Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

The physicians of the Bukhtishu dynasty first entered the Abbasi court with the aim of practicing medicine; but soon after, thanks to their medical knowledge and skills, they gained a lot of power and wealth and became involved in power relations at court. Although they were able to gain a high position in the Abbasid court; but their position was constantly unstable, and sometimes they were at the peak of power and sometimes at the bottom of humiliation. Therefore, the present study, with a historical method and a descriptive-analytical approach, seeks to answer the question: what factors have been effective on the relationship between the physicians of the Bukhtishu dynasty and the Abbasid Caliphate? The claim of the research is that the need of the caliphs for treatment provided the background for the entry of the doctors of Bukhtishu dynasty to the caliphate system and strengthened their presence in the court. Factors such as the success of these physicians in medicine, the power of the caliphs in supporting them; other threats from courtiers also fluctuated the status of these physicians. The findings of the study indicate that physicians with the benefit of medical knowledge had such an effect on the caliphs that they were considered as one of the main actors in politics, so they play an important role in the removal and installation of caliphs, poisoning and killing of them. They could pave the way for their conditioned person to come to power by abandoning their treatment; they were also degraded, imprisoned, and sometimes exiled or even killed. 

This study seeks to identify one of the pioneers of traditional clinical medicine named Abdullah Azdi and his medical dictionary. This research is an analytical study. The focus of the search was on two keywords, Abdullah Azdi and Kitab al-Ma'ma, but the scope of the search included all appropriate terms such as: medicine, Bu Ali Sina, traditional medicine, medical dictionary, ethics, and medical law. Data were collected and analyzed using comprehensive library software (version one), Islamic History Library, Islamic Iran History and reputable national and international centers. The main purpose of the forthcoming research, on the one hand, is to identify and introduce points about life and beliefs, as well as Abdullah Azdi's specialized knowledge in the field of medicine, and on the other hand, to introduce his book, which is in fact a dictionary called "Kitab al-Ma'a". The researches of this research show that Abdullah Azdi was one of the students of Ibn Sina and the companion of Abu Rihan al-Biruni. In addition of being expert in clinical medicine, he was an ethical and professional physician and in every part of his book, he observes the Shari'a. The use of specialized medical terms indicates that he was surrounded by medical knowledge.