Non-Muslim Physicians in the Islamic Middle Age Courts

This paper seeks to investigate and explore the fields, causes, and consequences of the presence of non-Muslim physicians (dhimmi) in the Islamic courts in the middle Age. According to the statistical survey of biography books of the physicians, nearly half of the well-known and renowned physicians who worked in Muslim courts were Christian as well as Jewish and, in some cases, Saebi and Samaritans. The caliphs' and courtiers' needed to the therapists and the shortage of Muslim expert physicians in compare with non-Muslim physicians and also the tolerance of the caliphs had made a safe atmosphere for non-Muslim physicians. The presence of those physicians in the courts led to the progress of medical knowledge and practice in addition to treatment. Being aware of the secrets of power and politics changed the physician’s characters and dignity and caused their involvement in the political conflicts and their consequences.