Moorish Medical Traditions and the Symbolism of White Clothing in Medicine

In Moorish Islamic societies, white garments carried symbolic meanings such as cleanliness, purity, spiritual devotion, and respectability. Many in Moorish Islam encouraged wearing white clothing. In fact, cleanliness was stressed in their religion and medical practice. Some Moorish Islamic physicians wore white robes to further emphasize their belief in personal cleanliness and hygienic appearances. Hospitals, clinics, and medical schools in North Africa, Egypt, and Al-Andalus preserved and advanced this medical knowledge, later influencing European and American medical practices.

Modern physician’s white coats developed in Europe and North America during the nineteenth century. Before then, western doctors wore black clothing to symbolize the seriousness and formality of practicing medicine. When medicine became more scientific in the West, doctors adopted the white coat because it symbolized cleanliness, trustworthiness, and human objectivity. As we read earlier, Moorish Islamic traditions emphasized cleanliness by wearing white garments.

It is my speculation that Moorish Islamic medical traditions, including the practice of wearing white, greatly influenced European medical education through their language translations and medical schools in Al-Andalus. Some of these cultural values of cleanliness, healing, and professional appearance very well may have traveled through intellectual exchanges with Europeans.

Anthropologists have not established a direct connection proving that white medical coats originated from Moorish Islamic doctor’s white robes. In fact, some may argue that wearing white in the medical field also has roots across many other cultures. For these groups, white also represented sacred service, great knowledge, purity, and cleanliness. Further research needs to be conducted to validate my speculations on whether the Moorish Islamic medical tradition of wearing white influenced the western medical practice of wearing white coats.

Ethically speaking,

Obiora N. Anekwe