DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sajb.2026.v14i09.008

Pages: 648-653

Background: In classical Unani medicine, Aʻḍā’ Ra’īsa (vital organs) represent the chief compound organs (Aaza-e-Murakkaba) essential for sustaining human existence and maintaining physiological equilibrium. Early Unani physicians established a comprehensive anatomical and philosophical framework surrounding these organs, defining their central roles in individual survival and species continuity. Objectives: This review aims to systematically compile, categorize, and synthesize classical Unani concepts, anatomical descriptions, and functional classifications regarding Aʻḍā’ Ra’īsa, while examining their integration with vital faculties (Quwā) and pneuma (Arwāḥ). Methods: A qualitative compilation and thematic analysis was conducted using classical Unani medical literature including Firdaws al-Ḥikmat by Rabban Ṭabarī, Kitāb al-Manṣūrī by Abū Bakr al-Rāzī, Kāmil al-Ṣanā‘a al-Ṭibbiyya by Ali Ibn Abbas Majūsī, Al-Qānūn fī al-ṭibb by Ibn Sīnā, and Kitāb al-Kulliyyāt by Ibn Rushd cross-referencing classical anatomical terminology (Iṣṭilāḥāt) with functional organ systems. Results: Classical literature categorizes Aʻḍā’ Ra’īsa into two primary teleological divisions: (1) Preservation of the Individual (Baqa-e-Shakhs), comprising the Brain (Dimāgh); governing psychic faculties Quwwat Nafsāniyya), Heart (Qalb; governing vital heat Ḥarārat Gharīziyya and pneuma Rūḥ Ḥaywāniyya), and Liver (Kabid; governing metabolic physical faculties Quwwat Ṭabī‘iyya and humor formation Akhlāṭ); and (2) Preservation of the Species (Baqa-e-Nau), comprising the Gonads (Khuṣyatayn wa Khusya al-Raḥim; housing the generative faculty Quwwat Muwallida for gamete formation Nutfa Saazi). Unani physicians also classified these organs based on pneuma dynamics into Mubda-e-Fayli (generators of pneuma) and Mubda-e-Qabli (recipients of pneuma). Conclusion: The Unani doctrine of Aʻḍā’ Ra’īsa presents an integrated physiological model where organ structure, vital heat, and pneumatic forces function in harmon