---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Islamic hospitals, also known as bimaristan, were the basis for modern hospitals and were very modernized for their time as said in many sources. According to Mark R. Cohen, the Islamic hospitals first appeared when leperism broke out and they had to institute separate houses for the lepers. Then when poverty became a bigger issue, Muslims chose to make public medical institutions or hospitals. These institutions were used to contain people and keep the spread of diseases down. These hospitals started as small at home institutions meant for overnight care. It is also said that then the hospitals expanded to become actual buildings for the people to stay in. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bimaristans gave travellers and impoverished people a place to go for good care. The institutions were designed mostly for people whose families could not take care of them. The idea of these bimaristans being charitable institutions contributed to the Islamic pillar of zakat. This is the idea of distribution of wealth and giving help to the poor. This was part of the reason that Islamic hospitals functioned the way they did, as said by Mark R. Cohen. The invention of hospitals was important because the bimaristans focused on medicine and surgeries rather than spiritual and ritual cures. With this idea, the bimaristans also had different wards and overnight care, which were new ideas for hospitals during this period.This is why hospitals were extremely advanced for their time and had many features that other civilizations took from. One civilization that took from the Islamic hospital's structure was the Byzantine Empire. They took some of the improvements the Muslims had made and added it to their own rendition of a hospital. It is mentioned by A.R NOWSHERAVI that the Islamic hospitals had divisions for each field. Some of these divisions include medicine, surgery, orthopedics, eye, and obstetrics. The Islamic hospitals were similar to today’s hospitals in the way they functioned and looked. The similarities in function are the use of medicine, overnight care, and that they are public institutions. As for the building itself, the departments and the layout of the building are similar to modern hospitals. These aspects are part of the reason the Islamic hospitals are so important.