Fig. 1

Male infertility from the perspective of traditional Islamic medicine, its causes, and its remedies. a Al-Hawi, Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi,10th century, which is known in Europe also as “The Large Comprehensive” or “Continens Liber (Jameh-al-Kabir).” This book contains considerations in various medical subjects and also criticisms on Greek and Aristotelian concepts. Al-Razi stated in this treatises “My aim and objective is [to provide] things useful to people who practice and work, not for those engaged in research and theory” Chap5 (pp. 112–13). This work expresses many innovative views, and thus, many scholars consider Rhazes the greatest physician of the Middle Ages. b Zakhireye Khwarazmshahi, Ismail Gorgani, 1110 Arabic. This persian medical book is equal in prestige to the famous medical book by Avicenna, which is considered medical canon. In chapter ten, he writes about the classification of drugs and basic pharmacology. The plants in nature which happen to be spread ubiquitously have fewer side effects, have stood the test of time by being buttressed through scientific experiments, and have been the cynosure of attention among people; therefore, they can be of great help in this regard. c The Canon of Medicine (al-Qanun fi al-Tibb), Avicenna (Ibn Sina). The Canon of Medicine is an encyclopedia of medicine in five books compiled by Persian Muslim physician-philosopher Avicenna and completed in 1025. This book was translated into Latin towards the end of the twelfth century CE, and became a reference source for medical studies in the universities of Europe until the end of the seventeenth century. d Avicenna and “Ibn Sina”. Avicenna described various uses of the plant, including its use as a treatment for sexual and perversions diseases, infertility, inducer of labor, and others. Most of these effects have been studied in modern pharmacology and are well documented