Muslim Heritage Month provides an opportunity to recognise the long history of Muslim contributions to medicine in the UK. The influence of Islamic medical knowledge on British and Irish medical history is deeply rooted, tracing back to the medieval period when European doctors travelled to cities like Baghdad, Damascus, and Cordoba in Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) to study in the great Islamic learning centres. These cities were home to advanced medical knowledge, hospitals (bimaristans), and scholars who built upon Greek, Persian, and Indian medical traditions. Bimaristans were among the first institutions to offer structured medical training, later influencing the development of medical schools in Europe.
Adelard of Bath, a 12th-century English scholar, one of those who travelled throughout the Islamic world to study science and medicine, translated Arabic texts into Latin and brought them back to England, where they were later incorporated into the medical curriculum of British and Irish universities. In 2019, an Irish translation of The Canon of Medicine by Muslim physician Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) dating from the 1400s was found inside the binding of a Latin administrative manual published in Cornwall in the 1530s. This provided a concrete link to Muslim influence on medical education in Britain and Ireland. The Canon of Medicine, originally written in Arabic, was widely used in European universities into the 17th century and helped shape medical training.
By the 1800s, Muslim doctors from Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East began training at British medical schools, primarily in London and Edinburgh, as well as in various regional medical schools across the UK. Dr Frederick Akbar Mahomed, a 19th-century British-Asian doctor of Muslim heritage, made significant contributions to the understanding of high blood pressure and kidney disease. His work influenced modern cardiology and the development of blood pressure monitoring techniques.
The recruitment of overseas doctors to work in the UK started in the 1930s and expanded after the creation of the NHS in 1948. In the 1960s, when Britain faced severe doctor shortages, a recruitment drive brought an estimated 18,000 doctors from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) as well as doctors from the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Africa. By this period, nearly 40% of junior doctors in the NHS were from the Indian Subcontinent. Among them were many Muslim doctors who came to work in the NHS, often taking up positions in areas where British-trained doctors were reluctant to go. The late Dr Mazhar Muhammad Khan moved to Belfast from Pakistan in 1978, drawn by the pioneering work of Professor James Francis Pantridge in pre-hospital cardiac care, despite the social unrest in Northern Ireland at the time. He played a key role in advancing cardiology, performing the region’s first coronary angioplasty in 1982 and implanting Northern Ireland’s first cardioverter defibrillator in 1990. Just one example of many pioneering Muslim doctors across the UK who have advanced their fields, led groundbreaking research and provided vital healthcare to local communities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Muslim doctors in the UK, like many frontline healthcare workers, faced disproportionate risks. Some of the first doctors to pass away were of Muslim heritage. Dr Habib Zaidi, a 76-year-old GP from Essex, was the first doctor to die as a result of COVID-19. Dr Adil El Tayar, a dedicated Sudanese-British NHS surgeon, Dr Amged El-Hawrani, an ENT consultant from the Midlands, and Dr Alfa Sa’adu, a retired NHS doctor who continued to work as a locum until his death, were also among the earliest high-profile cases as well as Nurse Areema Nasreen, who was just 36 years old when she died. These deaths highlighted the disproportionate impact of the virus on healthcare workers from ethnic minority and Muslim backgrounds, as well as their dedication to their patients and respective professions.
Muslim healthcare professionals continue to play an integral role in the NHS today, with approximately 12% of dentists, 16.7% of pharmacists, 18.5% of optometrists and 5.5% of pharmacy technicians identifying as Muslim. In addition, there are currently around 44,500 Muslim doctors (15% of the workforce) and at least 17,000 Muslim nurses. For a community that makes up 6% of the national population, this means Muslims are unquestionably over-represented within specialist occupations in the NHS, reflecting a longstanding and continuing legacy of Muslim contributions to British healthcare. While their numbers have grown in recent years, there is a long history of knowledge exchange, migration, and service that has helped shape British healthcare for centuries.
Find out more about Muslim Heritage Month and access the toolkit here.