The patients were treated through a scheme starting with
 physiotherapy and diet; if this failed, drugs were used, and at
 last, surgery would be resorted to. The physiotherapy included
 exercises and water baths.Al
Tabari, the chief physician in 970 A.D., described the Islamic
 code of ethics as follows (Hamamch 1971, Levy 1967):
 I. Personal characters of the physician:
 The Physician ought to be modest, virtuous, merciful, and un
 addicted to liquor.Medical Ethics in Islam
 The medical profession was a well respected specialty and its
 Ieaders kept it this way by laying down proper ethics.The Arabs had an elaborate system
 of dieting and were aware of food deficiencies.II. His obligation towards patients:
 He should avoid predicting whether a patient will live or die,
 only God (Allah) knows.If the physician prescribes a drug orally, he should make sure
 that the patient understands the name correctly, in case he
 would ask for the wrong drug and get worse instead of better.Drugs were divided into two groups: simple and compound
 drugs.If these conservative measures failed, surgery was un
dertaken.He should wear clean clothes, be dignified,
 and have well- groomed hair and beard.They were aware of the interaction between drugs;
 thus, they used simple drugs first.He should select his
 company to be persons of good reputation.