Ibnu Sina's advice during a plague

Art by: artforheart (deviantart)

Its been a month since MCO was implemented in Malaysia on 18 March in order to contain the coronavirus that is getting worse. However, that is not what I am about to talk about. I wanted to share with you on the advice of Ibn Sina's advice on what to do and what not to do during a plague, a guide from an Islamic scholar hundred years ago.

As we all know, Ibn Sina was a very advanced scholar compared to his time. He was born in 980 in Afshana, a village in Bukhara or now known as Uzbekistan.

In his book "The Canon of Medicine" he wrote, Ibn Sina proposes the theory that the infectious disease is spread through small particles that cannot be seen by the naked eye. Which we know hundred years later.This was remarkable because he could think of such a theory for several hundred years before it could be proven by the creation of a microscope.

In fact, some claim he also proposed a 40-day exile known as al-Arba'iniya to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.This practice is very similar to quarantine practices practiced in modern times to the extent that we have many claims of the practice of secession in Ragusa in the past actually inspired by Ibn Sina's method.

However, we have not been able to find any conclusive evidence showing any connection between the quarantine practices practiced in Ragusa with Ibn Sina's method of isolation.In fact, we have yet to find a valid proof of the existence of al-Arba'iniya in Ibn Sina's book.
Therefore, we have decided not to include this story in our video regarding the origins of the Quarantine period.

But that does not deny Ibn Sina's contribution in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. As stated at the beginning of the chase, Ibn Sina proposed the theory of infectious diseases spread through small particles that could not be seen through the naked eye.

An Uzbekistan film produced in 1957 featured the story of Ibn Sina during an outbreak of infectious diseases.It is interesting to see how in the past they have shown the story of Ibn Sina proposing ways to prevent this outbreak.How fascinating it is to see the proposed rules very similar to the situation we have been facing lately, such as being banned from congregations and even mosques being closed.

That's all for sharing this time.




Comments