ABSTRACT
The formation of Islam and its emergence as an identity in the world were accompanied by a flowering of an integrated culture. Medicine, science, and philosophy share a common rigorous, rational foundation, and their presence at the time of the flowering of Islamic culture reflects both internal and external developments. The fact that the Quran does mention the jinn, however, and makes reference to the purveyors of spells and the like, was also an element in the emergence of the Islamic medical tradition. The popular medical beliefs from the time of the formation of Islam which became incorporated into the religion were not unique to the Arabs. As in medicine, so it has been observed in other scientific endeavors that an uneasy relationship existed between those who continued within the "folk" traditions and those who pursued the rational basis. The "rational sciences" for Ibn Sina were divided into two groupings. One was the "speculative," and the other was the "practical".
