The Muhammad bin Hamad Al-Thani Center for Muslim Contributions to Civilization (CMCC) will host a public symposium on Abū al-Qāsim Khalaf ibn al-'Abbās al-Zahrāwī al-Ansari, popularly known as Al-Zahrawi, an Arab Andalusian physician, surgeon, and chemist. Considered the greatest surgeon of the Middle Ages, Al-Zahrawi has been referred to as the "father of modern surgery". The surgery chapter of his principal work Kitab al-Tasrif, a 30-volume encyclopedia of medical practices, became the standard textbook in Europe for around 500 years.
Al-Zahrawi's pioneering contributions to surgical procedures and instruments had an enormous impact in the East and West and well into the modern period, where some of his discoveries are still applied in medicine. He pioneered the use of catgut for internal stitches, and his surgical instruments are still used today to treat people. Al-Zahrawi was the first physician to identify the hereditary nature of haemophilia, describe an abdominal pregnancy, and discover the root cause of paralysis. He also developed surgical devices for caesarean sections and cataract surgeries.
Speakers:
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Dr. Muhammad Zakariya - Speciality in Paediatrics and Neonatology, Nobles Hospital, UK
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Dr. Tareq Al-Jaberi - Professor of Surgery, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan
