It was “authorized” by a Hanbali jurist two centuries ago, and it was rejected by the University of Paris and forbidden by the churches of the West.. How did the Ottomans gift medical vaccination to the world?

more than two hundred years ago;

The Hanbali jurist Sheikh Hamad Ibn Muammar al-Najdi (d. 1225 AH / 1810 AD) was content to give fatwas hating a type of traditional vaccination against smallpox that people were doing in the Najd region in central Saudi Arabia today, at a time when massive demonstrations were moving in the streets of Britain against the practice of vaccination in its modern style after he resisted it Christian clergy.

As much as one stops this remarkable paradox;

It is very surprising to find that the heritage of vaccinating bodies with disease - to strengthen them against the dangers of diseases - is long-standing in human history, and it is also surprising that this experience was recorded in Arabic literature, especially poetry, which is the cognitive and experimental "Diwan of the Arabs", which indicates a previous knowledge of this pattern. from medication.

And if a Muslim jurist who lives in isolation from the world has understood - as we will see later - the strange relationship between disease as the danger of death and the disease as an opportunity for survival;

It would not be surprising to see the Ottoman Empire in its days had taken vaccination - with its traditional inherited pattern that it developed and officially adopted and its modern type when it was discovered - to broader periods and wider horizons, as its land was the first crossing from which vaccination moved to Europe and then to the rest of the world in a more form novelty and effectiveness.

It seems that the Turks are still - until the moment - able to make a pioneering contribution in the field of medical vaccinations.

The world scene today is led by two German-born Ottoman grandsons, Professor Ugur Sahin and his wife, Dr. Ozlim Turici, who developed the most important vaccine - so far - against the Corona virus (Covid 19).

This article presents an attempt to trace the medical vaccination journey on its path related to Muslims, especially during the Ottoman Empire era, and its contribution to its dissemination among its subjects and its transfer to Europe with the recognition of Westerners themselves. Where strict biased to scientific logic.

A historical view

Perhaps the idea of ​​vaccination is one of the most revolutionary ideas in history, and as much as the expression “thinking outside the box” is trite, it seems very true if we describe vaccination, because finding a cure and winning it from within the disease itself will remain - no matter how accustomed people are - a brilliant idea And worthy of unfailing admiration.

It is strange with regard to vaccination that it was discovered so early, in contrast to its relatively recent spread.

The American historian of civilizations Will Durant (d. 1402 AH / 1981 AD) states - in the chapter “Indian Science” of his book “The Story of Civilization” - that “India [knew] vaccination since the year 550 AD, although Europe did not know it until the eighteenth century!”

Durant cited what he said was "a text attributed to Dhanwantari (died in the 2nd century AD), one of the oldest Indian physicians, and this is: Take the fluid from the blisters you see on the udder of a cow... Take it on the tooth of a scalpel and graft it between the shoulders and the elbows until The blood appears, then the fluid mixes with the blood, and as a result of its mixing, smallpox fever arises.

The American historian returns after that to confirm India's merit in this field, saying: "India taught us - through the Arabs - its simple numbers and its magic decimal fractions, as it taught Europe the minutes of hypnosis and the art of vaccination."

It also tells us that the Chinese "used the vaccine to treat smallpox, although they did not use the vaccination to prevent it, and they may have taken this from India."

Despite the contact of the Arabs with the Indians and their transfer of their knowledge to Europe and the rest of the world, as we have already mentioned, quoting Durant;

We did not find them addressing the medical vaccine or vaccination in what was transmitted to us of their medicine in the books of the Arab and Islamic heritage, and perhaps that was one of the reasons for the delay in its spread throughout the world.

that the Arab literary treasury was not devoid of evidence that they knew the meaning of the idea of ​​extracting medicine from disease in general, and acquiring immunity by successive strikes;

This Abbasid poet Abu Nawas (d. 198 AH / 814 AD) says:

Leave my blame on you, for blaming is a temptation ** and lowered me with that which was the disease!

And if the medicine of intoxication with alcohol is a kind of trading in the fire from the expanse of fire;

Indeed, Abu Nawas was creative in his idea, at least, even if it was far and wide in its application!

As for Abu al-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi (d. 354 AH / 965 AD), he was the first to refer in general to the body's acquisition of the strength of immunity as a result of previous injuries;

He said:

Eternity threw at

me the arrows

until ** my heart was in a sheath of arrows, so

if I was hit by arrows ** the blades broke on the blades!

Al-Mutanabbi here compares the misfortunes that followed his body to arrows that struck his heart. Then, when the arrows multiplied on him, they became like a membrane or a shield that protects his heart from new arrows, so their new blades break on the old ones!

However, Al-Mutanabbi was not satisfied with declaring the immunity resulting from physical injury, until he almost predicted the principle on which modern medical vaccination was based, when he said:

Perhaps praised blame will have its consequences *** Perhaps the bodies will be healthy due to illness!!

The famous Iraqi poet Marouf al-Rasafi (d. 1365 AH / 1945 AD) commented - in an article entitled “The World of Flies” written in 1363 AH / 1943 AD and later published by the Egyptian magazine “Al-Risala” in its issue No. 971 - on the house of Al-Mutanabbi, noting that strange prediction inherent in it;

He saw in that something like a miracle, because Al-Mutanabbi “had said this [the House] in the days when vaccination with germs of diseases was unknown, and the art of bacteriology (= bacteriology) did not exist”!

We do not know if this Arab philosophy on vaccination has left the literary field to take its practical course in the medical field;

What we found related to this aspect - in the historical Arab medical sources - is very scarce, but it expresses the existence of practical applications - of a kind - to the idea of ​​extracting medicine from the disease to combat it.

Observed experience

and examples of this are what he referred to as the philosopher doctor Ibn Sina (d. 428 AH / 1038 AD) - in his book “The Canon of Medicine” - touched on the possibility of acquiring immunity by taking what causes disease and harm; He said, citing the example of the body’s ability to acquire immunity from toxins if it gradually gets used to using them: “At first some old women ate very little of aconite (= a poisonous substance), and then continued to accompany it until nature (= the nature of her body) became accustomed to it and dared him, and nothing harmed her!

Close to that is what was reported by the physician Ibn Abi Osaiba (d. 668 AH / 1269 AD) - in 'Uyoun al-Anbaa fi Tabaqat al-Tabqat al-Tabqat al-Tabqat' - from realistic stories - that have been frequent since the time of the Greeks - which are considered as "evidence that snake meat benefits from eating snakes and snakes"; Hence the idea of ​​the "antidote" by which toxins are treated with ingredients that are sometimes extracted from the source of those same toxins. This was also confirmed by Al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH / 869 AD) - in his book 'The Animal' - and he said that "with the snake, the poison of the snake is treated, and for the bite of snakes, the antidote is taken, which is only found in the body of snakes"!

Perhaps this "culture of the antidote" has had a practical impact in medical practice beyond the field of poison treatment and prevention of harm to other aspects of preventive treatment of injury and disease. The validity of this conclusion may be witnessed by recent sources that the Arabs knew - from ancient times - about the vaccination that we practice today, including what the famous German Orientalist Sigrid Hunke (d. 1420 AH / 1999 AD) mentioned in her book 'Shams al-Arab Shines on the West'.

Hoenke said that "the attempt to introduce the principle of vaccination against smallpox in Europe - at the end of the eighteenth century - was achieved by the Arabs in the early Islamic eras, following the same thinking and method followed in our time by vaccination with weak germs and creating immunity by artificial methods. The Chinese used to put a wet bandage. With smallpox pus in the nose of their son, the Arabs followed another method of inoculation, as they wound the palm of the hand between the wrist and thumb and put a few non-inflamed blisters on top of the wound and wrapped it well.

This statement was confirmed by another contemporary researcher in the history of science, Dr. Osama Al-Sayadi, in his book 'The Most Important Inventions and Discoveries in the History of Humanity'.

He said: "The Arab doctors used preventive medicine in infectious diseases. They used to make a kind of vaccination against smallpox, taking some pimples from a convalescent patient and grafting them to a healthy person by placing (= pimples) on the palm of the hand and rubbing it well, or they made a scratch in the Its place is the same idea of ​​vaccination that was later attributed to Europe.

A commendable position.

I did not find any evidence for what these two researchers mentioned from the heritage books.

But we have a fatwa issued more than two hundred years ago by one of the sheikhs of Najd in central Arabia, Sheikh Hamad bin Nasser bin Muammar Al-Najdi Al-Hanbali.

This fatwa suggests that insemination - as mentioned by the Orientalist Hunke and Dr. Al-Sayyadi - was an ancient practice popular among the commoners of the Arabian Peninsula, and was called “the berries”.

It is clear that this popular vaccination - which was known among the people of Najd - has nothing to do with the official vaccination that the Ottoman Empire was concerned with and spread in some of its regions, not to mention that it was practiced in the English way that was known concurrently with or shortly before the fatwa was issued.

In his fatwa mentioned - which was included in a book entitled 'Several Letters on Jurisprudence Issues' whose publication was supervised by Sheikh Muhammad Rashid Rida (d. 1354 AH / 1935 AD) - Sheikh Ibn Muammar al-Hanbali was asked about the legal ruling in the "Tawtin (= vaccination) that the common people do, that is, they take Pus from a pox, and they cut open the skin of the healthy man and put it in that cleft [place], they claim that if he had a pox (= he had smallpox), it would be relieved.”

The Sheikh answered his questioner that this preventive treatment is a kind of “medicating for the disease before it descends.. These people claim that sepsis is one of the mitigating causes of smallpox. In which it appears to us that it is makrooh, because the one who does it hastens the affliction before it descends, but in most cases, if it is suspected, smallpox appears in it. Perhaps he killed him, so the perpetrator of that helped him kill himself, as the scholars have mentioned regarding the one who ate above full and died because of that.

It is noticeable that Sheikh Ibn Muammar disliked “the fig tree” in terms of the errors that were involved in performing this traditional type of vaccination, and the complications that occurred because of it for those who were given it. Sheikh Rashid Rida commented on this fatwa of Sheikh Ibn Muammar when he published it after the spread of modern vaccination, realizing the congruence between it and the “Tawtin”; He said: "It appears that this fig tree - which is now called pollination or vaccination - was not at the time of this mufti or in his country as successful as it is known now, even in diseases other than smallpox, and therefore it proved that it suspected harm, so it is hated."

Sheikh Reda praised the Hanbali jurist for his contentment only by issuing the purportedly disliked ruling - which is the closest jurisprudential to permissibility - over non-professional vaccination, at a time when “many people of the country and religions (= religions) of the different, even the English, forbade it - in its first appearance. From a long time ago, it protects against this deadly disfiguring disease (= smallpox), and that the effect of protective vaccination is very light, and children easily tolerate it.

Linguistic Rooting

As for the name “al-Tawtin”, perhaps it is a language that came from what the dictionaries mentioned: “Watan.. [the thing] is a tuna.. that is, it lasted and did not break,” as in the lexicon 'Al-Sahah' by Abu Nasr al-Gawhari (d. 393 AH / 1004 AD);

It is as if this name was taken from the longevity of the effect of the graft surgery and the survival of its scar in the body of the grafted person.

The people of Najd call their vaccination “Al-Watanah”, which is a singular of its eloquent meanings: “Al-Mukhalifah”, as in the words of Ibn Manzur (d. 711 AH / 1311 AD) in Lisan Al-Arab: “Al-Watanah: the Mukhlafa”;

Perhaps the meaning of this name is derived from the fact that the place of the graft remains different from what is around it from the skin due to the effect of grafting surgery.

The witness here is that the presence of “the tawten” - in its local name among the common people in the Arabian Peninsula and in its primitive way - indicates its depth in the origins of Arab folk medicine.

As for the name “grafting” that is used today, it may have been taken from tree grafting.

If they take from the blisters of the patient and cut the skin of the healthy and put it in it, what is the same as grafting trees.

Among the poetic evidence of this is the saying of the Egyptian poet Jamal al-Din Ibn Nabatah (d. 768 AH / 1366 AD): I

resembled treachery and carvings in their gardens ** so it became a nightclub for the unhappy

observer, and with “grafting” silver trees grew ** and among the best trees are all the “restaurants”.

Will Durant mentioned - in 'The Story of Civilization' - the Muslims' experience of grafting trees from ancient times;

He said: "Muslim biologists knew the method of producing new fruits by 'grafting', and they combined the rose tree and the almond tree, and thus created the 'grafting' rare beautiful-looking flowers!"

The mention of plant grafting is frequent in heritage books, including what was mentioned by the Shafi’i physician and jurist Alaa Al-Din Ibn Al-Nafis (d. 687 AH / 1288 AD) - in “Al Shamil fi the Medical Industry” - when he spoke about the types of pears, and he said that one of them is a type “named in Damascus Qaracia Baalbaki Rather, it is formed in Damascus by vaccination.”

A well-known precedent.

If we move from excavating the heritage origins of vaccination to clarifying the priorities of its practice in the modern era, and the role of Muslims in introducing others to it;

We will find that the Ottoman Turks were pioneers in the field of vaccination, but rather were its gateway to Europe through which it gradually spread to the whole world.

Apparently, vaccination was not new to the Turks, as evidenced by its familiarity with their geographical neighborhoods among the Circassian and Armenian peoples.

Durant says: "The ancient Chinese had practiced transmitting the virus whose strength had weakened from one person infected with smallpox to another in order to immunize him against smallpox, and for this same purpose the Circassian women stored the body with needles that were touched with smallpox fluids!"

In a sense close to that; In his History of Medicine, William Bynum says, "Inoculation has been a procedure in the East since antiquity. The Chinese practiced it by using a powder of exanthema and inhaling it like tobacco powder. In Turkey [this] substance was introduced through an itchy skin."

The scholar Anastas al-Karmali (d. 1366 AH / 1947 AD) published - in the 67th issue of his magazine "Laghat al-Arab", issued on March 1, 1929 - an article entitled: "A page from the history of vaccination against smallpox in Iraq and Iran", and it included: It is reported that some of the Armenians used to feed their children raisins stuffed with a little pus of smallpox blisters to prevent it. The Italian tourist Sistini (d. after 1195 AH / 1781 AD) mentioned - in the book of his trip to Baghdad in 1781… - that the people of al-Zawra (= Baghdad) They were all vaccinating themselves!" Then al-Karmali asked: "What does [Sistini] want with this? Do you think [he means] the common insemination in Astana (= Istanbul) or elsewhere? God knows best."

Perhaps from here, the Turkish historian Yilmaz Oztuna (d. 1434 AH / 2012 AD) - in his book 'The History of the Ottoman Empire' - stated that vaccination "has been applied by the Turks for long ages"!

He added, specifying the date of the beginning of documenting the Ottoman practice of vaccinating children: "We have information about the vaccination of children in Istanbul against smallpox in 1695 (= 1108 AH)."

A gradual transition

is supported by Durant's statement that "in [in] 1714 a letter from Dr. Emanuel Timoni (= Emanuel Timoni, who died after 1128 AH / 1716 AD) - which was read to the Royal Society of London - described the acquisition of smallpox by grooving or grafting as was practiced long ago." in Astana!

Speaking about Turkish health habits;

Durant stated - in "The Story of Civilization" - thanks to the Turks in delivering vaccination to Europe within the health habits and medical methods that it quoted from them, in the form of a practical practice of vaccination and not just information explanatory to it as in the aforementioned letter of Dr. Timoni.

Durant says: "The Turks were proud of their public baths, seeing themselves in general as a cleaner people than the Christians (= Europeans)...; and many of the upper and middle classes differed to the Turkish bath twice a week, and more of them differed once a week...; No wonder So if we do not hear much about rheumatoid arthritis in Turkey.. [Also] the Turks... taught Europe to vaccinate against smallpox, and they had no doubt that their civilization surpassed that of Christian countries."

The vaccination moved from the Ottoman capital, Astana, to Europe in the first third of the twelfth century AH / eighteenth century AD, according to what Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (d. 1176 AH / 1762 AD), who was the wife of Edward Wortley Montagu (d. 1175 AH / 1761 AD), reported. British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

Lady Montague wrote - in a letter she sent from Istanbul to an acquaintance in London on April 1, 1717 corresponding to 1129 AH, and Durant transmitted its text - telling her observations about vaccination among the Ottomans and its health effectiveness; She said: "Smallpox, that very deadly disease and the spread among us - the British - has made the invention of vaccination completely sound..., and every year the operation is performed for thousands of people [in the Ottoman Empire]..., and there is not a single case of a person who died from it. And you may believe. I am very reassured of the safety of the experiment if you know that I intend to apply it to my beloved little boy.” Durant then comments: "The six-year-old boy was vaccinated in March 1718 (= 1130 AH) by Dr. Charles Maitland, an English doctor who was at that time in Turkey!"

Solid resistance It

is surprising that Europe - at the height of its scientific renaissance - strongly resisted vaccination in the Turkish way at the beginning of its acquaintance with it. The vaccine that the Turks applied for long ages... The occurrence of the discovery by the Turks caused Europe to hesitate for a very long time, and the monks declared that whoever allows a vaccination to be performed on him is considered to be outside religion!

Thus, the European refusal to benefit from the Ottoman method of vaccination prolonged until “it took the public and medical men almost the entire eighteenth century to accept preventive vaccination as a legitimate form of curative medicine”;

According to Durant, who specifically reviewed the history of British opposition to this vaccination, he attributed this to "the conservative attitude of British society against everything new".

Durant quoted from the news of Lady Mary Montagu - the wife of the British ambassador in Istanbul - that she faced a fierce war, because of her propaganda in her country for the Ottoman vaccination after witnessing it and its effective results in Istanbul; In [the year] 1721, a smallpox epidemic broke out in London and killed her family, especially the children, and Lady Mary had returned from Turkey and commissioned Dr. Maitland (= the physician accompanying her husband, the ambassador to Turkey), who had also returned to his homeland, to vaccinate her four-year-old daughter. years. [Maitland] called three of the most eminent doctors to see that the girl ... was not bothered by the results, so they were impressed by what they saw and one allowed his son to be vaccinated."

According to Durant, It was after these encouraging experiences that "Lady Mary spread the idea in the royal court" among the ruling family in Britain. In 1722; Queen Caroline Ansbach (d. 1150 AH / 1737 AD) - the wife of the then King of Britain George II (d. 1139 AH / 1727 AD) - officially ordered "to perform the operation (= vaccination) on orphaned children in the Parish of St. James, and it was crowned with complete success, and in April (of the year She ordered it to be performed on two of her daughters, one of whom was her beloved daughter, Princess Caroline (d. 1170 AH / 1757 AD), nicknamed “Princess of Great Britain”.

What is most surprising is the method adopted by the British court to ensure the effectiveness of vaccination, by taking prisoners and orphans as a field to test the success of the experiment.

In the year 1154 AH / 1741 AD, "Princess Caroline [who was previously vaccinated when she was young] agreed to experiment with vaccination on six criminals who were sentenced to death, so they accepted (= agreed) a promise that they would be released if they remained alive; one of them suffered from a slight disease, and the rest did not They looked like no harm, and all six were released."

Then Durant mentions that these successful official steps gave the cause a great societal impetus, before a setback in practice fueled its opposition movement again;

At first, "acceptance of vaccination spread among the British aristocracy, but the death of two vaccinated persons in their home disrupted the movement and strengthened opposition to it."

Multiple Obstacles

Christian clergy have been at the forefront of combating these vaccination experiments;

Some priests viewed vaccination as evidence of the objection of those who perform it to fate or opposition to the divine will to cause disease!

Durant stated that an English priest "Edward Massey [remained] until 1772 preaching against the "dangerous habit of civic vaccination", and vigorously defending the view of ancient theology which held that diseases were sent by Providence as a punishment for sin!!

at the same time;

It seems that they were among the reasons for the rejection of vaccination by the spread of its practice at the hands of women, as “one critic complained that “an experience practiced by only a few ignorant women … suddenly prevails - and after little experience - over a nation of the most polite and polite nations on earth, until it found its way to the Royal palace"".

Also, "most English doctors denounced vaccination because of its danger," according to their vision.

Lady Montagu did not stand idly by in front of this feverish opposition to her efforts to save her society from a deadly disease, so she used as many wonderful tricks as she could in her fateful battle; "Lady Mary felt this stab, and published without signature [a leaflet whose title was]: 'A clear statement on the vaccination of smallpox by a Turkish merchant'"; As Durant reported. Perhaps it is surprising that a perverted statement by a Turkish merchant was an inventor more acceptable to the British public in her days than official decisions and testimonies, and witnessed and successful medical experiments!!

European opposition to vaccination was not only English, but France in the "age of enlightenment" had its share of strong suspicion of this Ottoman arrival in Gaul and standing in front of his advance.

It is surprising that the scientific and political elites, represented in the University of Paris and the French Parliament, are at the fore in opposing vaccination.

After "the guardian of the throne Philip Orleans (d. 1135 AH / 1723 AD) - with his usual courage - set the example for others by vaccinating his two sons, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Paris opposed vaccination until 1763", according to Durant's novel.

The French writer Voltaire (d. 1192 AH / 1778 AD) was a prominent exception in that anti-scene;

He praised the campaign of Lady Mary in his 'Letters on the English', and noted the spread of vaccination among the Circassians!!

Rejected disclaimer

Durant asserts that Voltaire is the author of the book "The History of the Parliament of Paris" despite his public disavowal of his attribution, and decides that Voltaire wrote and published it under a pseudonym to avoid problems, especially since he presented the French Parliament as "a reactionary institution that resisted - on every occasion - progressive measures, such as the creation of the French Academy, the vaccination against smallpox, and the free administration of the judiciary.

Durant singles out pages to show the efforts of the English surgeon Edward Jenner (d. 1238 AH / 1823 AD), which was an important station in the history of the development of vaccination against smallpox, and even against bacterial diseases in general and the

caused

;

He says that Jenner "note... that lactobacillus (= cow pox) who got cowpox - a relatively mild disease - rarely catch smallpox, which often kills patients."

Explaining the critical juncture in Jenner's effort, he adds;

He says that in "about [the year] 1778 he had the idea of ​​transmitting immunity against smallpox by vaccinating with a vaccine made from a cow infected with smallpox..." And in May 1796 Jenner vaccinated him by inoculating [a boy]...with cowpox pus... The boy did not have smallpox, and Jenner concluded The cow vaccine confers immunity against smallpox!

This success prompted Jenner to publish in 1798 his "serious book, An Inquiry into the Cause and Effect of the Variola Vaccine" (Variola was the medical name for smallpox), in which he told the story of twenty-three cases, all of which were successful.

Durant noted that after the success of those vaccinations, "the conviction of the experiments that followed this reached such an extent that the [British] Parliament in 1802 and 1807 gave Jenner thirty thousand pounds to expand his business and improve his method, and after that the incidence of smallpox rapidly decreased, that disease that remained for centuries from the scourge of The great scourge of torment that unleashed upon human life.

A likely quote

We have previously quoted Durant and others as crediting the spread of vaccination to the Turks, and we have referred to the efforts of Lady Montagu and others who transferred the Turkish method to their European countries.

It was stated in Al-Karmali’s article - the aforementioned - that Lady Montagu “when she returned [from Istanbul] to her country, she made every effort to define and spread that vaccination among all classes of the English people, and she succeeded in her endeavor. Jenner alerted him to the idea of ​​his "critical medical detection."

Just as Lady Montagu's efforts met with fierce resistance from the strata of society, so too did the experiments of Surgeon Jenner;

In

on the “History of Vaccinations” website - affiliated with the Philadelphia Physicians Association - a side of the popular opposition to Jenner’s vaccination was mentioned at the time, as “some objectors - including local clergy - believed that the vaccine was “unChristian” because it It came from an animal!

The same article documented the organization of a huge demonstration at the time in Britain, attended by about one hundred thousand protesters who objected to vaccination when “the vaccination decree in 1853 imposed the compulsory vaccination of children…, [was] accompanied by penalties for refusing the vaccine”;

The protesters came out carrying "banners, a child's coffin, and a Jenner doll"!

The demonstration took place in March 1885/1302 AH in the British city of Leicester, which was "a special stronghold of anti-vaccination activity, and a place for many anti-vaccination marches." their children to be vaccinated.

Baghdad experiences

The vaccination procedure in the Ottoman Empire was not limited to Astana/Istanbul, but was sometimes extended to some other states with official care;

Al-Karmali informs us - in his previous article - that the vaccination was done by Jenner Morse method in Iraq before 1809, by a young Armenian Catholic from Constantinople named Oanis bin Badros Muradian (d. 1247 AH / 1832 AD) or “Muradian al-Islambouli”, who was fluent in six languages ​​and continued The course of political affairs in the East and West, and traces the progress of science in the countries of the Franks and the emergence of scientific discoveries and technical inventions.

According to al-Karmali;

This Unanis, “at his hand, entered Baghdad - for the first time - a general and protective vaccination against smallpox according to Jenner’s method, but God knows the hardships he incurred and the hardships he suffered in order to reach to convince the people of Baghdad to tell them and take it, because of the illusions prevailing at that time on the minds Especially because vaccination was thought to be against fate.”

If this popular reasoning for opposing vaccination reminds us of its counterparts, which were previously mentioned by the Europeans, the position of the Islamic religious institution in Iraq seemed very different from its Western counterpart;

With the help of the Grand Mufti of Baghdad at the time, Awanis was able to overcome the difficulties he encountered, and spread vaccination in Iraq and practice it on the widest scale.

After mentioning the failure of the mission of the first vaccination campaign, Al-Karmali says: “However, Awanis returned in 1809 and emptied his utmost in overcoming the obstacles and dispersing the illusions that had previously prevented his goal. / 1828 AD) the wise opinion is satisfied that he feed his six children and granddaughter. And this position of the Mufti of Baghdad two centuries ago reminds us - in his general intent - of what we see today in the publication of pictures of world leaders receiving the Corona Virus (Covid 19) vaccine to reassure their citizens about its safety!

It seems that people found what the Mufti did to vaccinate his family members a practical example that dispelled their religious and health concerns, to the extent that this encroached Muslims to the followers of other religions in Baghdad; Al-Karmali confirms that the position of "the Grand Mufti of Baghdad encouraged people - regardless of their persecution - and prompted them to take the vaccination without fear or hesitation, even if Awanis was able to be vaccinated with his wife Teresa (= Theresia Antoine Atre, who died after 1247 AH / 1832 AD and was the daughter of a French doctor) more From five thousand and four hundred children in a period of nine years, without an accident that reduces people's confidence in vaccination, and the vaccination of two thirds of the mentioned number was free of charge.

مثابرة مثمرة
لم يُغْنِ ذلك النجاح الكبير أوانيس عن السعي لتوسيع نطاقه مستعينا هذه المرة بدعم مجرّبي تطعيمه من عوامّ العراقيين، الذين حرروا له إقرارا يشهد له بالنجاح ولتطعيمه بالنجاعة، فكتبوا له ورقةً سمّوْه فيها "الخواجة أوانيس مراديان الإسلامبولي"، وشهدوا له بأنه "من تاريخ أربع سنين إلى الآن كلّ من استعمله ما.. ظهر به الجدري الطبيعي أبدا". ثم ختموا بالدعاء له وبتوثيق تاريخ الشهادة: "ربنا يجازيه ولأولاده لأجل هذا الخير الكلي الذي أدخله وعلَّمه في بلدنا. حُرِّر في بغداد في 30 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول سنة 1814 (= 1229هـ)".

وفي المقالة ذاتها نجد الإشارة إلى تنفيذ حملات تطعيم مجانية برعاية الدولة العثمانية؛ ففي "سنة 1847 (= 1263هـ) أنفذ السلطان عبد المجيد (ت 1277هـ/1861م) أمرًا بإرسال راغب بك (ت بعد 1263هـ/1847م) حاجبه الثالث إلى بغداد وغيرها من الولايات العثمانية، ليتفقد أحوالها وينظر في شؤونها..، فدخل راغب بك الزوراء (= بغداد) في 21 مارس/آذار من السنة المذكورة، ومعه طبيب أرمني اسمه باروناك فروخ خان (ت بعد 1263هـ/1847م) كان قد رافقه من الآستانة (= إسطنبول) ليداوي المرضى، ويطعّم الأولاد مجانًا في جميع المدن والقرى التي على طريقهما، وما وطئت قدماه مدينة السلام (= بغداد) حتى أخذ يقوم بوظيفته المعهودة إليه -بهمَّة لا تعرف المَلَل- في جهات عديدة من العراق، ثم قفل راجعا إلى الآستانة، ومن ذلك اليوم لم ينقطع التطعيم من العراق بل زاد شأنا وانتشارا".

لكن يبدو أن التطعيم العثماني -بنوعيْه القديم التركي والحديث الذي على طريقة جِينّر- لم يكن معروفا في ولاية الجزائر رغم أنها كانت حينها منطقة حيوية للعثمانيين، وغياب تطعيمهم عن الجزائر هو ما جعل سلطاتها المحلية تلجأ لتطعيم الأوروبيين. ففي دراسة بعنوان ‘تاريخ الطب في الجزائر في ظل الاستعمار الفرنسي 1830-1962‘ للباحثة د. مجاهد يمينة؛ ورد الآتي نقلا عن كتاب ‘الطب الشعبي الجزائري في بداية الاحتلال‘ للطبيب الفرنسي شونبيرغ .أ.ف:

"يذكر شونبيرغ أن [الحاكم العثماني بالجزائر] الداي حسين (ت 1254هـ/1838م) أرسل أولاده وأسرته إلى طبيب إنجليزي يدعى ‘بوهن‘ لتطعيمهم، فأثارت هذه المسألة اهتماما عاما لأنها كانت في الواقع مضادة للمفهوم السائد في المجتمع الجزائري الذي يدعو إلى الإيمان بالقضاء والقَدَر، ونجحت عملية التطعيم نجاحا كاملا ونالت أيضا رضا الداي فأرسل بعدئذ للسيد ‘بوهن‘ مبلغا من المال".

لم يكن موقف مفتي بغداد -المتقدم الذكر- ثم من بعده عوامّ العراقيين منبتًّا عن الثقافة الدينية الإسلامية التي لم تر بأسًا في توقّي المرض قبل حصوله، وفي الحرص على العلاج وإدراك وجوده، والواجب الإنسانيّ في البحث عنه والعثور عليه؛ فقد جاء في الحديث عن أسامة بن شريك -رضي الله عنه- عن النبيّ ﷺ قال: "يا عباد الله تداوَوْا، فإن الله عز وجل لم يَضع داءً إلا وَضع له شفاءً"؛ رواه البخاري (ت 256هـ/870م) في كتابه ‘الأدب المفرد‘، وجاء أيضا في سنن أبي داود (ت 275هـ/888م) وجامع الترمذي (ت 279هـ/892م).

موقف مؤصَّل 
كما لم يجد المسلمون -فيما رُوي عن نبيهم ﷺ- بأسًا في أخذ العلاج قبل وقوع المرض، ولم يروا فيه أدنى معارضة للقَدَر؛ فقد جاء في ‘صحيح البخاري‘: عن سعد بن أبي وقاص -رضي الله عنه- قال: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ: «مَنِ اصْطَبَحَ بِسَبْعِ تَمَرَات عَجْوَةٍ (= نوع من التمر) لَمْ يَضُرَّهُ ذَلِكَ اليَوْمَ سُمٌّ وَلاَ سِحْرٌ».

وعلى هذا اعتمد الفقهاء المعاصرون في فتاواهم بجواز التطعيم الحديث، ورأوا أن ذلك من "باب دفع البلاء قبل وقوعه"، ولم يكن عندهم فيه من بأس إذا لم يأت يقينا بضرر أعظم منه. وقد حُفظ عن أمير المؤمنين عمر بن الخطاب (ت 23هـ/645م) قوله عندما رجع بجيش المسلمين دون أن يدخل الشام لانتشار وباء الطاعون فيه حينها: "نفِرُّ من قَدَر الله إلى قَدَر الله"؛ كما جاء في الصحيحين.

ولذلك لم يكن مستغرَبًا أن يقرِّع الإمامُ محمد عبده (ت 1323هـ/1905م) الكاتب المسيحي فرح أنطون (ت 1340هـ/1922م) في نيله من مكانة العلوم التجريبية في الإسلام، ويذكّره بموقف أوروبا المسيحية المعارض للتطعيم، وذلك في مقالة له منشورة في مجلة ‘المنار‘ -بتاريخ 1 جمادى الآخرة سنة 1320هـ/1902م- بعنوان: “الاضطهاد في النصرانية والإسلام”.

يقول الإمام عبده: "هل تدري ماذا حصل من المقاومة [المسيحية] لإدخال الحقن تحت الجلد بمادة المرض (= التطعيم)؟ اكتشفت هذه الطريقة الطبية عند المسلمين في الآستانة، ثم نقلتها إلى أوروبا امرأة تسمى ماري مونتاغو سنة 1721م؛ فقامت قيامة القُسُوس (= جمع قَسٍّ) وعارضوا في استعمالها، واحتيج في تعضيدها إلى التماس المساعدة من ملك إنكلترا، وعادت هذه الشدة في المعارضة عندما اكتُشفت طريقة تطعيم الجُدَري" على طريقة الطبيب الإنجليزي جِينّر.

وقد كانت التوصية بالتطعيم مدرجة في التعليمات الصحية التي انتشرت الدعوة إليها أيام الأوبئة في بعض الأقطار العربية قبل قرن على الأقل؛ فقد حفظت لنا مقالةٌ نشرها الطبيب اللبناني أمين الجميّل (ت 1354هـ/1935م) -في عدد مجلّة "الزهور" المصرية الصادر مطلع أكتوبر/تشرين الأول سنة 1910 الموافقة 1228هـ- نسخةً من الإجراءات الاحترازية الموصَى بها طبيا أيامها لمواجهة وباء كوليرا اجتاح أوروبا وجوارها، وهي تُشبه كثيرًا إجراءات مواجهة وباء كورونا (كوفيد 19) المطبقة في دول العالم في أيامنا هذه.

وقد بدأ الكاتب مقالته بقوله: "تحمل إلينا التلغرافات يوميًّا أنباء مزعجة عن فتكات الكوليرا في أنحاء أوروبا، وقد بات الوباء على الأبواب يتهددنا فيجب علينا -اتقاءً لشره وردًّا لغاراته- أن نتدرع بقانون الصحة، فيكون لنا حرزاً حريزاً". ثم ذكر الإجراءات الاحترازية واحدًا تلو الآخر، مطنبًا في شرحها وبيان فوائدها، غير أن أهم ما جاء فيها وأكثره إثارة للعجب دعوة الكاتب الناس إلى:

Cleanliness is the cornerstone of health law, and the priority of cleanliness over cleaning is like the priority of prevention over treatment.

Vaccination and its renewal for some diseases, especially smallpox, because it is the wondrous protection against this nasty disease, and we are waiting for the discovery of a vaccine for the rest of the infectious diseases.

Isolation of the infected with an infectious disease from the healthy (= healthy).

Disinfection: any infestation (= extermination) of the germ at its source and source by means of preparations that kill microbes, or by disinfectants and steam chokes, or by hot air that purifies clothes, mattresses and furniture by the power of heat.