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Unani


History of Unani Medicine

Among the great medical traditions of the world, Unani and Islamic medicine have left an indelible imprint upon the practice of healing. Unani medicine, the Arabic name for “Greek” medicine, is a heterogeneous mixture of medical practices from many different cultures. It begins, if anything can said to have a beginning, with the ancient practices of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers and Mesolithic nomads that roamed northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula, probably not too dissimilar from the modern-day Bedouins.

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Philosophy of Unani Medicine

Central to the concept of Unani is a belief in an underlying principle of vitality, a mystical force called tabiat or tibb. The function of tabiat is to maintain health, ensuring the smooth function of the various bodily functions, and to provide resistance against disease.

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Arkan: The Four Elements

Among the theory of the seven naturals, the component that is traditionally considered first is the four arkan, or elements. These are indivisible substances from which the human body, and all other forms of life, is derived. These four elements are Air (Hawa), Fire (Nar), Water (Ma) and Earth (Arz).

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Mizaj: Temperament

Mizaj, or temperament, is the quality that results from the interaction of the four contrary qualities that reside in the elements. In the human body, these four primary qualities of hot, cold, dry, and wet are constantly interacting with each other, their influence alternately being overcome or enhanced by another quality until a state of relative equilibrium is attained, called the Temperament.

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Akhlat: The Bodily Humors

Perhaps the best-known component of the theory of the seven naturals in Unani medicine is the concept of akhlat, or the four bodily humors. According to Unani concepts of physiological function there are three physical states of the human body: solid, liquid, and gaseous. The solid parts are the organs (azah), the liquid parts are the humors (akhlat) and the gaseous state is called pneuma (ruh).

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Azah: Body Organs

According to the Unani theory of the Seven Naturals, the human body is comprised of organs (and tissues), the humors, and pneuma, each representing the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of the body, respectively. Organs in Unani medicine can either be simple or compound.

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Ruh: Pneuma

Taken at face value, the Unani conception of ruh (pneuma, or the vital air) corresponds very closely with the idea of aerobic respiration, the utilization of oxygen to power the various activities of the body. According to Unani medicine, air is inhaled and pneuma is rendered from it, and then transported to the heart.

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Quwat and Afal: Faculty and Function

In his Al Qanun, Ibn Sina’s distinguishes between the concept of faculty (quwat) and function (afal): faculty being the originator of function, or potentiality, whereas function is the power of faculty made manifest. In this sense, quwat relates to the presence of the soul (ruh), hidden behind the impetus for all the activities we define as life.

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The Practice of Unani Medicine

According to Unani medicine there are three states of the body: health, disease, and a neutral state between the two, when one is not truly healthy but the signs of disease are not fully manifest. This neutral state is further divided into three forms:

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