Abu al-Qasim
Abu al-Qasim (936 - 1013), (Arabic: أبو القاسم) also known as Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi known in the West as Abulcasis, is medieval Islam's most prominent scholar of medicine. His greatest contribution to history is Al-Tasrif, a thirty-volume collection of medical practice.
Summary
Abu al-Qasim was born in a neighborhood of Córdoba, Spain called Zahra. He was known among the Spanish-speakers of Moorish Spain (Andalusia) as "El Zahrawi". Few details remain regarding his life, aside from his published work, due to the destruction of Zahra during later Spanish-Moorish conflicts. His name first appears in the writings of Abu Muhammad bin Hazm (993-1064), who describes him as a great surgeon of Moorish Spain.
Al-Qasim was a doctor for Spanish King Al-Hakam-II (Western Umayyad Caliph al-Hakam II).
Al-Qasim's true legacy would be his medical treatise, Al-Tasrif. In the 14th century, French surgeon Guy de Chauliac quoted Al-Tasrif over 200 times. Pietro Argallata described Al-Qasim as "without doubt the chief of all surgeons". He is credited to be the first to describe ectopic pregnancy in 963, in those days a fatal affliction. Al-Qasim's influence continued for approximately five centuries, extending into the renaissance, evidenced by Al-Tasrif's frequent reference by French surgeon Jaques Delechamps.
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