9369-9376},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=202937},
        abstract = {With the rise of Islamic civilization and the expansion of Arab interactions with other cultures, Muslim scholars began to acquire and assimilate the scientific and medical knowledge available at that time. This knowledge was obtained from the conquered regions as well as from the Nestorian Christians who had been expelled from the Byzantine Empire and had preserved the intellectual heritage of earlier civilizations.
Among the greatest achievements of Islamic medicine is Kitab al-Tasrif liman ‘Ajaza ‘an al-Ta’lif (“The Method of Medicine”), a thirty-volume Arabic medical encyclopedia written around 1000 CE by Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, devoted nearly fifty years to the completion of this monumental work, which contains extensive information on diseases, injuries, medical conditions, treatments, and surgical procedures. The encyclopedia covers a wide range of medical disciplines, including surgery, medicine, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, pharmacology, nutrition, dentistry, obstetrics, and pathology.
The final treatise of Kitab al-Tasrif, devoted entirely to surgery, became the most celebrated section of the work. Al-Zahrawi regarded surgery as the highest branch of medicine and emphasized that no one should practice it without thorough knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and the other branches of medical science. In the introduction to this treatise, he advised aspiring surgeons to study the writings of earlier scholars and to gain expertise through continuous observation and practical experience.
Al-Zahrawi is widely regarded as the greatest medieval surgeon of the Islamic world and is often referred to as the father of modern surgery. His pioneering contributions to surgical techniques and instruments profoundly influenced both Eastern and Western medicine for centuries, with many of his innovations remaining relevant in modern medical practice. Kitab al-Tasrif describes more than 200 surgical instruments and continued to serve as a standard reference in Europe until the eighteenth century. He was also the first physician to describe ectopic pregnancy and to recognize the hereditary nature of haemophilia. In addition, he mentioned several Advia Mukhaddira (anaesthetic drugs), reflecting his advanced understanding of pain management in surgical practice.},
        keywords = {},
        month = {May},
        }