Alcohol in Ancient Islamic Chemical and Medical Texts

Abstract

Nowadays, Alcohol is widely used in medicine and industry. On the other hand, it is well-known for its intoxicant and addictive effects and they were common in the past. Discovery of it was imputed to Mohamad ibn Zakaria Razi (Rhazes, 925 AD) or Jaber ibn Hayan (Geber, 815 AD). The Islamic researchers' viewpoint about alcohol and their knowledge about this substance are aimed to be explored in this study. Hence, medical texts until end of 12 century were reviewed. Most of them were written in Arabic. In this way, Arabic terms like "alkohl", "alcohol" and "alqol" were used. In this study, the books of Islamic scholars including Rhazes, Geber, Alkendi (866 AD) and Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 1037 AD) were reviewed.