Chapter 4: History, Present and Prospect of Greco-Arab and Islamic Herbal Medicine

Despite the great achievements of the evidence-based modern medicine and pharmacology, traditional Greco-Arab and Islamic Medicine-based herbal remedies are currently becoming more popular in Arab and Islamic world. Historical circumstances and the belief that these remedies are prepared according to the principles of Greco-Arab and Islamic Medicine, which was developed during the Golden Age of Arab-Islamic civilization. This medical system has influenced the fates and fortunes of countless human beings all over the world and it formed the roots from which modern Western Medicine and pharmacology arose. There is no doubt that the earlier Greco-Roman scholarly medical literature was the stem from which much Arab-Islamic Medicine grew, just as, several centuries later, Arab-Islamic Medicine was the core of late middle ages and early European medical system.

To compete with the growing pharmaceutical market, there is an urgency to utilize scientifically validated herbal products. Therefore, policy-makers in the Arab and Islamic world are forced to establish standardization and regulatory measures that regulate the quality, availability, and preservation of these products. Public demand has also grown for evidence on the safety and efficacy of herbal products as well as for national regulations for traditional healers and caregivers. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview on Traditional Arab-Islamic Herbal Medicine including the historical background, medical innovations introduced by Arab physicians, methods of therapies, and a state of the art and prospect description of Traditional Arab Herbal Medicine.