Challenge with Medicine (A Glance at the Battle between Superstition and Medicine in Iran from 1200 to 1800 AD with Reference to Three Pieces of Persian Writing)

The prevalence of superstition became widespread in Iran, especially after the Mongol invasion in the seventh century AH and expanded from religious to scientific domains. In the meantime, the knowledge of medicine was subject to superstition more than other sciences and various works and books were written on the subject of the sciences of strangers or medical professionals. In this article, we have tried to analyze the methods and tools as well as the morphology of these medical superstitions based on three Persian manuscripts, which have been compiled between the ninth and twelfth centuries.

This research is a documentary study. In addition to historical books, three Persian-Arabic manuscripts have been used in this study: Two manuscripts are kept in the Turkish Nuruosmaniye library and one is kept in the library of the Islamic parliament in Iran.

This study shows that the most important causes of the spread of medical superstitions are: Unfamiliarity with the main causes of disease, trying to Ineffectively Show Medicine and cultural, social and economic disruptions. The overall structure of superstitions is based on: Using obscure titles and words, Inducing and using words in a specific way, the use of numbers and letters in a particular time and place and trying to gain the trust and confidence of the audience.

An examination of the similarities and general structure of superstitious medical beliefs shows that these superstitions focus on "simulation". Proponents of superstitions have sought to actualize their beliefs by making similarities between superstitions and religious beliefs - especially for women and children and gradually introduce superstitions as metaphysical alternatives to experimental medical methods.