Unani (Muslim Traditional Medicine)

Unani (also spelled Yunani) is a traditional Middle East and Asian subcontinent medicine of Graeco-Arabic origin. Unani is an Arabic word that means “Greek.” Throughout the world, this traditional medicine continues to assist millions of people and in many cases is their exclusive or main form of health care. Yunani traditional medicine is based upon a set of holistic principles related to a person’s “life force” and “humors” (Akhlat). These two principles allow the practitioner (called a hakim, or physician) to use a wide assortment of methods to turn a diagnosis into a treatment or therapeutic program. For example, a person’s disease is based on his life force or the humors in that he has either too little or too much. A person’s emotions primarily ...