By: Dr. Fatima Taneem Ruknuddin

It was my first rendezvous with Unani system of medicine when I visited the country’s premier The National Institute of Unani Medicine spread over 55 acres in Bangalore, India’s fifth largest metro. Fragrances of herbal plants waft around me as I entered. I was immersed in the world of Unani medicine, Islam’s gift to the world of medicine. Though the Europeans have credited Greece for Unani medicine but it was the Muslims (Arabs and Persians) who developed it into a full-fledged traditional system of medicine.
The oldest existing therapeutic system used by mankind for their health and well-being is called the Traditional Medicine or Complementary and Alternative Medicine. One of the four main objectives of the World Health Organization (WHO) traditional medicine strategy 2002-2005 was to support countries to integrate traditional medicine into their own health systems. The endorsement by an agency like WHO has boosted the promotion of such systems with the global market for herbal medicines currently standing at over US$60 billion. Traditional medicine (TM) refers to health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral-based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain wellbeing. Nearly 25 per cent of modern medicines are derived from plants first used in traditional medicine. Among the major forms of traditional systems of medicine are homoeopathy, Unani and Ayurveda. We will be highlighting only about Unani.
Islam and Medicine
The works of the two most famous doctors of the Islamic world reflect a broad approach to health that Muslim physicians developed from classical foundations: Persian doctor Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865–925, called Rhazes in the West), who had a flourishing practice in Baghdad and in Rayy, near Tehran, and the celebrated Ibn Sina (980–1037, called Avicenna), who moved among courts in Central Asia and Persia. Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis in Latin), a 10th-century surgeon in Córdoba, composed Al-Tasrif, a 30-chapter medical encyclopedia describing dozens of operations, complete with graphic illustrations of surgical instruments, including scalpels, cauterizing tools, feeding tubes and cupping glasses. Abdullah Ibn Sina’s monumental ‘Canon of Medicine’, (Al Khanoon Fit Tibb) over a million words long, was to remain the standard medical text in the Islamic world and across Europe until the 17th century, a period of more than 600 years. The Canon also included a description of some 760 medicinal plants and the drugs that could be derived from them – suggesting that he was for Unani.
Principles of Unani
According to the principles of Unani medicine, disease is a natural process, its symptoms are the reactions of the body to the disease, and the primary function of the Unani physician is to aid the natural forces of the body. Unani medicine is based on the ‘Humoral Theory’, which presupposes the presence of four Humors – Dam (blood), Balghum (phlegm), Safra (yellow bile) and Sauda (black bile) – in the body. The temperaments (mizaj) of people are expressed by the words sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic, according to the amount of each of these four humors prevalent in the human body respectively.
Among various types of treatments employed in Unani system are regimental therapy, dietotherapy, pharmacotherapy and surgery. The regimental therapy encompasses venesection, cupping, diaphoresis, diuresis, Turkish bath, massage, cauterization, purging, emesis, exercise, leeching, etc. Of these hijama (cupping) is catching up fast. it is carried out by using a small vacuum over a small incision in the skin and was widely practiced in the past by Arabs and later by other Muslims. It is mentioned in several hadiths, which praise it as a good remedy. Dietotherapy aims to treat certain ailments by administration of specific diets or by regulating the quantity and quality of food. Pharmacotherapy deals with the use of naturally occurring drugs, mostly herbal, though drugs of animal and mineral origin are also used — blood is hot and moist, phlegm is cold and moist, yellow bile hot and dry, and black bile cold and dry. There is a unique humoral constitution in every person representing his state of health. To maintain a healthy balance, there is a power of self. The history of Unani medicine can be characterized by the work of its practitioners, or hakims, who relied on natural healing based on principles of harmony and balance, uniting the physical, mental, and spiritual realms.
It were the Arabs who had sustained trade relations with India that introduced Unani system which was acknowledged by the masses. The system was to a great extent patronized by the Delhi Sultans, the Khiljis, the Tuqlaqs and the Mughal emperors who were fascinated by the results. Unani system flourished during this time and virtually spread to other parts of the country with a considerable section of people favoring it. India was called Sub Continent then with the inclusion of Pakistan and Bangladesh, and thus these countries which became independent later also adopted the Unani system.
Thus India became a pioneer in unani system of medicine. At present, India is home to 74 Unani hospitals with 3774 beds. Besides, there are 37 Unani colleges for undergraduates and 8 colleges for the post-graduates. Since India has about eight per cent of the total world’s medicinal plants and herbal plants, it justified the introduction of Unani system in India. Indian herbal medicines are in demand for their medicinal properties across the countries.
In 1985 as part of the ayush cluster of five alternate medical systems namely, Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddi and Homeopathy was recognized by the Indian legislature which formally recognized and funded Unani. Patronage of the government resulted in broader public acceptance of the system and more colleges subsequently were established. For the past two decades, the Indian government’s Central Council of Indian Medicine has set the curriculum and standards for Unani medical colleges and funded the development and systematization of Unani medicine through a nationally recognized formulary published both in print and on-line. This database now includes the name of each plant both in Latin and in languages where it is known and used; its efficacy for various conditions; and contraindications and suggested dosages. The government has also funded regional Unani research centers, where formulas and promising plants are scientifically tested, and where the results are published in peer-reviewed journals and subjected to the same requirements of replication and statistical analysis used to establish Western pharmaceuticals. Today, about 50,000 Unani doctors, supported by 41 medical colleges, work in India — a number 10 times greater than the number of licensed Ayurvedic doctors.
Among the reputed Unani colleges the National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM), Bangalore; Unani College, Pune; Hamdard Tibbi College, New Delhi; and the Jamia Tibbiya Deoband are very sought after. Between 700 and 1,000 students take Bachelor in Unani Medicine and Surgery Entrance Test (BUMSET) conducted by the NTR Health University every year.
The National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM) offers post graduate courses in eight disciplines; Moalajat (Medicine), Ilmul Advia (Pharmacology), Tahaffuzi wa Samaji Tib (Preventive and Social medicine), Ilmul Qabalat wa Amraze Niswan (Obstetrics & Gynaecology), Ilmul Saidla (Pharmacy), Kulliyat (Basic Principles), Ilaj bit Tadbeer (Regimenal Therapy), Ilmul Jarahat (Surgery). This Institute has the credit to start Ph.D course from the session 2014-15 in Unani Medicine for the first time in India.
Unani has influenced the veterinary science as well. Ibn Betar (1181-1248 AD) who was a specialist on animal diseases, was also an expert on the diseases of horses, travelled to many countries and gathered all varieties of herbs and found out their characteristics. His compendium, Al-Jame-Fil-Adviat- Al-Mufarradah details about 1400 different herbs. Famous orientalist, Max Meohaff says that this book is an outcome of extraordinary study and research. Since the 19th century, the number of women practitioners of Unani has roughly equalled the number of men. Recently a global conference on Unani Medicine was organized in India by Directorate of Indian System of Medicine and attracted a large number of delegates from all over the world, including the US, the UK, Germany, Sri Lanka and thye UAE.
It is high time for Unani researchers to take maximum advantage of modern technology to promote and validate further the system as it was a time-tested one and gradually there was a shift worldwide towards traditional medicine systems.