Avicenna's Educational Views with Emphasis on the Education of Hygiene and Wellness

Today, on the contrary of the last ten decades, the necessity of teaching hygienic issues, and caring the children’s health, is pretty obvious. Avicenna (10 AC), the famous Iranian physician and philosopher, scrutinized the health and hygiene with a deep insight to the matter. He considered the wellness not only as the recovery from the disease, but emphasized the maintenance of health by suggesting special points and instructions. In Islamic education, paying attention to cleanliness, health and physical strength is very important and considered as the intermediate goals for the achievement of “pure life”, which is the ultimate goal. Avicenna paid special attention to physical purity, health and wellness, and devoted the major parts of his book to them. The present article analyzes the Avicenna’s educational opinions, specially his viewpoints regarding hygiene and health in three stages of childhood, teenage years, and youth.