Naming, Definition, and Etiology of Rabies in the Medical Texts of the Islamic Civilization

Rabies is an ancient lethal disease in human civilization that endangers the life of many of its victims in case of ineffective treatments. Although the definition, etiology, semiology, and treatment of rabies exist in Islamic medical texts, but they are unintentionally or sometimes intentionally being neglected. This article aimed at studying the knowledge of the physicians of Islamic era about the naming, definition, and etiology of rabies.

In this qualitative content analysis, data were collected from the medical texts of the Islamic civilization using the following words and phrases as the keywords: rabies, dāʾ al-kalab, madness of dog, mad dog, and bitten by a rabid dog. Data were organized according to the naming, definition, and etiology of rabid. Careful survey of the notes was carried out and duplicates were removed.

Findings showed that physicians of the Islamic world had a perfect perception about rabies and its etiology based on the edge of knowledge at their time. Alas, this knowledge remained in books and is not considered in current science.

The knowledge of the Muslims about rabies was neither based on superstition nor the repetition of Greeks and Romans. There are noticeable materials to define the reasons for the emergence of the rabies in dogs that deserve more attention.