By: Nazila Fathi

April 21, 2020

As the coronavirus pandemic was claiming lives last month, Iranians and Afghans had a novel approach to enforce self-isolation: They relied on a soviet-era movie about the 11^th-century Persian physician and philosopher, Avicenna or Ibn Sina, who allegedly introduced the idea of quarantine.

Iran’s state T.V. broadcast the black-and-white, 1957 movie called Avitsenna during the Nowruz holiday. In the movie, Avicenna introduces a 40-day isolation to combat the plague.

Story-telling on screen or in print has a magical way of changing minds, especially in countries where mistrust of the government and its narratives looms large.

People had ignored the government’s warnings to stay home.

But the staunchest critics were clerics who did not want to shut down their mosques.

The movie echoed the voice of wisdom from a distant past. Avicenna is a sane, caring, accomplished and “Muslim” figure in this culture. Newspapers praised the movie, proclaiming that it showed quarantine, in fact, was an Iranian invention.

“Our situation today is not so different than those days,” one newspaper wrote.

Afghans Embraced the Movie, Too

In Afghanistan, where religious leaders had also opposed shutting down mosques, the youth tried to get them to watch the movie. Their opposition was similar to the reaction Avicenna had faced.

Afghans shared the movie on their social media, urging the clerics to heed to the wisdom of a “Muslim” scientist.

The practice of quarantine, as we know it, began during the 14th century to protect Italian coastal cities from plague epidemics. Ships arriving in Venice from infected ports had to sit at anchor for 40 days before landing. Quarantine was derived from the Italian words quaranta giorni which means 40 days.

But a Facebook user called Gapidil referred to the movie and wrote that traders of Venice had learned about Avicenna’s successful 40-day isolation and introduced his approach, calling it quarantine. He reminded his readers that “quarantine,” actually, “originated in the Muslim world.”

There are many elements to this story that ring true to people in this part of the world. The number 40 is a mystic figure. It is cited in the Quran and in Persian poetry (Many afghans are Persian-speakers and Afghanistan was part of Persia). It resonates with 40 days of mourning for the dead and 40 days of caring for a newborn.

Scenes in the Movie Struck a chord with Viewers

The social and emotional consequences of the plague bear striking resemblance to those of Covid-19. “Don’t be afraid of the disease,” Avicenna told people in the movie.

“Stay away from crowds because the virus remains in the air. The Bazaar and the mosques should lock their doors during this period and everybody must pray alone at their homes. Clean your coins with vinegar. If you care for a sick person, insert pieces of cotton drenched in vinegar into your nostrils or chew the leaves of Artemisia.”

Artemisia or wormwood fights inflammation and parasitic infections (do not try this at home). It was banned in the United States until 2007.

Avicenna tells a fellow scientist at the beginning of the movie they could not greet one another properly because of the killer-disease. First, Avicenna says, they need to change their clothes. Then clean their skin with vinegar before they can embrace as was the tradition those days.

In other words, Avicenna became a unifying figure during the coronavirus pandemic. People in Iran and Afghanistan coalesced around him and his method to save lives.

The movie appealed to people’s nationalistic sentiments, too. One Iranian website referred to the movie, concluding that Islamic scholars had kept the candle of knowledge lit during a time that Europe wallowed through a period of intellectual stagnation.

Other Movies About Avicenna

The Physician, in which Ben Kingsley plays as Avicenna, is a great movie that shows Avicenna’s quarantine measures (available on American Netflix).