Azuddin Jud Ismail - KM Sejarah Sains & Teknologi Islam

ISLAM – SCIENCE TECHENOLOGY & CIVILIZATION
Rahsia ilmu sains, teknologi dinyatakan dalam al-Quran terus dibongkar
“BACALAH dengan nama Tuhanmu yang menciptakan sekian makhluk. Ia

menciptakan manusia dari sebuku darah beku. Bacalah dan Tuhanmu yang Maha
Pemurah; yang mengajar manusia melalui pena dan tulisan. Ia mengajar manusia
apa yang tidak diketahuinya,” (al-Alaq: 1 hingga 5).
Dimulakan dengan wahyu pertama daripada Al-Quran itu, dunia Jahiliyah yang
menggambarkan kemunduran tamadun manusia dari segi sains, teknologi dan
intelektual sekitar zaman Rasulullah SAW terus dipacu menuju ke puncak
pencapaian.
Berdasarkan teori dan asas pengetahuan pelbagai bidang yang termaktub dalam
al-Quran, kajian demi kajian dipelopori umat Islam mewujudkan satu tamadun
gemilang dari sudut ilmu, khususnya sains dan teknologi.
Ketika al-Quran diturunkan, pelbagai fakta di dalamnya jelas masih asing di

kalangan manusia ketika itu.
Tiada siapa mengetahui hakikat kehidupan seperti tertera dalam al-Quran

antaranya cakerawala bergerak secara terapung (Yaasiin: 40), bumi bergerak (An-
Naml: 88), pokok menghasilkan bahan bakar (Yaasiin: 80), atom adalah benda
terkecil (Yunus: 61) dan semakin tinggi semakin sukar bernafas (Al-An'aam: 125).
Berbekalkan maklumat daripada kalam Allah itu, umat Islam mula meneroka ilmu
sains dan kegemilangannya memuncak pada adab ketujuh apabila umat Islam
menunjukkan kecenderungan dan minat mengkaji serta mempelajari pelbagai
pengetahuan.
Menjelang pertengahan abad kesembilan, ilmu pengetahuan yang semakin

berkembang membuktikan fakta sains dibawa al-Quran adalah benar dan ilmu
dalam kitab itu mendahului zaman ia diturunkan.
Ia sekali gus membuktikan kitab itu sememangnya diturunkan Allah SWT dan
menafikan dakwaan ia ciptaan manusia.
Kebenaran fakta al-Quran semakin meyakinkan dan pelbagai rahsia kitab suci itu
terus digali sehingga kegemilangan sains terus disingkap dalam tamadun Islam
menerusi perkembangan ilmu dan penciptaan teknologi.
Muncullah nama-nama besar ilmuwan dan saintis Islam seperti Ibnu Haitham (sains
optik), Ibnu Yunus (penciptaan jam) dan Ibnu Nafis (sistem lengkap peredaran
darah), Ibnu Sina (sains perubatan), al-Biruni (astronomi) dan al-Khawarizmi
(matematik) dan Ibnu Rusyd (falsafah).
Malah, ramai tidak mengetahui ilmuwan Islam mendahului saintis Barat dalam
penemuan pelbagai teori, seperti penerokaan awal Ibnu Haitham mengenai
hakikat graviti jauh lebih awal sebelum ia dijadikan teori oleh Isaac Newton.
AZUDDIN JUD HAJI ISMAIL 1

Hal sama ditemui menerusi konsep penerbangan seperti diperjelaskan Ibnu Firnas
dan kemudian diadaptasi Wilbur Wright dan Oliver Wright. Abbas ibn Firnas saja
sudah meneroka kajian cakerawala kira-kira 600 tahun sebelum Leonardo da Vinci
melakukannya.
Perkembangan ilmu menzahirkan pelbagai ciptaan teknologi dan inovasi.

Cendekiawan Islam menghasilkan serbuk salpetre sebagai ubat bedil, penggunaan
angka sifar dalam matematik dan proses penyulingan untuk memisahkan
bendasing dalam campuran cecair.
Balai cerap untuk mengkaji bintang, peta, glob, kincir air dan angin, bangunan
pengisar bijiran termasuk kereta perisai turut dihasilkan saintis Islam ketika itu.
Malangnya, pengembangan ilmu dan kegemilangan Tamadun Islam itu tidak

dapat diteruskan, seolah-olah usaha itu seumpama api yang kehabisan minyak,
semakin lama semakin malap bermula ketika berakhirnya Kerajaan Abbasiyah.
Pelbagai maklumat dan penemuan penting juga dikatakan hilang ketika
berlakunya Perang Salib.
Masyarakat Barat yang suatu ketika dulu turut menggali ilmu hasil cernaan
cendekiawan Islam sebaliknya mula mengambil alih peranan mengembangkan
ilmu pengetahuan.
Malah, seolah-olah cuba menafikan kegemilangan cendekiawan Islam, Barat

menukarkan nama saintis Muslim dengan pelbagai nama antaranya Ibnu Sina
kepada Avicenna, Al-Biruni (Alberuni), Al-Battani (Albetagnius), Ibnu Haitham
(Alhazen), Al-Kindi (Alkindus) dan Ibnu Rushd (Averroes). Sehingga kini, tidak dapat
dinafikan kajian dan pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan tidak lagi didominasi umat
Islam. Kegemilangan ilmu pada tamadun Islam kini sekadar mampu dikenang, ia
sekadar mampu dibanggakan pencapaiannya.
Dengan pengaruh besar dan strategi yang tidak dinafikan berkesan, manusia
termasuk umat Islam kini lebih mengenali ilmuwan Barat dalam pelbagai bidang;
Issac Newton lebih dikenali daripada Ibnu Haitam dan Wright bersaudara lebih
dikenali daripada Ibnu Firnas.
Bagaimanapun, kegemilangan Islam menguasai ilmu ingin terus diabadikan. Saintis

Islam, Dr Fuat Sezgin menjejak, mengumpul dan mengembalikan khazanah ilmu
hasil Tamadun Islam yang ‘hilang’ menerusi penubuhan Institut Sejarah Sains Islam-
Arab di Frankfurt di Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universiti, Frankfurt, Jerman pada 1982.
Sebahagian khazanah sains Islam yang dikumpul penyelidik itu akan dipamerkan
menerusi ‘Pameran Sains Islam Mendahului Zaman’ anjuran Kementerian Sains,
Teknologi dan Inovasi di Pusat Konvensyen Kuala Lumpur (KLCC) mulai esok hingga
14 Januari ini.

Sebanyak 150 artifak dan hasil penemuan sains serta penerokaan umat Islam dalam
bidang matematik, kesenian dan seni bina; penciptaan dan penemuan perubatan
astronomi, pengembaraan dan geografi serta teknologi akan dipamerkan selama
seminggu di KLCC dan dua bulan setengah di Pusat Sains Negara untuk dihayati
bersama generasi hari ini.
Pameran julung kali bermatlamat mencetuskan kembali kesedaran pentingnya

mengkaji dan menerokai sains dan teknologi seterusnya membangkitkan semangat
generasi muda meneruskan kesinambungan ilmuwan Islam terdahulu.
Ia juga bertujuan menyedarkan semua pihak bahawa ilmu agama dan ilmu
pengetahuan perlu diseimbangkan seperti diamalkan ilmuwan Islam terdahulu yang
bukan sekadar mendalami agama, sains dan kesusasteraan, malah mencipta
peralatan dengan fungsi melangkaui zaman.
Lebih penting, pencernaan ilmu pengetahuan akan mengembalikan kesedaran

manusia kepada hakikat ciptaan alam seperti difirmankan Allah SWT: “(Iaitu) orang-
orang yang mengingat Allah sambil berdiri atau duduk atau dalam keadaan
berbaring dan mereka memikirkan mengenai penciptaan langit dan bumi (seraya
berkata): ‘Ya Tuhan kami, tiadalah Engkau menciptakan ini dengan sia-sia. Maha
Suci Engkau, maka peliharalah kami dari siksa neraka’," (Ali Imran: 191).
ISLAMIC - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
During the Islamic Golden Age (fl. 750 - 1258), scholars and engineers of the Islamic
world contributed enormously to philosophy, science and technology, both by
preserving and building upon earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions
and innovations. Scientific and intellectual achievements blossomed in the Golden
age, and passed on to Europe to be expanded upon in the Renaissance.
Foundations
Islamic governments inherited "the knowledge and skills of the ancient Middle East,
of Greece, of Persia and of India. They added new and important innovations from
outside, such as positional numbering from Ancient India," as Bernard Lewis writes in
What Went Wrong?
Another innovation was paper - originally a secret tightly guarded by the Chinese.
The art of papermaking was obtained from two prisoners at the Battle of Talas (751),
resulting in paper mills being built in Samarkand and Baghdad. The Arabs improved
upon the Chinese techniques using linen rags instead of mulberry bark.
Much of this learning and development can be linked to geography. Even prior to
Islam's presence, the city of Mecca served as a center of trade in Arabia and
Muhammad was a merchant. The tradition of the pilgrimage to Mecca became a
center for exchanging ideas and goods. The influence held by Muslim merchants
over African-Arabian and Arabian-Asian trade routes was tremendous.

As a result, Islamic civilization grew and expanded on the basis of its merchant
economy, in contrast to their Christian, Indian and Chinese peers who built societies
from an agricultural landholding nobility. Merchants brought goods and their faith to
China (resulting in a significant population of an estimated 37 million Chinese Muslims,
mainly ethnic Turkic Uyghur whose territory was annexed to China), India (the Indian
subcontinent now has over 450 million followers), Southeast Asia (which now has over
230 million followers), and the kingdoms of Western Africa and returned with new
inventions. Merchants used their wealth to invest in textiles and plantations.
Aside from traders, Sufi missionaries also played a large role in the spread of Islam, by
bringing their message to various regions around the world. The principal locations
included: Ancient Mesopotamia (Iran and Iraq), Central Asia and North Africa.
Although, the mystics also had a significant influence in parts of Eastern Africa,
Ancient Anatolia (Turkey), South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Islamic art
The golden age of Islamic (and/or Muslim) art lasted from 750 to the 16th century,
when ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, and woodwork
flourished. Lusterous glazing became the greatest Islamic contribution to ceramics.
Manuscript illumination became an important and greatly respected art, and
portrait miniature painting flourished in Persia. Calligraphy, an essential aspect of
written Arabic, developed in manuscripts and architectural decoration.
Philosophy
Only in philosophy were Islamic scholars prevented from putting forth unorthodox
ideas. Nevertheless, Persian scientist’s al-Kindi, Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd played a major
role in saving the works of Aristotle, whose ideas came to dominate the non-religious
thought of the Christian and Muslim worlds. They would also absorb ideas from China,
and India, adding to them tremendous knowledge from their own studies. Three
speculative thinkers, al-Kindi, al-Farabi, and Ibn Sina, combined Aristotelianism and
Neoplatonism with other ideas introduced through Islam.
From Spain the Arabic philosophic literature was translated into Hebrew, Latin, and
Ladino, contributing to the development of modern European philosophy. The
Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, sociologist-historian Ibn Khaldun, Carthage
citizen Constantine the African who translated Greek medical texts and Al-
Khwarzimi's collation of mathematical techniques were important figures of the
Golden Age.
Sciences
The difference in attitudes of Byzantine scientists and their medieval Muslim peers
was firm. Byzantium added little to no new knowledge of science of medicine to the
Greco-Roman scientific tradition, stagnating in awe of their classical predecessors.
This could perhaps be explained by the fact that the initial Islamic surge out of
Arabia had captured three of its most productive cities: Alexandria, Carthage, and
Antioch.

Because of the loss of a highly skilled and centralized government, as well as

continuous and devastating Arab conquests into Anatolia, most Byzantine cities
could not support the arts and sciences, and there was a mass return to subsistence
farming.
Most notable Islamic scientists lived and practiced during the Islamic Golden Age.
Among the achievements of Muslim scholars during this period were the invention of
spherical trigonometry, advances in optics (see Ibn al-Haytham), and advances in
astronomy. These advances included the construction of the first observatory, the
collection and correction of previous astronomical data, and the invention of the
astrolabe.
Medicine
Medicine was a central part of medieval Islamic culture. Responding to

circumstances of time and place, Islamic physicians and scholars developed a large
and complex medical literature exploring and synthesizing the theory and practice
of medicine. (From the National Library of Medicine digital archives)
Islamic medicine was built on tradition, chiefly the theoretical and practical
knowledge developed in Persia, Greece and Rome, and for Islamic scholars, Galen
and Hippocrates were pre-eminent authorities, followed by Hellenic scholars in
Alexandria. Islamic scholars translated their voluminous writings from Greek into
Arabic and then produced new medical knowledge based on those texts. In order
to make the Greek tradition more accessible, understandable, and teachable,
Islamic scholars ordered and made more systematic the vast and sometimes
inconsistent Greco-Roman medical knowledge by writing encyclopedias and
summaries. (From the National Library of Medicine digital archives)
It was through Arabic translations that the West learned of Hellenic medicine,
including the works of Galen and Hippocrates. Of equal if not of greater influence in
Western Europe were systematic and comprehensive works such as Avicenna's The
Canon of Medicine, which were translated into Latin and then disseminated in
manuscript and printed form throughout Europe. During the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries alone, The Canon of Medicine was published more than thirty-five times.
(From the National Library of Medicine digital archives)
In the medieval Islamic world, hospitals were built in all major cities; in Cairo for
example, the Qalawun Hospital could care for 8,000 patients, and a staff that
included physicians, pharmacists, and nurses. One could also access a dispensary,
and research facility that led to advances in understanding contagious diseases,
and research into optics and the mechanisms of the eye. Indeed, Muslim doctors
were removing cataracts with hollow needles over 1000 years before Westerners
dared attempt such a task.

Commerce and urban life
Avicenna (Ibn-Sina) was the greatest of the medieval Islamic and Tajik physicians,
whose work had a direct impact on the Renaissance. From the very beginning, the
foundation of Islamic civilization was urban and business oriented, and its growth in
population and agriculture is mirrored through its global trade network. Muslim cities
grew unregulated, resulting in narrow winding city streets and neighborhoods
separated by different ethnic backgrounds and religious affiliations. These qualities
proved efficient for transporting goods to and from major commercial centers while
preserving the privacy valued by Islamic family life. Suburbs lay just outside the
walled city, from wealthy residential communities, to working class semi-slums. City
garbage dumps were located far from the city, as were clearly defined cemeteries
which were often homes for criminals and prostitutes. A place of prayer was found
just near one of the main gates, for religious festivals and public executions. Similarly,
Military Training grounds were found near a main gate.
While varying in appearance due to climate and prior local traditions, Islamic cities
were almost always dominated by a merchant middle class. Some peoples' loyalty
towards their neighborhood was very strong, reflecting ethnicity and religion, while a
sense of citizenship was at times uncommon (but not in every case). The extended
family provided the foundation for social programs, business deals, and negotiations
with authorities. Part of this economic and social unit was often the tenants of a
wealthy landlord.
State power normally focused on Dar al Imara, the governor's office in the citadel.
These fortresses towered high above the city built on thousands of years of human
settlement. The primary function of the city governor was to provide for defense and
to maintain legal order. This system would be responsible for a mixture of autocracy
and autonomy within the city. Each neighborhood, and many of the large tenement
blocks, elected a representative to deal with urban authorities. These neighborhoods
were also expected to organize their young men into a militia providing for
protection of their own neighborhoods, and as aid to the professional armies
defending the city as a whole.
The head of the family was given the position of authority in his household, although
a qadi, or judge was able to negotiate and resolve differences in issues of
disagreements within families and between them. The two senior representatives of
municipal authority were the qadi and the muhtasib, who held the responsibilities of
many issues, including quality of water, maintenance of city streets, containing
outbreaks of disease, supervising the markets, and a prompt burial of the dead.
Another aspect of Islamic urban life was waqf, a religious charity directly dealing
with the qadi and religious leaders. Through donations, the waqf owned many of the
public baths and factories, using the revenue to fund education, and to provide
irrigation for Orchards outside the city. Following expansion, this system was
introduced into Eastern Europe by Ottoman Turks.
While religious foundations of all faiths were tax exempt in the Muslim world, civilians
paid their taxes to the urban authorities, soldiers to the superior officer, and
landowners to the state treasury.

Taxes were also levied on an unmarried man until he was wed. Instead of zakat, the
mandatory charity required of Muslims, non-Muslims were required to pay the jizya, a
kind of poll tax.
Animals brought to the city for slaughter were restricted to areas outside the city, as
were any other industries seen as unclean. The more valuable a good was, the
closer its market was to the center of town. Because of this, booksellers and
goldsmiths clustered around the main mosque at the heart of the city.
Guilds were officially unrecognized by the medieval Islamic city, but trades were
supervised by an official recognized by the city. Each trade developed its own
identity, whose members would attend the same mosque, and serve together in the
militia. Slaves were often employed on sugar plantations and salt mines, but more
likely as domestic house servants or professional soldiers.
Technology and Industry of Islamic civilization was highly developed. Distillation

techniques supported a flourishing perfume industry, while chemical ceramic glazes
were developed constantly to compete with ceramics imported from China. A
scientific approach to metallurgy made it easier to adopt and improve steel
technologies from India and China. Primary exports included manufactured luxuries,
such as wood carving, metal and glass, textiles, and ceramics.
The systems of contract relied upon by merchants was very effective. Merchants
would buy and sell on commission, with money loaned to them by wealthy investors,
or a joint investment of several merchants, who were Muslim, Christian and Jewish.
Recently a collection of documents were found in an Egyptian synagogue shedding
a very detailed and human light on the life of medieval Middle Eastern merchants.
Business partnerships would be made for many commercial ventures, and bonds of
kinship enabled trade networks to form over huge distances. Networks developed
during this time enabled a world in which money could be promised by a bank in
Baghdad and cashed in Spain, creating the check system of today. Each time items
passed through the cities along this extraordinary network, the city imposed a tax,
resulting in high prices once reaching the final destination. Regardless, the Muslim
world never completely relied on foreign markets, remaining completely self
sufficient throughout this period.
Transport was simple yet highly effective. Each city had an area outside its gates
where pack animals were assembled, found in the cities markets were large secure
warehouses, while accommodations were provided for merchants in cities and
along trade routes by a sort of medieval motel.
Apart from the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, navigable rivers were uncommon, so
transport by sea was very important. Navigational sciences were highly developed
making use of a rudimentary sextant known as a kamal to altitudes of stars, and a
magnetic compass. When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were
able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. Muslim sailors were also
responsible for reintroducing large three masted merchant vessels to the
Mediterranean. The caravels used by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus were in
fact, based on designs by earlier Muslim Andalusian vessels.

An artificial canal linking the Nile with the Gulf of Suez was constructed, conversely
linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean although it silted up several times.
A tradition from Muhammad advises his followers to "even travel to China if it means
obtaining knowledge." And not long after Muhammad's death, during the Islamic
Golden Age, one can observe such travel and exchange with far away lands taking
place.
For example, Ala'eddin, is honoured in the official history of China's Yuan Dynasty, for
having constructed the Counterweight Trebuchet for Kubilai.
And we now know that in fact Islam learned paper making from China as a result of
this contact, but made the crucial decision to use linen as the raw material for paper,
rather than mulberry bark, or other organic matter. The transfer of Chinese
technology and the innovation in the use of linen provided a writing material more
economical than parchment and more durable than papyrus. It was from Islam that
the rest of the world learned to make paper from linen. (from the digital archives of
The National Library of Medicine)
Architecture and engineering
The Great Mosque of Xian in China was completed in circa 740. The Great Mosque
of Samarra in Iraq was completed in 847. It combined the hypostyle architecture of
rows of columns supporting a flat base above which a huge spiraling minaret was
constructed.
The Moors began construction of the Great Mosque at Cordoba in 785 marking the
beginning of Islamic architecture in Spain and Northern Africa. The mosque is noted
for its striking interior arches. Moorish architecture reached its peak with the
construction of the Alhambra, the magnificent palace/fortress of Granada, with its
open and breezy interior spaces adorned in red, blue, and gold. The walls are
decorated with stylized foliage motifs, Arabic inscriptions, and arabesque design
work, with walls covered in glazed tiles.
The Qol Sharif Mosque of Kazan in Russia was completed in circa 1000. It is still the
largest mosque in eastern Europe today.
Another distinctive sub-style is the architecture of the Mughal Empire in India in the
15-17th centuries. Blending Islamic and Hindu elements, the emperor Akbar
constructed the royal city of Fatehpur Sikri, located 26 miles (42 km) west of Agra, in
the late 1500s and the mausoleum of Taj Mahal in the 1650s.
Mongolian invasion and gradual decline
In 1206, Genghis Khan established a powerful dynasty among the Mongols of central
Asia. During the 13th century, this Mongol Empire conquered most of the Eurasian
land mass, including both China in the east and much of the old Islamic caliphate
(as well as Russia) in the west after Hulagu Khan's invasion of Baghdad in 1258.

Later Mongol leaders, such as Timur, destroyed many cities, slaughtered hundreds of
thousands of people, and did irrevocable damage to the ancient irrigation systems
of Mesopotamia.
Eventually, most of the Mongol peoples that settled in Western and Central Asia
converted to Islam and in many instances became assimilated into various Muslim
Iranian or Turkic peoples. (For instance, one of the greatest Muslim astronomers in
later times, Ulugh Beg, was a grandson of Timur.) The Ottoman Empire rose from the
ashes, but the Golden Age was theoretically over.
References
1) Howard R. Turner, Science in Medieval Islam, University of Texas Press, Nov 1, 1997,
ISBN 0-292-78149-0
2) Donald R. Hill, Islamic Science And Engineering, Edinburgh University Press (1993),
ISBN 0-7486-0455-3
ISLAM – SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND CIVILIZATION
Islam, the youngest of all the world's religions emerged on the world scene in 622 CE
(Current Era) with the Hijra (migration), of Prophet Muhammad (s) and his small band
of followers, from Mecca to Medina in northwest Arabia. One hundred fifty years
later the Muslim government where Allah is the ultimate authority had become the
Islamic Empire, encircling the Mediterranean Sea from Syria and the Tigris and
Euphrates Valley east to southern China and western India, south through what had
been the Persian Empire and Saudi Arabia, west through Egypt and across North
Africa, and north through Spain to the Pyrenees. With the founding of the city of
Baghdad and the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate (Muslim religious/political
leaders, successors of the Prophet) in the mid-8th century, Islam's golden age began
to emerge. For 400 years, from the mid-9th century until the sack of Baghdad by the
Mongols in 1256, Muslim culture was unparalleled in its splendour and learning.
A number of fortunate circumstances came together to make this golden age

possible. Perhaps most significant was the creation of a vast empire without internal
political boundaries, largely free from external attack. Trade began to flow freely
across the Asian continent and beyond. The wisdom of India and China mingled
with that of Persia, ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt. In most cases civilizations
conquered by Islam remained administratively and intellectually intact, unlike those
overrun by northern barbarians. Thanks in part to Prophet Muhammad's assertion
that "the ink of scholars is more precious than the blood of martyrs," Islamic leaders
valued -- in fact, sought out -- the intellectual treasures of their subject provinces.
Further, the Muslim use of Arabic, the language of the Quran, led to its
standardization throughout the empire as the language of faith and power, and
likewise of theology, philosophy, and the arts and sciences.

Unification under one faith and language alone, however, did not produce the
explosion of literacy and learning experienced by the Islamic Empire. In the mid-8th
century, Chinese paper-making technology arrived in Samarkand, on the eastern
border of the empire. Suddenly, the labour-intensive processing of hides and
papyrus was replaced by mass-production of paper from pulped rags, hemp, and
bark; large personal libraries -- as well as public ones -- became commonplace. At
about the same time, the so-called "Arabic" numerals (imported from India) began
to replace cumbersome Roman numerals, and introduced the concept of zero for
the first time. Public education, also mandated by the Prophet (s), spread rapidly.
The Golden Age was a period of unrivalled intellectual activity in the field of
literature (as a result of intensive study of the Islamic faith) - particularly biography,
history, and linguistics. Scholars, for example, in collecting and re-examining the
hadith, or "traditions" - the sayings and actions of the Prophet - compiled immense
biographical detail about the Prophet and other information, historic and linguistic,
about the Prophet's era. This led to such monumental works as Sirat Rasul Allah, the
"Life of the Messenger of Allah," by Ibn Ishaq, later revised by Ibn Hisham; one of the
earliest Arabic historical works, it was a key source of information about the Prophet's
life and also a model for other important works of history such as al-Tabari's Annals of
the Apostles and the Kings and his massive commentary on the Quran.
The accomplishments of Islam's Golden Age are too numerous to mention. Massive
translation and copying projects made Greek, Roman, and Sanskrit knowledge
available to Arabic-speaking scholars across the empire. Medieval Europe received
the Hellenic classics that made the Renaissance possible mostly through Arabic
translations. Building on Hellenic, Persian, and Hindu sources, physicians within the
Islamic Empire advanced medical knowledge enormously. Perhaps their most
significant single achievement was the establishment of medicine as a science
based on observation and experimentation, rather than on conjecture. Islamic
scientists developed the rudiments of what would later be called the scientific
method.
Seventy-five years after the death of Prophet Muhammad (s), the first of many free
public hospitals was opened in Damascus. Asylums were maintained throughout the
empire for the care of the mentally ill. In the early 10th century, Spanish physician
Abu Bakr al-Razi introduced the use of antiseptics in cleaning wounds, and also
made the connection between bacteria and infection. Al-Hasan published a
definitive study on optics (the science of light and vision) in 965. Thirteenth-century
Muslim physician Ibn al-Nafis discovered and accurately described the functioning
of the human circulatory system. Islamic veterinary science led the field for centuries,
particularly in the study and treatment of horses.
Muslim alchemists (early forerunners of modern chemists) in the 10th to 14th centuries,
inspired by ancient chemical formulas from China and India, are famous for the
endless experiments they performed in their laboratories. Their goals ranged from
pursuit of a chemical elixir bestowing enhanced life, to the transformation of base
metals to gold. Although they never succeeded in their ultimate goals, they did
make numerous valuable discoveries -- among them the distillation of petroleum
and the forging of steel.

Roman techniques of manufacturing glass lenses stimulated Al-Hasan's breakthrough

in the field of optics (the science of light and vision), which demolished Aristotle's
theory that vision was the result of a ray emanating from the eye, encompassing an
object, and bringing it back to the soul. Al-Hasan's Book of Optics, published in 965,
was first to document sight as visual images entering the eye, made perceptible by
adequate light. This book remained the pre-eminent text in its field until 1610, when
the work of European Johannes Kepler surpassed it.
Islamic mathematicians refined algebra from its beginnings in Greece and Egypt,
and developed trigonometry in pursuit of accurate ways to measure objects at a
distance. Muslim scholars also made important and original contributions to
astronomy. They collected and corrected previous astronomical data, built the
world's first observatory, and developed the astrolabe, an instrument that was once
called "a mathematical jewel."
Islamic architects borrowed heavily from the Byzantine Empire which used domes
and arches extensively throughout their cities. An example of this use can be seen in
the Dome of the Rock, a famous mosque in Jerusalem.
Avid students of both the heavens and the earth, Muslim scholars made detailed
and accurate maps of both. Muslim mapmakers to accurately map distances
around the earth refined longitude and latitude. Twelfth-century Persian Omar
Khayyam developed a calendar so reliable that over 500 years it was off by only one
day. The list goes on and on.
Religious Tolerance
When Islam was laying the foundations of its civilisation, it did not adopt a narrow-
minded attitude to other religions. The behaviour toward other religions was in
keeping with the principles laid down in the Quran:
"Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error… (Al-
Baqarah 256)
"If it had been your Lord's Will, they would all have believed, all who are on earth! Will
you then compel people, against their will, to believe!" (Yunus 10:99)
Say: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il,
Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to
(all) Prophets from their Lord: we make no difference between any of them: and we
submit to Allah (in Islam)." (Q2:136)
"…Had not Allah checked one set of people by means of another there would surely
have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which
the name of Allah is commemorated in abundant measure…" (Al-Hajj 22:40)
The well known American writer, Draper, wrote: "During the period of the caliphs, the
learned men of the Christians and the Jews were not only held in high esteem but
were appointed to posts of great responsibility, and were promoted to high ranking
positions in government.

Haroon Rasheed appointed John the son of Maswaih, the Director of Public
Instruction and all the schools and colleges were placed under his charge. He
(Haroon) never considered to which country a learned person belonged nor his faith
and belief, but only his excellence in the field of learning."
Sir Mark Syce, writing on the qualities of Muslim rule during the period of Haroon
Rasheed said: "The Christians, the idolaters, the Jews and the Muslims as workers
running the Islamic State were at work with equal zeal."
Liefy Brutistal wrote in his book: "Spain of the Tenth Century: So often the scribe
writing out the terms of a treaty was a Jew or a Christian. Just as many Jews and
Christians were holding charge of important posts in the State. And they were vested
with authority in the administrative departments, even in matters of war and peace.
And there were several Jews who acted as the ambassadors of the Caliph in
European countries."
Islam’s Golden Age has many lessons to teach the greedy and terrorised world of
today.
Why did it all end?
Why did Islam's Golden Age come to an end? What forces shifted both political
power and learning from the Islamic Empire to Christian Europe? Like all historical
trends, the explanations are complex; yet some broad outlines may be identified,
both within and without Muslim lands. With the end of the Abbasid Caliphate and
the beginning of the Turkish Seljuk Caliphate in 1057 CE, the centralised power of the
empire began to shatter. Religious differences resulted in splinter groups, charges of
heresy, and assassinations. Aristotelian logic, adopted early on as a framework upon
which to build science and philosophy, appeared to be undermining the beliefs of
educated Muslims. Orthodox faith was in decline and skepticism on the rise.
The appeal by some erring theologians turned the tide back, declaring reason and
its entire works to be bankrupt. They declared that experience and reason that grew
out of it were not to be trusted. As a result, free scientific investigation and
philosophical and religious toleration were phenomena of the past. Schools limited
their teaching to theology. Scientific progress came to a halt.
During this same period, the European Crusades (1097-1291) assailed Islam militarily
from without. Cordoba fell to Spanish Christians in 1236. When the Mongols sacked
Baghdad in 1256 (or 1258) the Islamic Empire never recovered. Trade routes became
unsafe. Urban life broke down. Individual communities drew in upon themselves in
feudal isolation. Science and philosophy survived for a while in scattered pockets,
but the Golden Age of Islam was at an end.

Conclusion
Muslims rose to the height of civilisation in a period of four decades. For more than
1,000 years the Islamic Civilisation remained the most advanced and progressive in
the world. This is because Islam stressed the importance of and held great respect for
learning, forbade destruction, developed discipline and respect for authority, and
stressed tolerance for other religions. The Muslims recognised excellence and
hungered intellectually. The teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah drove many
Muslims to their accomplishments in all disciplines of knowledge.
Muslims of today must apply those same principles of success in order to rectify the
current state of decay. May Allah (swt) grant us the strength and wisdom to
accomplish just that!
References:
1. Tapestry: The Institute for Philosophy, Religion, and the Life Sciences, Inc.
http://www.stormwind.com/common/islam.html
2. http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/ihame/Sec7.htm
3. Jeffery Watkins: (1999-2003) Oswego City School District Regents Exam Prep Center
http://regentsprep.org/Regents/global/themes/goldenages/islam.cfm
4. Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph.D: 2001, irfiweb.org,

http://www.islamfortoday.com/syed04.htm
5. Some glittering aspects of the Islamic civilisation, Dr Mustafa Siba’i, (p69-91).

Astronomy
In its origins and development, Islamic astronomy closely parallels the genesis of
other Islamic sciences in its assimilation of foreign material and the amalgamation of
the disparate elements of that material to create a science that was essentially
Islamic. These include Indian and Sassanid works in particular. Some Hellenistic texts
were also translated and built upon as well.
Some stars in the sky, such as Aldebaran, are still today recognized with their Arabic
names.
Science historian Donald. R. Hill has divided Islamic Astronomy into four distinct time
periods in its history:
1) 700-825 CE: The period of assimilation and syncretisation of earlier Hellenistic,

Indian, and Sassanid astronomy.
2) 825-1025 CE: The period of vigorous investigation, in which the superiority of the
Ptolemaic system of astronomy was accepted and significant contributions made to
it.
3) 1025-1450 CE: The period when a distinctive Islamic system of astronomy flourished.
4) 1450-1900 CE: The period of stagnation, when the traditional system of astronomy
continued to be practised with enthusiasm, but with rapidly decreasing innovation of
any major significance.
A large corpus of literature from Islamic astronomy remains today, numbering

around some 10,000 manuscript volumes scattered throughout the world. Much of
which has not even been catalogued. Even so, a reasonably accurate picture of
Islamic activity in the field of astronomy can be reconstructed.
Observatories
The first systematic observations in Islam are reported to have taken place under the
patronage of al-Mamun. Here, and in many other private observatories from
Damascus to Baghdad, meridian degrees were measured, solar parameters were
established, and detailed observations of the Sun, Moon, and planets were
undertaken.
In the 10th century, the Buwayhid dynasty encouraged the undertaking of extensive
works in Astronomy, such as the construction of a large scale instrument with which
observations were made in the year 950CE. We know of this by recordings made in
the zij of astronomers such as Ibn al-Alam. The great astronomer Abd Al-Rahman Al
Sufi was patronised by prince Adud o-dowleh, who systematically revised Ptolemy's
catalogue of stars. Sharaf al-Daula also established a similar observatory in Baghdad.
And reports by Ibn Yunus and al-Zarqall in Toledo and Cordoba indicate the use of
sophisticated instruments for their time.

It was Malik Shah I who established the first large observatory, probably in Isfahan. It
was here where Omar Khayyám with many other collaborators constructed a zij and
formulated the Persian Solar Calendar a.k.a. the jalali calendar. A modern version of
this calendar is still in official use in Iran today.
The most influential observatory was however founded by Hulegu Khan during the
13th century. Here, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi supervised its technical construction at
Maragha. The facility contained resting quarters for Hulagu Khan, as well as a library
and mosque. Some of the top astronomers of the day gathered there, and from their
collaboration resulted important modifications to the Ptolemaic system over a period
of 50 years.
In 1420, prince Ulugh Beg, himself an astronomer and mathematician, founded

another large observatory in Samarkand, the remains of which were excavated in
1908 by Russian teams.
And finally, Taqi al-din bin Ma'ruf founded a large observatory in Istanbul in 1575,
which was on the same scale as those in Maragha and Samarkand.
In modern times, Turkey has many well equipped observatories, while Jordan,
Palestine, Lebanon, UAE, Tunisia, and other Arab states are also active as well. Iran
has modern facilities at Shiraz University and Tabriz University. In Dec 2005, Physics
Today reported of Iranian plans to construct a "world class" facility with a 2.0 m
telescope observatory in the near future.
Instruments
Our knowledge of the instruments used by Muslim astronomers primarily comes from
two sources. First the remaining instruments in private and museum collections today,
and second the treatises and manuscripts preserved from the middle ages.
Muslims made many improvements to instruments already in use before their time,
such as adding new scales or details. Their contributions to astronomical
instrumentation are abundant.
Celestial globes and armillary spheres
Celestial globes were used primarily for solving problems in celestial astronomy.
Today, 126 such instruments remain worldwide, the oldest from the 11th century. The
altitude of the sun, or the Right Ascension and Declination of stars could be
calculated with these by inputting the location of the observer on the meridian ring
of the globe.
An armillary sphere had similar applications. No early Islamic armillary spheres survive,
but several treatises on “the instrument with the rings” were written. In this context
there is also an Islamic development, the spherical astrolabe, of which only one
complete instrument, from the 14th century, has survived.

Astrolabes
Brass astrolabes were developed in much of the Islamic world, chiefly as an aid to
finding the qibla. The earliest known example is dated 315 (in the Islamic calendar,
corresponding to 927-8CE). The first person credited for building the Astrolabe in the
Islamic world is reportedly Fazari (Richard Nelson Frye: Golden Age of Persia. p163).
He only improved it though, the Greeks had already invented astrolabes to chart the
stars. The Arabs then took it during the Abbasid Dynasty and perfected it to be used
to find the beginning of Ramadan, the hours of prayer, and the direction of Mecca.
The instruments were used to read the rise of the time of rise of the Sun and fixed
stars. al-Zarqall of Andalusia constructed one such instrument in which, unlike its
predecessors, did not depend on the latitude of the observer, and could be used
anywhere. This instrument became known in Europe as the Saphaea.
Sundials
Muslims made several important improvements to the theory and construction of

sundials, which they inherited from their Indian and Greek predecessors. Khwarizmi
made tables for these instruments which considerably shortened the time needed to
make specific calculations.
Sundials were frequently placed on mosques to determine the time of prayer. One
of the most striking examples was built in the 14th century by the muwaqqit
(timekeeper) of the Umayyid Mosque in Damascus, ibn al-Shatir.
Quadrants
Several forms of quadrants were invented by Muslims. Among them was the sine
quadrant used for astronomical calculations and various forms of the horary
quadrant, used to determine time (especially the times of prayer) by observations of
the Sun or stars. A center of the development of quadrants was ninth-century
Baghdad.
Equatorium
The Equatorium is an Islamic invention from Andalusia. The earliest known was
probably made around 1015 CE. It is a mechanical device for finding the positions of
the Moon, Sun, and planets, without calculation using a geometrical model to
represent the celestial body's mean and anomalistic position.

Arabic Mathematic
Recent research paints a new picture of the debt that we owe to Arabic/Islamic
mathematics. Certainly many of the ideas which were previously thought to have
been brilliant new conceptions due to European mathematicians of the sixteenth,
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are now known to have been developed by
Arabic/Islamic mathematicians around four centuries earlier. In many respects the
mathematics studied today is far closer in style to that of the Arabic/Islamic
contribution than to that of the Greeks.
There is a widely held view that, after a brilliant period for mathematics when the
Greeks laid the foundations for modern mathematics, there was a period of
stagnation before the Europeans took over where the Greeks left off at the
beginning of the sixteenth century. The common perception of the period of 1000
years or so between the ancient Greeks and the European Renaissance is that little
happened in the world of mathematics except that some Arabic translations of
Greek texts were made which preserved the Greek learning so that it was available
to the Europeans at the beginning of the sixteenth century.
That such views should be generally held is of no surprise. Many leading historians of
mathematics have contributed to the perception by either omitting any mention of
Arabic/Islamic mathematics in the historical development of the subject or with
statements such as that made by Duhem in:
... Arabic science only reproduced the teachings received from Greek science.
Before we proceed it is worth trying to define the period that this article covers and
give an overall description to cover the mathematicians who contributed. The
period we cover is easy to describe: it stretches from the end of the eighth century
to about the middle of the fifteenth century. Giving a description to cover the
mathematicians who contributed, however, is much harder. The works are on
"Islamic mathematics", which uses the title the "Muslim contribution to mathematics".
Other authors try the description "Arabic mathematics". However, certainly not all
the mathematicians we wish to include were Muslims; some were Jews, some
Christians, some of other faiths. Nor were all these mathematicians Arabs, but for
convenience we will call our topic "Arab mathematics".
The regions from which the "Arab mathematicians" came was centred on Iran/Iraq
but varied with military conquest during the period. At its greatest extent it stretched
to the west through Turkey and North Africa to include most of Spain, and to the east
as far as the borders of China.
The background to the mathematical developments which began in Baghdad

around 800 is not well understood. Certainly there was an important influence which
came from the Hindu mathematicians whose earlier development of the decimal
system and numerals was important. There began a remarkable period of
mathematical progress with al-Khwarizmi's work and the translations of Greek texts.

This period begins under the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, the fifth Caliph of the Abbasid
dynasty, whose reign began in 786. He encouraged scholarship and the first
translations of Greek texts into Arabic, such as Euclid's Elements by al-Hajjaj, were
made during al-Rashid's reign. The next Caliph, al-Ma'mun, encouraged learning
even more strongly than his father al-Rashid, and he set up the House of Wisdom in
Baghdad which became the centre for both the work of translating and of of
research. Al-Kindi (born 801) and the three Banu Musa brothers worked there, as did
the famous translator Hunayn ibn Ishaq.
We should emphasise that the translations into Arabic at this time were made by
scientists and mathematicians such as those named above, not by language
experts ignorant of mathematics, and the need for the translations was stimulated by
the most advanced research of the time. It is important to realise that the translating
was not done for its own sake, but was done as part of the current research effort.
Of Euclid's works, the Elements, the Data, the Optics, the Phaenomena, and On
Divisions were translated. Of Archimedes' works only two - Sphere and Cylinder and
Measurement of the Circle - are known to have been translated, but these were
sufficient to stimulate independent researches from the 9th to the 15th century. On
the other hand, virtually all of Apollonius's works were translated, and of Diophantus
and Menelaus one book each, the Arithmetica and the Sphaerica, respectively,
were translated into Arabic. Finally, the translation of Ptolemy's Almagest furnished
important astronomical material.
The more minor Greek mathematical texts which were translated are also given as:
... Diocles' treatise on mirrors, Theodosius's Spherics, Pappus's work on mechanics,

Ptolemy's Planisphaerium, and Hypsicles' treatises on regular polyhedra (the so-
called Books XIV and XV of Euclid's Elements) ...
Perhaps one of the most significant advances made by Arabic mathematics began
at this time with the work of al-Khwarizmi, namely the beginnings of algebra. It is
important to understand just how significant this new idea was. It was a revolutionary
move away from the Greek concept of mathematics which was essentially
geometry.
Algebra was a unifying theory which allowed rational numbers, irrational numbers,
geometrical magnitudes, etc., to all be treated as "algebraic objects". It gave
mathematics a whole new development path so much broader in concept to that
which had existed before, and provided a vehicle for future development of the
subject. Another important aspect of the introduction of algebraic ideas was that it
allowed mathematics to be applied to itself in a way which had not happened
before. As Rashed writes:
Al-Khwarizmi's successors undertook a systematic application of arithmetic to

algebra, algebra to arithmetic, both to trigonometry, algebra to the Euclidean
theory of numbers, algebra to geometry, and geometry to algebra. This was how the
creation of polynomial algebra, combinatorial analysis, numerical analysis, the
numerical solution of equations, the new elementary theory of numbers, and the
geometric construction of equations arose.

Let us follow the development of algebra for a moment and look at al-Khwarizmi's
successors. About forty years after al-Khwarizmi is the work of al-Mahani (born 820),
who conceived the idea of reducing geometrical problems such as duplicating the
cube to problems in algebra. Abu Kamil (born 850) forms an important link in the
development of algebra between al-Khwarizmi and al-Karaji. Despite not using
symbols, but writing powers of x in words, he had begun to understand what we
would write in symbols as xn.xm = xm+n. Let us remark that symbols did not appear in
Arabic mathematics until much later. Ibn al-Banna and al-Qalasadi used symbols in
the 15th century and, although we do not know exactly when their use began, we
know that symbols were used at least a century before this.
Al-Karaji (born 953) is seen by many as the first person to completely free algebra
from geometrical operations and to replace them with the arithmetical type of
operations which are at the core of algebra today. He was first to define the
monomials x, x2, x3, ... and 1/x, 1/x2, 1/x3, ... and to give rules for products of any two
of these. He started a school of algebra which flourished for several hundreds of
years. Al-Samawal, nearly 200 years later, was an important member of al-Karaji's
school. Al-Samawal (born 1130) was the first to give the new topic of algebra a
precise description when he wrote that it was concerned:
... with operating on unknowns using all the arithmetical tools, in the same way as the
arithmetician operates on the known.
Omar Khayyam (born 1048) gave a complete classification of cubic equations with
geometric solutions found by means of intersecting conic sections. Khayyam also
wrote that he hoped to give a full description of the algebraic solution of cubic
equations in a later work:
If the opportunity arises and I can succeed, I shall give all these fourteen forms with
all their branches and cases, and how to distinguish whatever is possible or
impossible so that a paper, containing elements which are greatly useful in this art
will be prepared.
Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi (born 1135), although almost exactly the same age as al-
Samawal, does not follow the general development that came through al-Karaji's
school of algebra but rather follows Khayyam's application of algebra to geometry.
He wrote a treatise on cubic equations, which:
... represents an essential contribution to another algebra which aimed to study

curves by means of equations, thus inaugurating the beginning of algebraic
geometry.
Let us give other examples of the development of Arabic mathematics. Returning to

the House of Wisdom in Baghdad in the 9th century, one mathematician who was
educated there by the Banu Musa brothers was Thabit ibn Qurra (born 836). He
made many contributions to mathematics, but let us consider for the moment
consider his contributions to number theory. He discovered a beautiful theorem
which allowed pairs of amicable numbers to be found, that is two numbers such that
each is the sum of the proper divisors of the other.

Al-Baghdadi (born 980) looked at a slight variant of Thabit ibn Qurra's theorem, while
al-Haytham (born 965) seems to have been the first to attempt to classify all even
perfect numbers (numbers equal to the sum of their proper divisors) as those of the
form 2k-1(2k - 1) where 2k - 1 is prime.
Al-Haytham, is also the first person that we know to state Wilson's theorem, namely
that if p is prime then 1+(p-1)! is divisible by p. It is unclear whether he knew how to
prove this result. It is called Wilson's theorem because of a comment made by
Waring in 1770 that John Wilson had noticed the result. There is no evidence that
John Wilson knew how to prove it and most certainly Waring did not. Lagrange gave
the first proof in 1771 and it should be noticed that it is more than 750 years after al-
Haytham before number theory surpasses this achievement of Arabic mathematics.
Continuing the story of amicable numbers, from which we have taken a diversion, it
is worth noting that they play a large role in Arabic mathematics. Al-Farisi (born 1260)
gave a new proof of Thabit ibn Qurra's theorem, introducing important new ideas
concerning factorisation and combinatorial methods. He also gave the pair of
amicable numbers 17296, 18416 which have been attributed to Euler, but we know
that these were known earlier than al-Farisi, perhaps even by Thabit ibn Qurra himself.
Although outside our time range for Arabic mathematics in this article, it is worth
noting that in the 17th century the Arabic mathematician Mohammed Baqir Yazdi
gave the pair of amicable number 9,363,584 and 9,437,056 still many years before
Euler's contribution.
Let us turn to the different systems of counting which were is use around the 10th
century in Arabic countries. There were three different types of arithmetic used
around this period and, by the end of the 10th century, authors such as al-Baghdadi
were writing texts comparing the three systems.
1. Finger-reckoning arithmetic.
This system derived from counting on the fingers with the numerals written entirely in
words; this finger-reckoning arithmetic was the system used by the business
community. Mathematicians such as Abu'l-Wafa (born 940) wrote several treatises
using this system. Abu'l-Wafa himself was an expert in the use of Indian numerals but
these:
... did not find application in business circles and among the population of the
Eastern Caliphate for a long time.
Hence he wrote his text using finger-reckoning arithmetic since this was the system
used by the business community.
2. Sexagesimal system.
The second of the three systems was the sexagesimal system, with numerals denoted
by letters of the Arabic alphabet. It came originally from the Babylonians and was
most frequently used by the Arabic mathematicians in astronomical work.

3. Indian numeral system.

The third system was the arithmetic of the Indian numerals and fractions with the
decimal place-value system. The numerals used were taken over from India, but
there was not a standard set of symbols. Different parts of the Arabic world used
slightly different forms of the numerals. At first the Indian methods were used by the
Arabs with a dust board. A dust board was needed because the methods required
the moving of numbers around in the calculation and rubbing some out as the
calculation proceeded. The dust board allowed this to be done in the same sort of
way that one can use a blackboard, chalk and a blackboard eraser. However, al-
Uqlidisi (born 920) showed how to modify the methods for pen and paper use. Al-
Baghdadi also contributed to improvements in the decimal system.
It was this third system of calculating which allowed most of the advances in
numerical methods by the Arabs. It allowed the extraction of roots by
mathematicians such as Abu'l-Wafa and Omar Khayyam (born 1048). The discovery
of the binomial theorem for integer exponents by al-Karaji (born 953) was a major
factor in the development of numerical analysis based on the decimal system. Al-
Kashi (born1380) contributed to the development of decimal fractions not only for
approximating algebraic numbers, but also for real numbers such as ð. His
contribution to decimal fractions is so major that for many years he was considered
as their inventor. Although not the first to do so, al-Kashi gave an algorithm for
calculating nth roots which is a special case of the methods given many centuries
later by Ruffini and Horner.
Although the Arabic mathematicians are most famed for their work on algebra,
number theory and number systems, they also made considerable contributions to
geometry, trigonometry and mathematical astronomy. Ibrahim ibn Sinan (born 908),
who introduced a method of integration more general than that of Archimedes, and
al-Quhi (born 940) were leading figures in a revival and continuation of Greek higher
geometry in the Islamic world. These mathematicians, and in particular al-Haytham,
studied optics and investigated the optical properties of mirrors made from conic
sections. Omar Khayyam combined the use of trigonometry and approximation
theory to provide methods of solving algebraic equations by geometrical means.
Astronomy, time-keeping and geography provided other motivations for

geometrical and trigonometrical research. For example Ibrahim ibn Sinan and his
grandfather Thabit ibn Qurra both studied curves required in the construction of
sundials. Abu'l-Wafa and Abu Nasr Mansur both applied spherical geometry to
astronomy and also used formulas involving sin and tan. Al-Biruni (born 973) used the
sin formula in both astronomy and in the calculation of longitudes and latitudes of
many cities. Again both astronomy and geography motivated al-Biruni's extensive
studies of projecting a hemisphere onto the plane.
Thabit ibn Qurra undertook both theoretical and observational work in astronomy. Al-
Battani (born 850) made accurate observations which allowed him to improve on
Ptolemy's data for the sun and the moon. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (born 1201), like many
other Arabic mathematicians, based his theoretical astronomy on Ptolemy's work but
al-Tusi made the most significant development of Ptolemy's model of the planetary
system up to the development of the heliocentric model in the time of Copernicus.

Many of the Arabic mathematicians produced tables of trigonometric functions as

part of their studies of astronomy. These include Ulugh Beg (born 1393) and al-Kashi.
The construction of astronomical instruments such as the astrolabe was also a
speciality of the Arabs. Al-Mahani used an astrolabe while Ahmed (born 835), al-
Khazin (born 900), Ibrahim ibn Sinan, al-Quhi, Abu Nasr Mansur (born 965), al-Biruni,
and others, all wrote important treatises on the astrolabe. Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi (born
1201) invented the linear astrolabe.
The astrolabe, whose mathematical theory is based on the stereographic projection

of the sphere, was invented in late antiquity, but its extensive development in Islam
made it the pocket watch of the medievals. In its original form, it required a different
plate of horizon coordinates for each latitude, but in the 11th century the Spanish
Muslim astronomer az-Zarqallu invented a single plate that worked for all latitudes.
Slightly earlier, astronomers in the East had experimented with plane projections of
the sphere, and al-Biruni invented such a projection that could be used to produce
a map of a hemisphere. The culminating masterpiece was the astrolabe of the
Syrian Ibn ash-Shatir (1305-75), a mathematical tool that could be used to solve all
the standard problems of spherical astronomy in five different ways.
Timeline
8th century
• 700s - [petroleum; civil engineering] The streets of the newly constructed Baghdad
are paved with tar, coming from the petroleum that oozes in natural oil fields in the
region.
• 700s - 800s - [cosmetics] Ziryab (Blackbird) starts a beauty institute in Spain.
• 740 - 828 - Al-Ama'i, Zoology, Botany, Animal husbandry.
• 770 - 840 - [mathematics] Kharazmi (Persian: ‫يمزراوخ‬, in Arabic became ‫ يمزراوخلا‬al-
Khwarizmi, Latinized name Algorithm). Developed the "calculus of resolution and
juxtaposition" (hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala), more briefly referred to as al-jabr, or
algebra. gives an idea on the utility of this development: "Algebra was a unifying
theory which allowed rational numbers, irrational numbers, geometrical magnitudes,
etc., to all be treated as "algebraic objects". It gave mathematics a whole new
development path so much broader in concept to that which had existed before,
and provided a vehicle for future development of the subject. Another important
aspect of the introduction of algebraic ideas was that it allowed mathematics to be
applied to itself in a way which had not happened before. As Rashed writes : Al-
Khwarizmi's successors undertook a systematic application of arithmetic to algebra,
algebra to arithmetic, both to trigonometry, algebra to the Euclidean theory of
numbers, algebra to geometry, and geometry to algebra. This was how the creation
of polynomial algebra, combinatorial analysis, numerical analysis, the numerical
solution of equations, the new elementary theory of numbers, and the geometric
construction of equations arose."
• 776 - 868 - [zoology; language] 'Amr ibn Bahr Al-Jahiz. Zoology, Arabic grammar,
rhetoric, lexicography.

• late 700s - early 800s - [music] Mansour Zalzal of Kufa. Musician (luth) and
composer of the Abbasid era. Contributed musical scales that were later named
after him (the Mansouri scale) and introduced positions (intervals) within scales such
as the wasati-zalzal that was equidistant from the alwasati alqadima and wasati al-
fors. Made improvements on the design of the luth instrument and designed the Luth.
Teacher of Is-haq al-Mawsili.
9th century
• 800 - 873 - [various] Ibn Ishaq Al-Kindi (latinized, Alkindus.) Philosophy, Physics,
Optics, Medicine, Mathematics, Cryptography, Metallurgy. Worked at the House of
Wisdom which was set up in 810.
• 803 - [chemistry; glass] d. Abu-Moussa Jabir ibn Hayyan (Latinized name, Geber,).
Famous Persian chemist. First chemist known to produce sulfuric acid, as well as
many other chemicals and instruments. Wrote on adding color to glass by adding
small quantities of metallic oxides to the glass, such as manganese dioxide
(magnesia). This was a new advancement in glass industry unknown in antiquity. His
works include "The elaboration of the Grand Elixir"; "The chest of wisdom" in which he
writes on nitric acid; Kitab al-istitmam (translated to Latin later as Summa
Perfectionis); and others.
• ca. 810 Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom) set up in Baghdad. There Greek and
Indian mathematical and astronomy works are translated into Arabic.
• 820 - [mathematics] Mahani (full name Abu Abdollah Muhammad ibn Isa Mahani -
in Arabic Al-Mahani). Conceived the idea of reducing geometrical problems such as
duplicating the cube to problems in algebra.
• 836 - 901 [anatomy; astronomy; mathematics; mechanics] Born Thabit Ibn Qurra
(latinized, Thebit.) Studied at Baghdad's House of Wisdom under the Banu Musa
brothers. Made many contributions to mathematics, particularly in geometry and
number theory. He discovered the theorem by which pairs of amicable numbers can
be found; i.e., two numbers such that each is the sum of the proper divisors of the
other.[1] Later, al-Baghdadi (b. 980) and al-Haytham (born 965) developed variants
of the theorem.
• 838 - 870 - Tabari (full name: Ali ibn Sahl Rabban Al-Tabari). Medicine, Mathematics,
Calligraphy, Literature.
• mid 800s - [chemistry] Al-Kindi writes on the distillation of wine as that of rose water
and gives 107 recipes for perfumes, in his book Kitab Kimia al-òtoor wa al-tasèedat
(book of the chemistry of perfumes and distillations.)
• 850 - 930 [mathematics] born Abu Kamil of Egypt (full name, Abu Kamil Shuja ibn
Aslam ibn Muhammad ibn Shuja) Forms an important link in the development of
algebra between al-Khwarizmi and al-Karaji. Despite not using symbols, but writing
powers of x in words, he had begun to understand what we would write in symbols
as .
• 858 - 929 - [astronomy - mathematics] Al-Battani (Albategnius) Works on astronomy,
trigonometry etc.
• ca. 860 - Al-Farghani (Al-Fraganus) Astronomy, Civil engineering.

• 864 - 930 - [chemistry; medicine; ...] Razi (Rhazes) Medicine, Ophthalmology,

Smallpox, Chemistry, Astronomy. Al-Razi wrote on Naft (naphta or petroleum) and its
distillates in his book "Kitab sirr al-asrar" (book of the secret of secrets.) When
choosing a site to build Baghdad's hospital, he hung pieces of fresh meat in different
parts of the city. The location where the meat took the longest to rot was the one he
chose for building the hospital. Advocated that patients not be told their real
condition so that fear or despair do not affect the healing process. Wrote on alkali,
caustic soda, soap and glycerine. Gave descriptions of equipment processes and
methods in his book Kitab al-Asrar (book of secrets) in 925.
• 870 - 950 - Farabi (Al-Pharabius) Sociology, Logic, Philosophy, Political science,
Music.
• 888 - [various] Died 'Abbas Ibn Firnas. Mechanics of Flight, Planetarium, Artificial
Crystals. Ibn Firnas investigated means of flight and was apparently injured due to a
trial in which he attempted to fly off of a cliff using wings. One of the earliest records
of attempts at flight.
• 800s - [chemistry; petroleum] Oilfields in Baku, Azerbaijan, generate commercial
activities and industry. These oilfields, were wells are dug to get the Naft (or naphta,
or crude petroleum) are described by geographer Masudi in the 10th century and
by Marco Polo in the 13th century, who described the output of those wells as
hundreds of shiploads.
10th century
• 900s [mathematics; accounting] By this century, three systems of counting are used
in the Arab world. Finger-reckoning arithmetic, with numerals written entirely in words,
used by the business community; the sexagesimal system, a remnant originating with
the Babylonians, with numerals denoted by letters of the arabic alphabet and used
by Arab mathematicians in astronomical work; and the Hindu-Arabic numeral
system, which was used with various sets of symbols. Its arithmetic at first required the
use of a dust board (a sort of handheld blackboard) because "the methods required
moving the numbers around in the calculation and rubbing some out as the
calculation proceeded." Al-Uqlidisi (born 920) modified these methods for pen and
paper use. Eventually the advances enabled by the decimal system led to its
standard use throughout the region and the world.
• 903 - 986 [astronomy] Al-Sufi (latinized name, Azophi).
• 920 [mathematics] Born al-Uqlidisi. Modified arithmetic methods for the Indian
numeral system to make it possible for pen and paper use. Hitherto, doing
calculations with the Indian numerals necessitated the use of a dust board as noted
earlier.
• 936 - 1013 [medicine] Al-Zahrawi (latinized name, Albucasis) Surgery, Medicine.
Called the "Father of Modern Surgery."
• 940 - 997 [astronomy; mathematics] Muhammad Al-Buzjani. Mathematics,
Astronomy, Geometry, Trigonometry.
• 940 [mathematics] Born Abu'l-Wafa al-Buzjani. Wrote several treatises using the
finger-counting system of arithmetic, and was also an expert on the Indian numerals
system. About the Indian system he wrote: "[it] did not find application in business
circles and among the population of the Eastern Caliphate for a long time." [1] Using
the Indian numeral system, abu'l Wafa was able to extract roots.

• 953 [mathematics] Born al-Karaji of Karaj and Baghdad (full name, Abu Bekr ibn
Muhammad ibn al-Husayn Al-Karaji or al-Karkhi). Believed to be the "first person to
completely free algebra from geometrical operations and to replace them with the
arithmetical type of operations which are at the core of algebra today. He was first
to define the monomials x, x2, x3, ... and 1 / x, 1 / x2, 1 / x3, ... and to give rules for
products of any two of these. He started a school of algebra which flourished for
several hundreds of years". Discovered the binomial theorem for integer exponents.
This "was a major factor in the development of numerical analysis based on the
decimal system."
• 957 [geography; cartography; exploration; chemistry] died Abul Hasan Ali Al-
Masudi, best known as a cartographer, was also a traveler historian, etc. Al-masòudi
described his visit to the oilfields of Baku. Wrote on the reaction of alkali water with
zaj (vitriol) water giving sulfuric acid.
• 965 - 1040 [mathematics; optics; physics] Born ibn al-Haitham (full name, ; latinized
name, Alhazen). Possibly the first to classify all even perfect numbers (i.e., numbers
equal to the sum of their proper divisors) as those of the form 2k − 1(2k − 1) where 2k
− 1 is prime number. Al-Haytham is also the first person to state Wilson's theorem. if p
is prime than 1 + (p − 1)! is divisible by p. says "It is called Wilson's theorem because of
a comment by Waring in 1770 that John Wilson had noticed the result. There is no
evidence that Wilson knew how to prove it. It was over 750 years later that Lagrange
gave the first known proof to the statement in 1771.
• 972 - 1058 [humanities] Al-Mawardi (Alboacen) Political science, Sociology,
Jurisprudence, Ethics.
• 973 - 1048 [mathematics; physics] Abu Raihan Al-Biruni; Astronomy, Mathematics.
Determined Earth's circumference.
• 980 [mathematics] Born al-Baghdadi (full name, ). Studied a slight variant of Thabit
ibn Qurra's theorem on amicable numbers. Al-Baghdadi also wrote texts comparing
the three systems of counting and arithmetic used in the region during this period.
Made improvements on the decimal system.
• 981 - 1037 [astronomy; mathematics; medicine; philosophy] Ibn Sina (Avicenna);
Medicine, Philosophy, Mathematics, Astronomy.Is considered to be the father of
modern medicine
11th century
• 1000s - [related] First wave of devastation of Muslim resources, lives, properties,

institutions, and infrastructure over a period of one hundred years: Fall of Muslim
Toledo (1085), Malta (1090), Sicily (1091) and Jerusalem (1099). Several Crusades.
• 1028 - 1087 - [astronomy] Al-Zarqali (Arzachel.) Invented the Astrolabe.
• 1044 or 1048 - 1123 [mathematics] Omar Al-Khayyam. Persian mathematician and
poet. "Gave a complete classification of cubic equations with geometric solutions
found by means of intersecting conic sections. Khayyam also wrote that he hoped
to give a full description of the algebraic solution of cubic equations in a later work:
'If the opportunity arises and I can succeed, I shall give all these fourteen forms with
all their branches and cases, and how to distinguish whatever is possible or
impossible so that a paper, containing elements which are greatly useful in this art
will be prepared'." Extracted roots using the decimal system (the Indian numeral
system). There is dispute whether the Maqamat, a famous diwan of poetry translated
to English are actually his work.

• 1058 - 1111 [law; theology] Al-Ghazali (Algazel), judge and prolific thinker and
writer on topics such as sociology, theology and philosophy. He critiqued the so-
called Greek philosophers Ibn Sina, aka Avicenna and al-Farabi, aka Farabius. Wrote
extensive expositions on Islamic tenets and foundations of jurisprudence. Also
critiqued the Muslim scholastics (al-mutakallimun.) Was associated with sufism but he
later critiqued it as well.
• 1091 - 1161 [medicine] Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) Surgery, Medicine.
• 1099 - 1166 [cartography;geography] Muhammad Al-Idrisi (Dreses). Among his
works are a world Map and the first known globe.
12th century
• 1100 - 1166 (AH 493 - 560) [cartography, geography] Muhammad al-Idrissi, aka Idris
al-Saqalli aka al-sharif al-idrissi of Andalusia and Sicily. Said to draw the first correct
map of the world "lawh al-tarsim" (plank of draught). His maps were used extensively
during the explorations of the era of European renaissance. Roger II of Sicily
commemorated his world map on a circle of silver weighing about 400 pounds.
Works include Nozhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-&agrav;faq dedicated to Roger II of
Sicily, which is a compendium of the geographic and sociologic knowledge of his
time as well as descriptions of his own travels illustrated with over seventy maps;
Kharitat al-àlam al-ma`mour min al-ard (Map of the inhabited regions of the earth)
wherein he divided the world into 7 regions, the first extending from the equator to
23 degrees latitude, and the seventh being from 54 to 63 degrees followed by a
region uninhabitable due to cold and snow.
• 1106 - 1138 [polymath] Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Yahya (Ibn Bajjah) Philosophy,
Medicine, Mathematics, Astronomy, Poetry, Music.
• 1110 - 1185 [literature, philosophy] Abdubacer Ibn Tufayl of Spain. Philosophy,
medicine, poetry, fiction. His most famous work is Hayy ibn Yaqzan, which is a spiritual
investigation into the reality of the world narrated by a man who was raised from
infancy by a roe or gazelle.
• 1128 - 1198 [philosophy] Ibn Rushd (Averroes) Philosophy, Law, Medicine,
Astronomy, Theology.
• 1130 [mathematics] Born al-Samawal. An important member of al-Karaji's school of
algebra. Gave this definition of algebra: "[it is concerned] with operating on
unknowns using all the arithmetical tools, in the same way as the arithmetician
operates on the known."
• 1135 [mathematics] Born Sharafeddin Tusi. Follows al-Khayyam's application of
algebra of geometry, rather than follow the general development that came
through al-Karaji's school of algebra. Wrote a treatise on cubic equations which
describes thus: "[the treatise] represents an essential contribution to another algebra
which aimed to study curves by means of equations, thus inaugurating the
beginning of algebraic geometry."
13th century
• 1200s - [related] "Second wave of devastation of Muslim resources, lives, properties,

institutions, and infrastructure over a period of one hundred and twelve years.
Crusader invasions (1217-1291) and Mongol invasions (1219-1329). Crusaders active
throughout the Mediterranean from Jerusalem and west to Muslim Spain. Fall of
Muslim Córdoba (1236), Valencia (1238) and Seville (1248). Mongols devastation

from the eastern most Muslim frontier, Central and Western Asia, India, Persia to Arab
heartland. Fall of Baghdad (1258) and the end of Abbasid Caliphate. Two million
Muslims massacred in Baghdad. Major scientific institutions, laboratories, and
infrastructure destroyed in leading Muslim centers of civilization."
• 1200s - [medicine; scientific method] Ibn Al-Nafis b. ca. 607AH, d. ca. 689AH.
Damascene physician and anatomist. Discovered the lesser circulatory system (the
cycle involving the ventricles of the heart and the lungs), and described the
mechanism of breathing and its relation to the blood and how it nourishes on air in
the lungs. Followed a "constructivist" path of the smaller circulatory system: "blood is
purified in the lungs for the continuance of life and providing the body with the
ability to work". During his time, the common view was that blood originates in the
liver then travels to the right ventricle, then on to the organs of the body; another
contemporary view was that blood is filtered through the diaphragm where it mixes
with the air coming from the lungs. Ibn al-Nafis discredited all these views including
ones by Galen and Avicenna (ibn Sina). At least an illustration of his manuscript is still
extant. William Harvey explained the circulatory system without reference to ibn al-
Nafis in 1628. Ibn al-Nafis extolled the study of comparative anatomy in his
"Explaining the dissection of [Avicenna's] Al-Qanoon" which includes a prefaces, and
citations of sources. Emphasized the rigours of verification by measurement,
observation and experiment. Subjected conventional wisdom of his time to a critical
review and verified it with experiment and observation, discarding errors.
• 1200s - [chemistry] Al-Jawbari describes the preparation of rose water in the work
"Book of Selected Disclosure of Secrets" (Kitab kashf al-Asrar).
• 1200s - [chemistry; materials; glassmaking] Arabic manuscript on the manufacture
of false gemstones and diamonds. Also describes spirits of alum, spirits of saltpetre
and spirits of salts (hydrochloric acid).
• 1200s - [chemistry] An Arabic manuscript written in syriac script gives description of
various chemical materials and their properties such as sulfuric acid, sal-ammoniac,
saltpetre and zaj (vitriol).
• 1201 - 1274 - [astronomy; mathematics] Nasir Al-Din Al-Tusi; Astronomy, Non-
Euclidean geometry.
• 1204 [astronomy] Died, Al-Bitruji (Alpetragius.)
• 1207 - 1273 [sociology; poetry; spirituality] Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, one of the
best known Persian passion poets, famous for poignant poetry on the theme of
spiritual enlightenment and passion.
• 1213 - 1288 [anatomy] Ibn Al-Nafis al-Damishqui.
• 1248 - [pharmacy; veterinary medicine] Died Ibn Al-Baitar. Studied and wrote on
botany, pharmacy and is best known for studying animal anatomy and medicine.
The Arabic term for veterinary medicine is named after him.
• 1260 [mathematics] Born al-Farisi. Gave a new proof of Thabit ibn Qurra's theorem,
introducing important new ideas concerning factorization and combinatorial
methods. He also gave the pair of amicable numbers 17296, 18416 which have also
been joint attributed to Fermat as well as Thabit ibn Qurra.
• 1273 - 1331 [astronomy; geography; history] Abu al-Fida (Abulfeda).
• 1277 - [materials; glass and ceramics] A treaty for the transfer of glassmaking
technology signed between the crusader Bohemond VII, titular prince of Antioch
and the Doge of Venice leads to the transfer of Syrian glassworkers and their trade
secrets and the subsequent rise of Venetian glass industry, the most prominent in
Europe for centuries. The techniques henceforth, closely guarded by Venitians only
become known in France in the 1600s.

14th century
• 1301 - [ceramics] Al-Kashani promotes a center for ceramics. He also writes a book
on Islamic ceramics techniques. His name is still associated with ceramics in the
Muslim Orient today.
• 1304 - 1369 [exploration; travel] Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battuta; World
Traveler. 75,000 mile voyage from Morocco to China and back.
• 1332 - 1395 [history; political science; humanities] Ibn Khaldun. Sociology,
Philosophy of History, general science, Political Science. His most famous work, al-
Muqqadima (Prolegomena), encyclopedic in breadth, surveys the state of
knowledge of his day, covering geography, accounts of the peoples of the world
and their known history, the classification and aims of the sciences and the religious
sciences.
• 1380 [mathematics] Born al-Kashi. According to [1], "contributed to the
development of decimal fractions not only for approximating algebraic numbers,
but also for real numbers such as pi. His contribution to decimal fractions is so major
that for many years he was considered as their inventor. Although not the first to do
so, al-Kashi gave an algorithm for calculating nth roots which is a special case of the
methods given many centuries later by Ruffini and Horner."
• 1393 - 1449 - [astronomy] Ulugh Beg commissions an observatory at Samarqand in
present-day Uzbekistan.
15th century
• 1400s - 1500s - [related] Third wave of devastation of Muslim resources, lives,

properties, institutions, and infrastructure. End of Muslim rule in Spain (1492). More
than one million volumes of Muslim works on science, arts, philosophy and culture
was burnt in the public square of Vivarrambla in Granada. Colonization began in
Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Refer to "A Chronology of Muslim History Parts IV, V
(e.g., 1455, 1494, 1500, 1510, 1524, and 1538)"
• 1400s [mathematics] Ibn al-Banna and al-Qalasadi used symbols for mathematics
in the 15th century "and, although we do not know exactly when their use began,
we know that symbols were used at least a century before this."
• 1400s - [astronomy and mathematics] Ibn Masoud (Ghayyathuddin Jamshid ibn
mohamed ibn masòud, d. 1424 or 1436.) First to use the decimal point in arithmetic.
Wrote on the decimal system. First to introduce the zero (Indian mathematicians had
used only nine glyphs for numerals). Computed and observed the solar eclipses of
809AH, 810AH and 811AH, after being invited by Ulugh Bek, based in Samarqand to
pursue his study of mathematics, astronomy and physics. His works include "The Key
of arithmetics"; "Discoveries in mathematics"; "The Decimal point"; "the benefits of the
zero". The contents of the Benefits of the Zero are an introduction followed by five
essays: On whole number arithmetic; On fractional arithmetic; on astrology; on
areas; on finding the unknowns [unknown variables]. He also wrote a "Thesis on the
sine and the chord"; "thesis on the circumference" in which he found the ratio of the
circumference to the [[[radius]] of a circle to the 16th decimal; "The garden of
gardens" or "promenade of the gardens" describing an instrument he devised and
used at the Samarqand observatory to compile an ephemeris, and for computing
solar and lunar eclipses; The ephemeresis "Zayj Al-Khaqani" which also includes

mathematical tables and corrections of the ephemeresis by Al-Tusi; "Thesis on finding

the first degree sine"; and more.
• 1411 [mathematics] Al-Kashi writes Compendium of the Science of Astronomy.
• 1424 [mathematics] Al-Kashi writes Treatise on the Circumference giving a
remarkably good approximation to pi in both sexagesimal and decimal forms.
• 1427 [mathematics] Al-Kashi completes The Key to Arithmetic containing work of
great depth on decimal fractions. It applies arithmetical and algebraic methods to
the solution of various problems, including several geometric ones and is one of the
best textbooks in the whole of medieval literature.
• 1437 [mathematics] Ulugh Beg publishes his star catalogue Zij-i Sultani. It contains
trigonometric tables correct to eight decimal places based on Ulugh Beg's
calculation of the sine of one degree which he calculated correctly to 16 decimal
places.
17th century
• 1600s [flight; rocketry] Turkish scientist Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi took off from Galata
tower and flew over the Bosphorus. Lagari Hasan Çelebi, another member of the
Celebi family, sent the first manned rocket, using 150 okka (about 300 pounds) of
gunpowder as the firing fuel. This is more than two hundred years before similar
attempts in Modern Europe and the United States.
• 1600s [mathematics] The Arabic mathematician Mohammed Baqir Yazdi joint
discovered the pair of amicable numbers 9,363,584 and 9,437,056 along with
Descartes (1636).
18th century
• 1783 - 1799 - [rocketry] Tipu, Sultan of Mysore [1783-1799] in the south of India, was
an experimentator with war rockets. Two of his rockets, captured by the British at
Srirangapatana, are displayed in the Woolwich Royal Artillery Museum in London.
The rocket motor casing was made of steel with multiple nozzles. The rocket, 50 mm
in diameter and 250 mm long, had a range performance of 900 meters to 1.5 km.
(src: http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/).
20th century
• 1960s [mathematics; formal logic] Lotfi Zadeh of Iran develops fuzzy logic.
• 1970s A Pakistani theoretical physicist, Abdus Salam, who received the Nobel Prize
in Physics in 1979 for his work in electroweak theory which is the mathematical and
conceptual synthesis of the electromagnetic and weak interaction
• 1980s Pakistan was the first islamic country which successfully devloped the nuclear
technology
• 1999 Ahmed Zewail Egyptian chemists

List of Islamic Scholars
A Muslim philosopher is a person that professes Islam and engaged in the

philosophical aspect of Islamic studies, for example theology or eschatology and
other fields of Islamic philosophy.
Abu Bakr, first Sunni Caliph after the prophet

Omar Bin Khattab, second sunni Caliph after the prophet
Othman Bin Affan, third sunni Caliph after the prophet
Ali - 599, fourth Caliph, and first Shii Imam
Ali ibn Abu Talib- 7th century- cousin and son-in law of the Prophet Muhammed(may
Allah bless him and give him peace), first shia imam -completely versed in the
Quraan by the age of 9-10 and extensively knowledgable in the natural sciences,
composer of shia narration- the peak of eloquence
al-Husayn ibn 'Ali third Shi'i Imam and famed martyr at Karbala
Muhammad al Baqir
Jafar Sadiq - 702, Arab, Shia Imam
Musa al Kazim- shia Imam-a religious scholar descendant of the Prophet Muhammed
Ali ar Rida- grandson of the Prophet Muhammed, religious scholar
ibn al-Haitham - (965-1040) a twelver shia-"father of optics"- established the study of
the Human eye and refraction if light through lenses
Muhammad Ya'qub Kulainy - 950, Sufficing fundaments (Usul al-Kafi)
Ibn Abbas - 619, Arab
Abdullah ibn Masoud - d. 652
Zayd ibn Thabit - pre-610
Sunni Muslim
Hassan al-Basri - (642 - 728 or 737)

Abu Hanifa an-Nu'man - 699
Ahmad ibn Hanbal - 780, Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Al-Khwarezmi, Algorism 770 Khwarezm - 840
Malik ibn Anas - 715, Al-Muwatta
Abu 'Abd Allah ash-Shafi'i - 767
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma'eel al-Bukhari - 810, Sunni, Persian, Hadith, Sahih
Bukhari Most trusted hadith collector in Sunni Islam
Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj - 810, Sahih Muslim, , Persian
Abu Dawud as-Sidjistani, 817 (Basra) - 888, Sunan Abu Dawud, Persian, Hadith
compiler
Al-Tirmidhi - 824, Jami at-Tirmidhi
Al-Nasa'i - 829 Hadith collection , Persian
Ibn Majah - 824 Persia Sunan ibn Majah
at-Tabarani - al-Mu'jam al-Kabeer
Ibn Qutaybah - (828-889)
Ibn Hisham - (d. 834)
ibn Jarir at-Tabari - 838, Sunni, Persian, multiple fields, Tarikh al-Tabari/Tafsir al-Tabari
Al-Ghazali - (1058-1111) Persian theologian and philosopher
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, (1149–1209) Persian
Al-Nawawi - (1233-1278) Sharh Sahih Muslim, Riyadh as-Saaliheen, 40 Hadith Nawawi
ash-Shawkani

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani - (1372-1449) Muhaddith author of al-Fath al-Baari and Bulugh
al-Maram
Al-Qurtubi - d. 1273 Tafsir al-Qurtubi Andalusian
Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah - (1292-1350) Za'ad al-Ma'ad
al-Haafidh ibn Kathir - (1301-1373) Tafsir ibn Kathir
Al-Tahawi - (853-933) Egypt Aqeedah at-Tahawiyyah
Sibt ibn al-Jawzi - d. 1257
Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi, Ali ben Ahmed - 994 (Cordoba) – 1064, Andalusian philosopher
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi - (1001 - 1072)
al-Hafidh ibn Rajab al-Hanbali - (1335-1392) Damascus
Al-Dhahabi - (1274-1348) Talkhis al-Mustadrak
Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi - (1147-1223) al-Mughni
Abd ar-Rahman ibn Naasir as-Saa'di - (1889-1956)
Shams-ul-haq Azeemabadi -1857 -1911, India, Author of Awn-ul-Mabood Sharh
Sunan Abi Dawood
Hakim al-Nishaburi - 1014, Persian, Mustadrak al-Hakim
Al-Mawardi - 1058, Arab
Ali ibn Tahir al-Sulami - 1106
Ibn Ruschd, Mohammed ben Ahmed - Averroes 1126 - 1198, Sunni Maliki, Spain,
multiple fields, The Incoherence of the Incoherence
Ali ibn al-Athir - 1160, The Complete History
Abul Fida Ismail Ibn Hamwi, 1273, Sunni Shafii (?), Syria, multiple fields, Tarikh Abul Fida
Ali ibn Abu Bakr al-Haythami - 13??, Majma al-Zawa'id
Ibn Khaldun - 1332, Historian
M. A. Muqtedar Khan - 1966 Political Philosopher and Western Muslim Intellectual
as-Suyuti - 1471, History of the Caliphs
Abdulhakim Arvasi - 1867
Badiuzzaman Said Nursi - 1877, Kurdish Turkish Islamic Scholar
Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi - 801, Arab, multiple fields
Ismail Al-Faruqi - 1921, Sunni, Palestina, philosopher
Ahmed Rida Khan- 1856
Muhammad Metwally Al Shaarawy - (1911-1998)
Yusuf al-Qaradawi - 1926
Imam Iskender Ali MIHR - 1933-Current
Al-Sheik Abdulmajeed Al-Zindini (Jammat Al-Iman In Yemen)
Fethullah Gulen - 1938, Turkish, Islamic Scholar
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam - 1941
Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid - 1943,
Khurshid Ahmad - 1932
Syed Abdullah Shah Naqshbandi - 1872-1964 Sunni Muhaddith of Deccan India
Ibn Hajar Al-Haythami - 909 AH Al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah
al-Muhadith Muhammad Nassir ad-Deen Al-Albani - (1914-1999)
Muhammad Yusuf Khandlawi - (1917 – 1965) India Sunni
Al-Juwayni - Fara'id al-Simtayn
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri[1] (1951) Author of 300 books including Urdu
translation of Quran [2]
Rashid Rida - (1865-1935) Syrian
Muhammad Rafi Usmani
Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Tawfique Chowdhury

Anwar Al Awlaki , Yemen

Huseyin Hilmi Isik (1911-2001) - Author of Seadet-i Ebediyye or the Endless Bliss
Omar Khayyám - 1048, Persia
Al-Khwarizmi - 800?, Persia
Amin Ahsan Islahi (1904–1997) - Author of Tadabbur-i-Qur’an
Nizam al-Mulk - (1018 – 1092) Persian Siyasatnama
Sheikh Muhammad Taqiuddin al-Nabhani
Shah waliullah
Shi'a Muslim
Abi Mekhnaf -died in 157 AH, 774 AD - Kufi

Mohammad ibn Ali (ibn-e Babuyeh) or (Shaikh Saduq) 927/928 - (306 -381 A.H.)
al-Sharif al-Radi - 970, compiler of the Peak of Eloquence (Nahj al-Balagha)
al-Sharif al-Murtada
al-Shaykh al-Mufid
Nasir al-Din Tusi - 1201, Shi'a, Persia, multiple fields, Zij-i ilkhani, one of the founders of
Trigonometry.
Mulla Sadra - 1571, Shi'a, Persia, philosophy, Transcendent Theosophy, the greatest
philosopher Persia has ever produced
Mir Damad - 16?? or 17??, Shia, Persia, philosophy, Taqwim al-Iman, founder of the
Isfahan School
Allama Majlesi, 1689, Shia twelver, Iran, Oceans of Light (Bihar ul Anwar)
Avicenna or ibn Sina - 980, Persian, physicians, The Book of Healing, "the father of
modern medicine"
Grand Ayatollah al-Shirazi - 1892, Shia twelver, Iran
Allameh Tabatabaei - 1892, Shia twelver, Iran, multiple fields, Tafsir al-Mizan
Allamah Rasheed Turabi 1908 - 1973
Ruhollah Khomeini - 1900, Shia twelver, Iran, the political and spiritual leader of the
1979 Islamic Revolution
Seyyed Hossein Nasr - 1933, Shia twelver, Iran, philosophy, [Shi'a Islam (Book)
Musa al-Sadr - Abducted in 1978
Morteza Motahhari - 1979 Iran
Husain Mohammad Jafri - Shia, Pakistan, The Origins and Early Development of Shià
Islam
Ahmad ibn A'tham
Ali al-Sistani - Shia twelver, Iran-Iraq
Ahmad Reda
Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i - Shia
Sayed Muhsin al-Hakim
Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim
Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi
Mohammad Salih al-Mazandarani - Shahr Usul al-Kafi
Mulla Sadra - Persia
Mughatil ibn Bakri
Muhammad al-Tijani
Hamid Dabashi - Expectation of the Millennium: Shi'ism in History
Ali Khamenei
Ali Shariati
Haji Karim Khan of Kirman [3]

Siyyid Kázim Rashtí

Sayed Muhsin al-Hakim
Mohammad Khatami
Mahmoud Khatami
Professor Abdul Hakeem
Prof.Waheed Akhtar: (1934-1996)
Sufi
Rabi'a al-Adawiya, aka Rabia Basri, 8th century, Basra, Persia [4]
Attar, Persia
Abusaeid Abolkheir, Persia
Junayd Baghdadi
Bayazid Bastami, Persia
Mansur Al-Hallaj, Persia
Abdul Qadir Jilani - Sunni Hanbali
Najmeddin Kubra, Persia
Dhu Nun al-Masri, 9th century, Nubia, Egypt
Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi - 1207, Persia, founder of the order of the derwishes
Al-Sakhawi, 831— 902
Nasreddin - 10?? -13??, Persia
Saadi - Persia
Al-Farabi - 870, Persian, multiple fields, Kitab al-Musiqa, one of the greatest scientists
and philosophers of his time
Jami - 1414, Persian, multiple fields, Diwanha-i Sehganeh, the greatest Persian poet in
the 15th century
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
Muhammad Ilyas - 1885
Justice Shaykh Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari - 1918-1998, Bhera, Pakistan
Shaykh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada
Shaykh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi England
Hazrat Mujadid Abdul Wahab Siddiqi(1942-1994)England
Mutazilite
Wasil ibn Ata - 700, founder of the Mutazilite school of Islamic thought (Arab
theology)
Abd al-Jabbar of Baghdad and Rayy ,325 AH/935 CE - 415 AH/1025 CE
Abu’l Husayn al-Basri died 478 AH/1085 CE, disciple then opponent of al-Jabbar, set
out qualifications for a muslim scholar
Ibn Abu al-Hadid -Peak of Eloquence with comments
Zamakhshari - 1074, Persian
Masudi
Al-Jahiz - 776, Arab
Al-Jubba'i - 9??, Persian
Denomination Unknown
Mohammad Ibn Abd-al-Haq Ibn Sab’in, Spain

A. E. Souaiaia , University of Iowa , USA

Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan

Javed Ahmed Ghamidi (1951—) - Author of Mizan
Men that converted to Islam
Roger Garaudy
Jeffrey Lang
Hamza Yusuf
Sherman Jackson
Yahya Michot
Marmaduke Pickthall -1875, England, The meaning of the Holy Qur'an
Michael Wolfe
Nuh Keller
Frithjof Schuon
Timothy Winter
Bilal Philips
Yusuf Estes
Ali Ibrahim Kalyanaraman
Zaid Shakir - American
Thomas McElwain
Gary Miller (Abdul-Ahad Omar) - Former Christian Missionary who embraced Islam
Abdul Ahad Davud
Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss born in July 1900 in the city of Lviv, now in Ukraine,
died 1992) was a Jew who converted to Islam.
Martin Lings
Muslim philosophers of modern times
Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Morteza Motahhari
Ruhollah Khomeini
Musa al-Sadr
Controversial
This is a list of scholars of present and past that are not recognized as Muslims by the
mainstream but profess to be Muslims as part of groups and small sects that deviate
from the mainstream.
Ibn al-Rawandi
Abd-Allah ibn Ibadh
Asra Q. Nomani
Elijah Muhammad
Rashad Khalifa - proclaimed himself to be the Messenger of the Covenant of 3:81
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 1835-1908 - proclaimed to be the Promised Reformer (Mahdi)
and the Messiah

Orientalists/Non-Muslims
George Sale - 1697

Charles Mills - 1788, England
William Muir - 1819, England
Ignaz Goldziher - 1850, Hungarian
David Samuel Margoliouth - 1858, England, Mohammed and the Rise of Islam
Henri Lammens - 1862, French, Islam: Beliefs and Institutions
Philip Khuri Hitti - 1886, Lebanon
Maxime Rodinson - 1915, French
Leone Caetani - 1869, Italian, Annali dell' Islam
Wilferd Madelung - 1930, Germany, The Succession to Muhammad, Shia point of
view
Okawa Shumei - 1886, Japanese
Karen Armstrong - 1944, England, Muhammad: a Biography of the Prophet
William Chittick - United States, Sufi point of view
Cornell Fleischer - United States, Kanuni Suleyman Professor of Ottoman and Modern
Turkish Studies
Geraldine de Gaury - Rulers of Mecca
Betty Kelen - Muhammad, The Messenger of God
Francis E. Peters - Muhammad and the Origins of Islam
William Montgomery Watt
Báb - proclaimed prophethood, started a new religion and stated he abrogated
Islam
Elijah Muhammad - Started the Nation of Islam movement and proclaimed
prophethood
Fred M. Donner
Alfred Guillaume
Arthur John Arberry
Ehsan Yarshater (Bahá'í, with Iranian-Jewish family background)
Dr. Ian K. A. Howard
John L. Esposito - 1940, Editor-in-chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern
Islamic World
Louis Massignon (1883–1962), French scholar of Islam
Margaret Smith, author of Rabi'a the Mystic and her Fellow-Saints in Islam, 1928
John Woods, - United States Professor of Iranian and Central Asian History, and of
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Malika Zeghal, author and professor of the anthropology and sociology of Islam
The historians of the formative period
First class: 700-750
Urwah ibn Zubayr (died in 712 CE)

Al-Zuhri (died in 742 CE)

Second class: 750-800
Ibn Ishaq(d. 761) - Known for Sirat Rasul Allah or The Life of the Apostle of God
Abi Mikhnaf (d. 157 AH - 774 CE) - Known for Maqtal Al-Husayn
Sayf ibn Umar (d. 796)
Third class: 800-860
Al-Haysam ibn Adi (d. 882)

Al-Waqidi (d. 207 A.H./823CE) - Noted for Kitab Al Tarikh wa Al Maghazi (Book of
History and Battles).
Al-Madaini (d. 830-850)
Ibn Hisham (d. 835)
Ibn Sa'd (d. 845)
Khalifa ibn Khayyat (d. 854)
Fourth class: 860-900
Umar ibn Shabba (d. 878)

Dinwari (d. 891) - - Known for Akbar Altewal
Baladhuri (d. 892)
Fifth class: 900-950
Ya'qubi (d. 900) - He wrote Tarikh al-Yaqubi

Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari(838CE - 923CE) - He wrote a history work on Prophets
and Kings.
Ibn A'tham (d. 314/926-27) - He wrote Alfutuh (Robinson hasn't mentioned his name.)
The historians of the classical period
Iraq and Iran
Mas'udi (d. 955)

Sabit ibn Sinan Al-Sabi (d. 976)
Ibn Miskawayh (d. 1030)
Al-Utbi (d. 1036)
Hilal ibn Al-Muhassin Al-Sabi (d. 1055)
Al-Khatib Al-Baqdadi (d. 1071)
Beyhaqi (995-1077) He wrote Tarikh-e Mas'oudi ("Masoudian History", also known as
"Tarikh-e Beyhaghi").
Abu Ishaq Al-Shirazi (d. 1083)
Ibn Al-Imrani (d. 1184)
Abu-al-Faraj ibn Al-Jawzi (d. 1201)
Ibn Al-Sa'i (d. 1276)
Ibn Al-Fuwati (d. 1323)

Andalus, Maghreb, Egypt and Syria
Al-Musabbihi (d. 1030)

Ibn Hazm (d. 1063)
Ibn Abd Al-Barr (d. 1071)
Al-Qadi Iyad (d.1149)
Ibn Al-Qalanisi (d. 1160)
Ibn Asaqir (d. 1176)
Imad Al-Din Al-Isfahani (d. 1201)
Ali ibn al-Athir(1160 - 1231) - He wrote Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh
Baha Al-Din ibn Shaddad (d. 1235)
Al-Kalabi (d.1237)
Sibt ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1256)
Ibn Al-Adim (d. 1262)
Abu Shama (d. 1267)
Ibn Khallikan (d. 1282)
Ibn Abd Al-Zahir (d. 1292)
Baybars Al-Mansuri (d. 1325)
Abu Al-Fida (d. 1331)
Al-Nuwayri (d. 1332)
Al-Mizzi (d. 1341)
Al-Dhahabi (d. 1348)
Ibn Al-dawadari
Al-Safadi (d. 1363)
Ibn Kathir (d. 1373)
Ibn Al-Furat (d. 1405)
Ibn Khaldun (May 27, 1332/A.H. 732 to March 19, 1406/A.H. 808) - He wrote
Muqaddimah and Al-Ebar
Al-Maqrizi (d. 1442)
Ibn Hajr Al-Asqalani (d. 1449)
Al-Ayni (d. 1451)
Al-Saqhawi (d. 1497)
Al-Suyuti (d. 1505)
How Islam Kept Us Out Of The Dark Ages
We in the West know what the Ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Babylonians have
done for us in terms of scientific discovery. Most of us have at least heard of Socrates,
Ptolemy, Galen and Pythagoras and of their contributions to philosophy, astronomy,
physics and mathematics. But how many of us have heard of Al-Kindi, Ibn Sina, Al-
Razi, Ibn Al-Shatir, Ibn Al-Haytham or Al-Tusi? They are all Muslim scientists who made
equally great contributions to science, between the 7th and 15th centuries – during
the era known as the Dark Ages. Until recently, the era has been glossed over by
historians who happily leapt from the fall of the Roman Empire straight to the
Renaissance. But it's time for the West to recognize its debt to those Islamic scientists
of the past, who forged ahead while Europe stagnated.

The not-so-Dark Ages
Possibly one of the best-kept secrets in the history of science is what was going on in
the so-called Dark Ages. The time around the fall of the Roman Empire, when
nothing new was happening and all was darkness, plague and misery. Nobody
seemed particularly interested in learning about the world around them. Perhaps,
they were all too busy surviving pestilence and invasions to indulge in the luxury of
philosophical thinking.
But, more seriously, once the Roman Empire started to crumble, with an onslaught of
invasions from the likes of the Vandals and Anglo-Saxons, Western Europe became
less interested in scientific pursuits. Superstitious beliefs and paganism apparently
appealed more than the intellectual treasures of the Ancient Greeks, Egyptians and
Babylonians, which were largely forgotten.
But just because Western Europe had temporarily lost interest in its scientific
knowledge, it didn't mean that all was completely lost. As western civilisation was
slipping into a less than auspicious period for science, Islam was just getting started.
The rise of Islam
Islam was born around the 7th century, when the prophet Mohammad went to
Mecca and the Qur'an first appeared in writing. According to its teachings, the
pursuit of knowledge was the duty of every Muslim. As the work of God was
everywhere and in everything, to understand the nature of the physical world was to
know God. It was therefore the duty of every Muslim to pursue knowledge of the
world around them.
Early Islam was dynamic. Its followers had the vitality of a people freed from a
nomadic way of life. Muslim scholars were intensely curious about the world around
them and many peoples were keen to share in what it had to offer. All of which
helped to provide a strong motivation for Muslims to come together with others in
the pursuit of an Islamic science. This they did with an enthusiasm and dedication
that would remain unrivalled until the Renaissance period many centuries later.
The people of the pre-Islamic nations traded with merchants from as far afield as
China and India, as well as southern Europe. The practicalities of trading over such
long distances, meant that they understood how to tell the time and navigate from
the stars. They also had a lay knowledge of geology, plants and animals; all of which
helped to boost travel, trade, health and farming.
Through trade and conquest, the influence of Islam spread across southern Europe,
the Near East and Africa. There was a thriving commercial and intellectual interest in
the lands that they conquered. Far from wiping out the old or 'foreign' knowledge,
Islamic conquerors saw to it that the ancient legacies were treasured and put to
good use. Such knowledge, where they found it, was not only preserved but
translated and developed.

At the time, there were great cultural exchanges between East and West, through
trade and pilgrimages. These exchanges, although not always peaceful, helped to
bring Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus and the Chinese together.
What did Islam do for science?
Early Islam probably encouraged the greatest international, cross-cultural,

intellectual collaborations, under the banner of science. A phenomenon that has
not been recorded in history of science since.
Early Islamic teaching encouraged new knowledge for largely practical reasons.
Anything that improved life in Islamic society was welcomed – better means of
determining the direction of Mecca from all points in the empire; improved
navigational aids for travellers and traders; better health care and medical
knowledge; more accurate ways of measuring, counting and converting currencies
when trading with others. Effectively, astronomy, geography, medicine and
mathematics were all useful, practical tools and also helped Muslims to understand
the work of God.
Some great Islamic scientists
1) Ibn Sina, philosopher and physician: Produced a standard medical text in the 10th
century that was still in use in the 17th century.
2) Al-Tusi, astronomer: His mathematical models were essential to the work of
Copernicus in proving that Earth travelled around the Sun.
3) Abu Jafar Muhammad, mathematician: Gave us algebra and algorithms that
were central to the development of modern computing.
4) Ibn al-Haytham: His work on vision and light helped Newton formulate his theories
on optics.
As Islamic civilisation spread further into southern Europe, vast treasuries of long-
forgotten knowledge from conquered lands were taken back to cities like Baghdad,
Damascus, Cairo and Cordoba where they were translated into Arabic.
There was no shortage of wealthy sponsors to fund the work, nor institutions to house
the translations. In the 9th century, the House of Wisdom was established in Baghdad.
In the 10th century, Cairo established a huge library, with 40 rooms and thousands of
texts devoted to the ancient sciences. By the 11th century, Muslim rulers had
established large institutions in all the major cities to preserve their treasury of
knowledge.
In cities like Gondeshapur in Persia there were international communities of

academics and scholars. Some, like the Nestorians, had been forced to flee from
Christian lands because of their beliefs. They could speak the ancient languages
and found it easy to learn Arabic, so were the ideal choice for much of the
translation work.

At the same time, in medieval Europe, there was a parallel pursuit of translation of
the ancient texts, this time from Greek into Latin. The activity was sponsored largely
by the monasteries but the effort was nothing like as intense or as productive as that
of the Islamic scholars who had greater resources at their disposal and, at that time,
greater intellectual freedom. In the early days of Islam, knowledge was actively
encouraged and scholars could do more than just translate the manuscripts that
came to them, they could develop the ideas further.
Less than 400 years after the first Islamic conquests, all kinds of scientists were at work
throughout the vast Islamic Empire. They picked apart, catalogued and developed
a huge intellectual legacy from the ancient civilisations. From the broadest ideas of
the physical Universe, to the invisible workings of the human body, they organised
and made sense of it all. They managed to simplify much of what the Greeks and
other ancients had started and then improved on it.
Islamic science in a nutshell
1) When Western Europe was at its lowest intellectual peak, from the 5th to the 15th
centuries, Islamic civilisation was rising rapidly. A thirst for knowledge, including
science, was encouraged by the religious leaders of early Islam.
2) The works of the ancients, including Aristotle, Socrates, Ptolemy, Galen,

Pythagoras and Euclid were collected, safeguarded and translated into Arabic.
3) The chemical properties of alkalis and acids were discovered by Islamic scientists.
4) The process of distillation was formulated and used to produce petrol from crude
oil.
5) Islamic scientists contributed to algebra, algorithms, trigonometry, geometry,

chemistry, cosmology, astronomy, medicine and optics.
6) Islamic scholars developed the concepts of modern hospitals, universities,

observatories and civil systems.
7) The concept of zero reached medieval Europe through the Arab nations who had
probably learned of it from ancient Hindu and Chinese cultures. Prior to this Europe
struggled with a system of Roman numerals, in which large numbers would consist of
huge strings of letters. Once zero was incorporated, numbers took on the more
manageable decimal system that we use today.
So what happened?
In early Islam, the caliphs (religious leaders) supported learning in the broadest sense;
particularly when it related to useful subjects like arithmetic, geometry, medicine
and cosmology. But later, the more traditional religious leaders and scholars began
to worry about the limitations and dangers of knowledge. They declared that
knowledge for its own sake could not be legitimate for Muslims. Knowledge had to
be for the greater understanding of God or the good of Islamic society – anything
else was considered potentially destructive and un-Islamic.

As they gained influence, the caliphs took control of what could be taught and
where. At elementary schools, madrasas (mosque schools) and universities, students
were allowed to learn arithmetic, cosmology, medicine and some natural sciences,
as long as they stayed within the framework of Qur'anic teaching. Original thought
was not encouraged and philosophy was frowned upon. Philosophers were seen as
wasting their time on questions already dealt with by the Qur'an and holy law.
Scholars who wanted to study subjects like philosophy or physics had to go to smaller
more obscure private schools and institutions that were generally sponsored by
Royalty and the wealthier members of intellectual society.
Around the 11th century, the sciences were divided into 'Islamic' sciences and
'foreign' sciences. Islamic sciences were approved because they connected with
religion and centred on the teachings of the Qur'an. Foreign sciences were
increasingly viewed with suspicion by Islamic religious leaders and consequently
sidelined.
The growing inflexibility of Islamic leaders led to the slowing of broader Islamic
scientific study and a squeeze on original thought. Having said that, Islamic scientific
endeavour continued up to the 15th century. By the time the last great Islamic
dynasty, the Ottoman Empire, was on the wane in the late 16th century, Islamic
science was largely a passive learning process in which there were few original texts
being produced. And as Muslim society became more isolated from its neighbours,
the exchange of ideas with other cultures became more difficult.
The reawakening of the West
Ironically, as Islamic scientific invention started to decline, Western science was

beginning to wake up.
Western scholars began translating the treasury of Islamic science into Latin. They
had rediscovered their thirst for learning and were well on their way to the
Renaissance – the re-discovery and assimilation of the knowledge and philosophy of
the ancients. It is interesting and just a bit scary to think that if it weren't for the
foresight and creativity of Islamic scientists, we might just be arriving at that point
today. Having caught up on the 500 years we've borrowed from Islam, we'd be just
heading for the Renaissance now. The Western world has a lot to thank Islamic
scientists for.
Islam And Modern Science
A Lecture by Seyyid Hossein Nasr
The following is a lecture by Seyyid Hossein Nasr entitled, "Islam and Modern Science'',
which was co-sponsored by the Pakistan Study Group, the MIT Muslim Students
Association and other groups. Professor Nasr, currently University Professor of Islamic
Studies at Georgetown University, is a physics and mathematics alumnus of MIT. He
received a PhD in the philosophy of science, with emphasis on Islamic science, from
Harvard University.

From 1958 to 1979, he was a professor of history of science and philosophy at Tehran
University and was also the Vice-Chancellor of the University over 1970-71. He has
been a visiting professor at Harvard and Princeton Universities. He has delivered
many famous lectures including the Gifford Lecture at Edinburgh University and the
Iqbal Lecture at the Punjab University. He is the author of over twenty books
including ``Science and Civilization in Islam'', ``Traditional Islam in the Modern World'',
``Knowledge and the Sacred'', and ``Man and Nature: the Spiritual Crisis of Modern
Man''. The verbatim transcript of the lecture was edited to enhance clarity and
remove redundancies. We have tried our best to preserve the spirit of what was said.
Any errors are solely the responsibility of the Pakistan Study Group. * and ** indicates
places where either a phrase or sentence was indecipherable. Words in [ ] were
added to improve continuity.
First of all, let me begin by saying how happy I am to be able to accept an invitation
of the MIT Islamic Students Association, and that of other universities and other
organizations nearby, to give this lecture here today at my alma mater. I feel very
much at home not only at this university, but being the first muslim student ever to
establish a muslim students' association at Harvard in 1954, to see that these
organizations are now growing, and are becoming culturally significant. I am sure
they play a very important role in three ways. Most importantly, in turning the hearts
of good muslims towards God, Allah ta'allah. At a more human level to be able to
afford the possibility for muslims from various countries to have a discourse amongst
themselves, and third to represent the views of muslims on American campuses
where there is so much need to understand what is going on at the other side of the
world. That world which seems to remain forever the Other for the West, no matter
what happens. The Otherness, somehow, is not overcome so easily.
Now today, I shall limit my discourse to Islam and its relation to modern science. This is
a very touchy and extremely difficult subject to deal with. It is not a subject with any
kind of, we might say, dangerous pitfalls or subterfuges under way because it is not a
political subject. It does not arouse passions as, let's say, questions that are being
discussed in Madrid, or the great tragedy of Kashmir or other places. But nevertheless,
it is of very great consequence because it will affect one way or the other, the future
of the Islamic world as a whole.
Many people feel that that in fact there is no such thing as the Islamic problem of
science. They say science is science, whatever it happens to be, and Islam has
always encouraged knowledge, al-ilm in Arabic, and therefore we should
encourage science and what's the problem? -there's no problem. But the problem is
there because ever since children began to learn Lavoiser's Law that water is
composed of oxygen and hydrogen, in many Islamic countries they came home
that evening and stopped saying their prayers. There is no country in the Islamic
World which has not been witness in one way or another, to the impact, in fact, of
the study of Western Science upon the ideological system of its youth. Parallel with
that however, because science is related first of all to prestige, and secondly, to
power, and thirdly, without [science] the solution of certain problems within Islamic
society [is difficult], from all kinds of political backgrounds and regimes, all the way
from revolutionary regimes to monarchies, all [governments] the way from semi-
democracies to totalitarian regimes, all spend their money in teaching their young
Western science.

I see many muslims in the audience today, many of you, your education is paid for
by your parents or your government or some university in order precisely to bring
Western science back into the muslim world. And therefore we are dealing with a
subject which is quite central to the concerns of the Islamic world. In the last twenty
years [this subject] has begun to attract some of the best minds in the Islamic world
to the various dimensions of this problem.
And therefore I want to begin by first of all by expressing for you, (making things
easier, categorizing it a bit), three main positions which exist in the Islamic world
today as far as the relationship between Islam and modern science is concerned,
before delving a bit more deeply into what my own view is. First of all, is the position
that many people re-iterate. I am sure many of you in this room, and especially at a
place like MIT, who would not have had much of a chance to study the
philosophical implications of either your own tradition, that is Islam, nor of Western
science, believe that one studies science and then one says prayers, loves God and
obeys the laws of the Shariah, and that there is really no problem. This position itself is
not something new. It is something that was inculcated in many circles of the Islamic
world during the past century and going back historically, it was the position taken
up by Jamaluddin Al-Afghani who migrated to Eygpt and called himself Al-Afghani.
The famous reformer, a rather maverick [figure], of the nineteenth century was at
once a philosopher, political figure, Pan-Islamist and anti-Caliphate organizer *.
Nobody knows exactly what his political positions were, but he was certainly a very
influential person in the nineteenth century, and was responsible, directly, and
indirectly, through his student Mohammed Abduh, for the so-called reforms that took
place in the 1880's and 1890's of the Christian era, that is the beginning of the
fourteenth century of the Islamic era, in Eygpt. Jamaluddin has been claimed,
interestingly enough, by both modernists and anti-modernists forces like the Ikhwan-
ul-Muslameen in Eygpt during the early decades of this century.
Jamaluddin was interested in Western science, [though] he had very little

knowledge [of it], and he was also very much interested in the revival of the Islamic
world. The character of [Jamaluddin's] argument is absolutely crucial to the
understanding of what I am talking about. He came up with view that science per se
is what has made the West powerful and great. And the West is dominating over the
Islamic world because it has this power in its pocket. And since this is being allowed,
this is being done, there must be something very positive about this science, that
science itself is good, because it gives power. This was the first part of his argument.
Secondly, [he argued], science came from the Islamic world originally and therefore
Islamic science is really responsible for the West's possession of science and the
West's domination of the Islamic world itself. And therefore, all the muslims have to
do is to reclaim this science for themselves in order to reach the glories of their past
and become a powerful and great civilization. This is the gist of a rather extensive
argument given by Jamaluddin Afghani which equates, in fact, Islamic science with
Western science. Secondly, it equates the power of the West with the power of
science. To some extent this is true, but not completely so. And thirdly, it believes that
acquisition of this science of the West [by the muslims] is, no more no less, than the
muslims claiming their own property which has somehow been taken over by
another continent and [the muslims] just want back what is really their own.

Now this point of view had a great deal of impact upon the Islamic world, upon the
modernist circles, and in order to understand what is going on in the Islamic world
today it is important to see what consequences flow from this.
I am really addressing my lecture predominantly to muslims students and scholars

and scientists, discussing in a sense family problems. I am sure there are some
Christians and non-Christian Western people present which is fine, which is a way to
understand another civilization's struggle to look at the major problems that it has.
But my lecture is really tailored to the internal problems of the Islamic world, as far as
science is concerned. I hope other people will forgive me, this is not just a formal
lecture on the history of science in last century in the Islamic world by any means. * I
want to pursue what happened to Jamaluddin's thesis in the nineteenth century. The
modernists in the Islamic world [are] one of three important groups that came into
being in the nineteenth century. The other two being those who are now being
dubbed as the fundamentalists, a term which I do not like at all but which is now
very prevalent, and third, those who believe in some kind of Mahdiism, some kind of
apocalyptic interference of God. These two groups I shall not be dealing with at the
present moment. The most important group for us to consider are the modernists.
The modernists took on this thesis of Jamaluddin, and during the last century and a
half, they have carried the banner of a kind of rationalism within the Islamic world
which will accord well with the simple equation of science with Islamic science and
with the Islamic idea of knowledge, al-ilm. [Interestingly,] as a consequence of this,
the Islamic world during this one hundred and fifty year period produced very few
historians of science and very few philosophers of science. It produced a very large
number of scientists and engineers, some of whom very brilliant and studying in the
best institutions of the world like here, but it produced practically no major
philosopher and historian of science until just a few decades ago. This problem [was
just left aside] because it was uninteresting and irrelevant, and all the debate that
was being carried out in the West itself about the impact of science upon religion,
upon the philosophy of science, [about] what this kind of knowing meant, these
were circumvented, more or less, in the Islamic educational system.
There were a few exceptions. Kamal Ataturk came into power in Turkey. Though in
many ways a brutal [soldier, he] saved Turkey from extinction. We know what he did
to Islam in Turkey. But he had a certain intuition, certain visions of things. The first thing
that he did was to say that in order for Turkey to stand on its feet as a modern
``secular'' state, what it has to do is [to] learn about the history of Western science.
So when the program for the doctorate degree in the history of science headed by
the late George Sarton, scholar and historian of science, was established at Harvard
University which was the first program in this country, Ataturk sent the first student to
study the history of science anywhere in America, to Harvard. The first person to
enter the PhD program in the history of science at Harvard University is a Turk, Aideen
Saeeli. He is still alive, [and] is the doyen of the Turkish historians of science.
There were exceptions but by and large, the modernists forces within the Islamic
world, decided to neglect and overlook the consequences of Western science,
either philosophical or religious and felt that Islam could handle the matter much
better than Christianity.

[They felt] that there was something wrong with Christianity [as] it buckled under the
pressures of modern science and rationalism in the nineteenth century, and this
would not happen to Islam. Certain Western thinkers, in fact, followed this trend of
thought. One of the most rabidly anti-Christian, [and] anti-religion philosophers of
France in the nineteenth century, Ernst Renan, who was known as sort of the
grandfather of rationalism in nineteenth century French philosophy, wrote a book
which is now a classical book on Averroes, (Ibn-Rushd), [and] which has been
reprinted now after 140 years in France, in which he says exactly the same kinds of
things. He says that Averroes represents rationalism which led to modern science.
[He] represents Arabic Islamic thought and Western theology, [which] simply did not
understand this, has always been an impediment to the rise of modern science. So a
kind of psychological and, loosely speaking, philosophical alliance was created
between Islamic modernist thinkers and anti-religious philosophers in the West. This is
something which needs a great deal of analysis later on. Let me just pass it over. It is
not central to my subject, but we must take cognizance of it.
And this attitude continued, gradually proliferating from a few centers who sent
[people to the] West to the modern education institutions of the Islamic world such
as the Darul Fanooni in Iran, the University of Punjab in Punjab, the Foad I University in
Cairo, Istanbul University and so forth and so on, and gradually embraced the whole
body of the Islamic world. Today, every Thursday evening when you turn on Cairo
radio there are one or two very famous lecturers who are, in fact, very devout
muslims, loved by the people of Eygpt, [and] the heart of their message is every
single verse of the Quran which deals with either Ta'akul or Taffakur, that is
intellection or knowledge or observation or mushahida. These [verses] are
interpreted ``scientifically'', that is, as an attempt to preserve Islam through scientific
support for the Islamic revelation, for the Quran itself. And this is a very strong position
in the Islamic world today. Therefore [the muslim] thinks in fact there is no problem as
far as Islam and modern science are concerned.
Now this position had a reverse. The ulema, religious scholars of the Islamic world
opposed the modernist thesis, [which] was also based on the dilution of the Sharia,
as you have seen in Turkey, the gradual introduction of Western political and
economic institutions in the Islamic world, the rise of modern nationalism, all of these
things which I will no go into right now. The religious scholars of Islam whose names
paradoxically enough, meant scientists, in fact, disdained science completely. And
so you have this dichotomy within the Islamic world, in which the modernists refuse to
study the philosophical and religious implications of the introduction of Western
science in the Islamic world, and the classical traditional ulema, and this cut across
the Islamic world, all refused to have anything to do with modern science. There are
again a few exceptions.
This left a major vacuum in the intellectual life of the Islamic community for which
every single muslim sitting in this room suffers in one way or another. Many people
think this was all the fault of the ulema. I do not think this was all the fault of the
ulema, this is also the fault of the authorities which had economic and political
power in their hands, and the two in fact went together.

We must add to this a third element [which] is that while science was spreading in
the Islamic world, there had been created within the Islamic world, a reformist
puritanical movement, especially within Arabia, associated with the name of
Mohammed ibn Abdul Wahab, the so-called Wahabi movement, which is still very
strong in Saudi Arabia, which in fact gave rise to [the country] with the wedding of
Nejd and Hijaz in 1926-27. Its roots [lie] in the eighteenth century when this man lived,
and his way of thinking then proliferated into Eygpt and Syria.
[Similiarly] the Salafia movement in India and other places, [also] wanted to interpret
Islam in a very rational and simple manner and was opposed to ``philosophical''
speculation and was opposed to the whole tradition of Islamic philosophy. [These
movements] all but went along with the more quarrelsome and troublesome
dimensions of the impact of science upon the faith system and the philosophical
world-view of Islam. It is interesting that the Wahabi ulema in the nineteenth century
opposed completely any interest in modern science and technology. It is today that
Saudi Arabia of course has one of the best programs for the teaching of science
and technology in the Islamic world. The centres at Dhahran and other places are
really quite amazing but it is a very modern transformation. In the nineteenth century,
those very people stood opposed to the modernists, and the traditional muslim
ulema whether they were Shafis or Malikis or anything else, felt that as far as science
was concerned, [opposition was justified].
This changed one-hundred and eighty degrees in our time. Today people of that
kind of background, again want nothing to do with a discussion of the philosophical
implications of science, but very much identify themselves with the Al-Afghani
position, that science is al-ilm and let's get on with it, let's not bother with its
implications. This is a [very important] position which I have traced for you rather
extensively, because it is still very much alive in the Islamic world today.
The second position which is held within the Islamic world today, which is now held
by a number of very interesting and eminent thinkers, is that, in fact, the problem of
the confrontation of modern science with Islam is not at all an intellectual problem
but rather an ethical problem. All the problems of modern science, all the way from
making possible the dropping of atomic bombs on people's heads, to the creation
of technologies which create the enslavement of those who receive them, the
technological star wars of the last year in the Persian Gulf, all of these are not the
fault of modern science, but [rather] of the wrong ethical application of modern
science. And one must separate modern science from its ethical implications and
usages in the West, take it and use it in another ethical system. As if one were to buy
a Boeing 747 from California, then take it to Eygpt and paint it Eygpt Air, and it would
become an Eygptian airplane. This is a view which exists and is rather prevalent in
many places. Most of the new Islamic universities which have been established
throughout the Islamic world, like the Islamic University in Malaysia, the Islamic
University in Pakistan, the Umm-ul Quran University in Makkah, try to emphasize this
point of view. For example, in all Saudi universities, students are taught Islamic ethics
with the hope that once they begin to learn science and engineering, they will take
these and integrate them within this ethical system.

Now we come to the third point of view. This was discussed for a long time by
practically no one, except yours truly. But in the last twenty years, it has gained a
large number of followers. And that point of view is that science has its own world-
view. No science is created in a vacuum. Science arose under particular
circumstances in the West with certain philosophical presumptions about the nature
of reality. As soon as you say, m, f, v, and a, that is, the simple parameters of classical
physics, you have chosen to look at reality from a certain point of view. There is no
mass, there is no force out there like that chair or table. These are particularly
abstract concepts which grew in the seventeenth century on the basis of a
particular concept of space, matter and motion which Newton developed. The
historians and philosophers of science in the last twenty [or] thirty years have shown
beyond the scepter of doubt that modern science has its own world view. It is not at
all value free; nor is it a purely objective science of reality irrespective of the subject
you study. It is based upon the imposition of certain categories upon the study of
nature, with a remarkable success in the study of certain things, and also a
remarkable lack of success [in others], depending on what you are looking at.
Modern science is successful in telling you the weight and chemical structure of a
red pine leaf, but it is totally irrelevant to what is the meaning of the turning of this
leaf to red. The ``how'' has been explained in modern science, the ``why'' is not its
concern. If you are a physics student and you ask the question, `what is the force of
gravitation?', the teacher will tell you the formula, but as to what is the nature of this
force, he will tell you it is not a subject for physics. So [science] is very successful in
certain fields, but leaves other aspects of reality aside.
In the 1950s, and I hate to be autobiographical but just for two minutes because it
has to do with the subject at hand, when I was a student here at this University
studying physics, the late Bertrand Russell, the famous British philosopher, gave a
series of lectures at MIT. I never forget that when I went to that lecture, he said that
modern science has nothing to do with the discovery of the nature of reality, and he
gave certain reasons. And I came home, and I couldn't sleep all night. I thought that
I had gone to MIT not because I was rich, or because the Iranian government forced
me to go, [but] to learn the nature of reality. And here was one of the famous
philosophers of the day [saying this was not to be]. This deviated me from the path of
becoming a physicist, and I spent the next few years, parallel with all the other
physics and mathematics courses I had to take, [studying] the philosophy of science
both here, and at Harvard. It was that which really led me to study the philosophy of
science and finally the Islamic philosophy of science and Islamic cosmology, to
which I have devoted the last thirty years of my life.
This event turned me to try and discover what is the meaning of another way of
looking at nature. And I coined the term, `Ìslamic Science'', as a living and not only
historical reality, in the fifties when my book * came out. I tried to deal with Islamic
science not as a chapter in the history of Western science, but as an independent
way of looking at the work of nature. [This] lead to a great deal of opposition in the
West. Had it not been for the noble support of Sir Hammond Gibb, the famous British
Islamicist at Harvard University, nobody would ever have allowed me to say such a
thing. At that time, [it] was actually blasphemy to speak of Islamic science as an
independent way of looking at reality and not simply as a chapter between Aristotle
and somebody else in the thirteenth century.

But now a lot of water has flown under the bridge. This third point of view, with its
humble beginning in books which I wrote in my twenties, has won a lot of support in
the Islamic World. And this perspective is based on the idea that Western science is
as much related to Western civilization as any Islamic science is related to Islamic
civilization. And as science is not a value free activity, it is fruitful and possible for one
civilization to learn the science of another civilisation but to do that it must be able
to abstract and make its own. And the best example of that is exactly what Islam did
with Greek science and what Europe did with Islamic science, which is usually called
Arabic science but is really Islamic science, done by both Arabs and Persians, and
also to some extent by Turks and Indians.
In both of these cases what did the muslims do? The muslims did not just take over
Greek science and translate it into Arabic and preserve its Greek character. It was
totally transformed into the part and parcel of the Islamic intellectual citadel. Any of
you who have actually ever studied in depth the text of the great muslim scientists
like Alberuni or Ibn Sina or any Andulusian scientists know that you are living within
the Islamic Universe. You're not living within the Greek Universe. It is true that the
particular descriptions might have been taken from the [works] of Aristotle or a
particular formula from Euclid's Elements, but the whole science is totally integrated
into the Islamic point of view. The greatest work of Algebra in the pre-modern period
is by the Persian poet Omar Khayyam. When we read his book, of course, if when
you get [to a] particular formula or equation you could be writing in Chinese or
English and could be in any civilisation, but the impact that the whole work makes
upon you makes you feel that you belong to a total intellectual universe- the Islamic
Universe. And this is precisely what the West did to Islamic science.
When in Toledo in the 1030's and the 1040's the translations of the books from the
Arabic into Latin began which really began the scientific changes of the 12th
century and again in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries of the West, books were
simply being translated from the Arabic into the Latin. The first few decades were
very much like what the Islamic world was, or has been, in the last few decades. That
is, actual works of, say, Ibn Sina were being read in medicine as if they were in
Arabic, but since no one knew Arabic, they were in Latin. They may not have been
very good translations but there they were. It only took a century, not longer than
that, for the West to make this learning their own.
And I always say to Muslims in giving lectures all over the Islamic World, to people in
ministries of education, to people who are responsible, that the reason we cannot
do this in the Islamic world is that symbolically, and the symbol is important, when the
West adopted Islamic science, it even adopted the gown of the Muslim Ulema, * but
it never took the turban and put it on its head. The head-dress of the European
bishops of the middle ages, * was kept on.
Whereas at many Islamic universities today, we have taken both the gown and the
cap from the West. We cannot think of ourselves independently. The whole thing has
been taken over and has now been made our own. This I am giving as a kind of
anecdotal reference but it is symbolic really of the type of processes that are going
on.

There are two very good cases: One of Greek science taken over by Muslims, [and
the other] of Islamic science taken over by the Latin West and later on the European
West. In both cases there was a period of transmission but there was also a period of
digestion, ingestion, and integration which always means also rejection. No science
has ever been integrated into any civilization without some of it also being rejected.
It's like the body. If we only ate and the body did not reject anything we would die in
a few days. Some of the food has to be absorbed, some of the food has to be
rejected. You might say what about the case of Japan which is so successful in
making Mitsubishis, modern washing machines and so forth, but we haven't seen the
end of the story. Will Zen, Buddhist [and] Shinto Japan be the same centuries from
now and at the same time the science totally Western Science [translated into]
Japanese or will [Japan] gradually transform the science and technology into
something Japanese? We do not know yet.
But the historical cases that we do know- all point to a period of translation, and then
digestion and integration and by virtue of integration, the expulsion of something
which cannot be accepted, which is not in accord with that particular world view,
which is exactly what the Latin West did. The Latin West was not interested in certain
aspects of Islamic science which never took hold, which never became central. And
some Muslims were not interested in some types of Greek Science which never took
hold in Islamic soil. This is also a case which can be proven historically.
Now, all these views which are expressed for you today are not given force in the
Islamic world. There are people all the way from Abdus Salam, the only muslim to
have won the Noble Prize in physics, who was asked `what happened to Islamic
Science?' He said `Nothing. Instead what we cultivated in Isfahan and Cordoba is
now being cultivated in MIT, Caltech and at Imperial College, London.
It's just a geographical translation of place'. All the way from that position, which is
really an echo of what Jamaluddin Afghani [presented in a] new garb by a great
physicist, over to the views [of] the so-called `àjmalis'' in England who emphasize
[the] ethical dimension of Islamic science and who at least realize that modern
science is not value-free [and finally], to the position which is held by yours truly and
many others in the Islamic world, and which has now given rise to the only institution,
Aligarh University in India, which is trying to deal with this subject in a living fashion - I'll
get to that in a moment. As I talk of these three ways of thinking about the
relationship between Islam and modern science there are several important
phenomena that are going on in the Islamic world which I must describe for you
before analyzing them.
First and most powerful, is the continuous flow and absorption of western science
and technology into all existing Islamic countries to the extent that [they] can absorb
it. ** In every single Islamic country, whatever political regime, whatever economic
policy, whatever attitude towards the west [they may espouse], whether they are
completely pro-western or have demonstrations in the street against the west, the
adoption of western science and technology goes on. Which is a very telling fact for
the whole of the Islamic world.
There are some places where some thought is being given to what is the
consequence of this. Now there are many questions to ask here.

First of all is this [transfer of science and technology] going on successfully? is it not
going on successfully? If it is not successful, what is it not going on successfully? And if
it is, why? This is a very major issue. The whole question of the transfer of science [is]
not really a subject for me to deal with today.
The second phenomenon that is going on [today] is the [gradual] attempt being
made to study both the meaning and the history of Islamic science. I think that in this
field that muslims should really be ashamed of themselves to put it mildly. Let me
give you some examples. There are now today a billion Muslims in the world.
Probably in the first to the second century of the history of Islam, that is the eighth
Christian century, no one knows exactly, but there were something like 20-30 million
muslims. Despite that vast [Islamic] empire the numbers were somewhere around
there [according to] the demographers. It may be wrong, but [it was] anyway a
much smaller number [than the population of muslims today].
During that 100 year period, more books in quantity, not to speak about the
remarkable quality, were translated [about] the basic philosophical and scientific
thought of Greek science than has been translated during a comparable 100 year
period by all muslims put together in all Islamic countries. This is really unbelievable.
Not to talk about the quality, which is of a very high nature, in the early translations
from Greek which made Arabic the most important scientific language in world for
700 years, [whereas today, we have] usually very poor quality translations into
modern Islamic languages, oftentimes based on Latin knowledge of classical Arabic.
** Most the history of Islamic science has been written by western scholars including
the great *. His one book, Introduction to the History of Science, has lead to at least
500 or 600 books in Urdu, Persian, Malay, Arabic and other muslim languaged which
are sold in the streets as Islamic Science because everybody is too lazy to go do his
own or her own research. [Typically in such works] one or two pages are just taken
and culled and regurgitated and repeated and so forth and so on in a manner that
is really sickening. Compared to the other civilizations of Asia, the Chinese and the
Japanese and the Indian, the Muslims have not had a very good record in studying
their own history of science despite the fact that this field was of great importance
religiously, going back to what I said about Jamaluddin and Mohammed Abduh in
the later 19th century, the rise of modernism in the Islamic world, and all of these
other very powerful forces.
During the last 20-30 years, there has been a change. Gradually Muslim governments
are realizing that it's very important that if you have 100 students that you have 80 of
them study science and technology but it's also very important that the other twenty
study the humanities and to train some people in the history of science, [which]
although allied to science, is not really science itself. It is historical knowledge, it is
linguistic knowledge, [and] it is philosophical knowledge. The Muslims have not yet
developed their own historiography of science. This is a very important field. If you
look at all the histories of science written in the west, everything ends miraculously in
the thirteenth century- [implying] the whole of Islamic civilization came to an end in
the thirteenth century. Islamic philosophy, Islamic science, history of astronomy,
history of physics, alchemy, biology, anything you study, miraculously comes to an
end in the thirteenth century which coincides exactly with the termination of political
contact between Islam and the West.

Now muslims always get angry at why this is so, but Western historians are completely
right to study Islamic history from their own point of view. And muslim thinkers are
completely wrong in studying their own history from the point of view of western
history.
I said once many, many years ago in a statement in Pakistan 30 years ago, which
has been repeated not many times, that any individual that stands in a mirror and
looks at his or her own image perceives that image from the point of view of the
model or the * behind the mirror * but we're doing this culturally, much of the Islamic
world is doing this culturally and that is nothing less than an insane way of looking at
themselves. We should be able to look at ourselves directly and to do that we have
to develop a historiography of science.
I think for nine-tenths of the students in this room who are probably the most brilliant
young students in the field of science - I'm now addressing the Muslim students - if I
were to ask you `what do know about the history Islamic medicine in the 17th
christian century' you'd probably say nothing. Well, that is a very brilliant period in the
history of Islamic medicine and the reason you don't know anything about it is
because E.G. Brown didn't write about it in his book `Àrabian Medicine''. That's the
only reason. Because [Brown] was [only] interested in Early Islamic medicine [as it]
influenced the great physicians in the west.
Now, therefore this [question of] the historiography of Islamic science is far from
being a trivial question. And it has created, in fact, a vacuum within which the
integration of western science and technology is made doubly difficult in the islamic
world. That is most young muslim students have this view which has unfortunately
been abetted by Arab Nationalism. I have to be very honest here, the nationalisms
in the Middle East, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, are now more or less [over], they are
ending one way or the other. That is they're showing their bankruptcy, not
completely, there are nations that still exist of course but their grand days are
perhaps over.
Arab Nationalism began with a thesis, propagated by small non-muslim minorities

within the Arab world, that the Islamic civilization began to go down when the Arab
hegemony over Islamic civilization came to an end. That is with the Abbasids. If you
look, for example, at the history of Arabic literature, everybody talks about the
Ummayad and the Abbasid period and there is nothing going on for several
hundred years until some poet begins to talk about the lamentations of the war in
Iraq or the * tragedies in Palestine. That is, of course, very gripping poetry, but what
were the arabs doing for 700 years in between? That is totally overlooked. There must
be some Yemenese students here. Where is there a single book on the history of
Arabic poetry in Yemen- one of the richest lands in the Islamic world of poetry. We
don't know that there might be some local book published in Sanaa but certainly in
Cambridge we know nothing about it. So Arab nationalism had a lot to do with this *
of trying to diminish the contribution that Islamic civilization. after the Mongol
invasion and the destruction of Baghdad in 1258, which coincided with the downfall
of the political hegemony of the Arabs who did not regain the political hegemony,
even over themselves, until the 20th century.

Now, the consequence of that is, first of all, the overlooking of 700 years, not 70 years,
700 years, of Islamic intellectual history during which the Muslims were supposed to
have done nothing. They were supposed to have been decadent for 700 years. Now
how can you revive a patient that has been dead for that long a time? The idea
[which] is propagated in the West [is] that muslims are very brilliant, that they did
science and things like that, [and then] suddenly decided to turn the switch off and
went to selling beads and playing with their rosaries in the bazaar for the next 700
years till Mossadegh nationalized the oil and they came back on the scene of
human history are now living happily again. This, of course, is total nonsense and it
brings about a scelerosis, intellectually, which is far from being trivial. ** Over [the]
twenty years I have taught at Tehran University, I always felt, [our students] could
never overcome this very long historical loss of memory. Somehow it was very difficult
for them. They wanted to connect themselves to Al-Biruni and Khawarizmi and
people like that, but this hiatus was simply too long. This hiatus has not been created
by history itself. It has been created by the study of history from the particular
perspective of Western scholarship, which is as I said, perfectly [within] its right in its
claim that Islam is interesting only till the moment that it influences the West. The
great mistake is when that objective divides the history of Islam [into a period of
productivity and one of degeneration]. In the field of history of science, that is a very
important element.
This leads me to the third important activity which is now going on in the Islamic
World. [We have] studied Islamic science from our own point of view somewhat
[though this study is hardly comprehensive for] it will take a long, long time to get all
the [relevent] manuscripts. There are over three thousand manuscripts of medicine in
India which have never been studied by anybody. This is [only] the tip of the iceberg.
There are thousands of manuscripts in Yemen which we don't even know about.
There is a new institution being established in London which is being inaugurated at
the end of next month, the Al-Furqan Foundation, which will be devoted to
assembling Islamic manuscripts from all over the world. and [compiling] original
surveys of where the manuscripts are... places like Ethiopia for example, have
treasuries of Islamic manuscripts, many of them in the sciences. The process will take
a long time, but at least on the basis of what has been begun, [progress can be
made].
But in this field, there is now the third step of trying to further science within the Islamic
world under the foundation of an Islamic logic of science. Now this is a very difficult
and very tall order. It is not going something which is going to be done immediately,
but I want to say a few words about what is being done and where. And we can
perhaps discuss this with you during the question-answer period. It is interesting that
some of the places where a great deal of the intellectual attention is being paid to
the subject are not places which have been known historically as the great
intellectual centers of Islamic civilization [which] have really always been between
Lahore and Tripoli. About nine-tenths of all famous Islamic thinkers have come from
that region, Spain being the one great exception. But today, one of the places, for
example, where a great deal of the work is being done is Malaysia .Normally one
would think of [Malaysia] as a small Islamic country with only a 55% or a 57% muslim
majority.

[However] there is, because of the interest of the government, a great deal of effort
being spent in trying to understand what is the meaning of Islamic science and how
can science be further [explored for] the basis of an Islamic view towards science.
Another place is Turkey. One does not usually think of Turkey these days as being
significant as a center of Islamic thought because of the secularism brought by
Kamal Ataturk. ** But within Turkey, despite all of this, an incredible amount of
intellectual activity [has been] going on in the last few decades bringing things as
different, as separate, as the Naqshbandia of Istanbul and the Khizisists of Istanbul
University together. The most important journal which is being published in Turkey on
this issue, called ``Science and Technology'' is not, in fact, published by secular Turks.
It is published by very devout muslims, who are extremely interested in the Islamicisty
of Islamic science, and I think the Turkish will be able to make some major intellectual
contributions in the future to this field.
Perhaps most interesting of all these programs is going on in Aligarh University in India.
Aligarh University is of course a major Islamic university whose Islamicisty is now very
much threatened, by all that is going on in India, [one of] the great tragedies of the
last few decades. ** I was in India, exactly a year ago tomorrow, and I was to give
the Best Science awards in Aligarh University. People had come from all over India *
but I could not go to Aligarh because it was too dangerous, because the
government could not guarantee my safety. Everyday, about seven or eight people
were killed just on the road. People pull you off of the car and shoot you, and you
cannot do anything about it. So I could not go to Aligarh and I feel very sad about
that. But I know exactly what is going on in Aligarh University. There is a new
association called the ``Muslim Association for the Advancement of Science'' which
now also publishes a journal called the ``MAAS Journal''.
[MAAS] is a unique institution founded by twenty or thirty scientists, almost all of them,
scientists, physicists, chemists, biologists, and some of them very brilliant, who want to
absorb, first, Islamic science, then to absorb Western science. There is no way of
establishing an Islamic science without knowing Western science well. To talk of
circumventing what the West has learnt is absurd. But then the next step that has to
be taken on the basis of Islamic world view and the view of nature. Whether they will
succeed or not, Allah o aalim, `God knows best', but I mention it here as one of the
most important attempts that is now being made in the muslim world. Gradually a
network is being created among young muslim scientists who are concerned with
religion and are also quite capable of dealing with the humanities. * I think a great
deal of positive result will come from this, if the political situation does not get so bad
as to destroy the very physical basis for these activities.
Let me conclude with a word about the future. Of course a person should never be
too charmed by futuroligists, otherwise you would never say insha'llah. * Three years
ago probably companies [were paying] fortunes to [be told] what the future of the
Soviet Union was and [yet] nobody guessed what was going to happen. So, let's
take this with a grain of salt. Only God knows. But from the point of a humble scholar
of the situation, I believe that the cultural crisis created by the successful introduction
of Western science and technology, successful enough to bring about rapid cultural
patterns of change, is going to continue to pose major problems for the Islamic
world.

The best example of that is what happened in Iran. Iran had without doubt, the most
advanced program for the teaching of science and technology and the largest per
capita number of scientists. It was the only country in the muslim world where
alternative technology was already beginning to be discussed, but the cultural
transformation brought about by the very success of the enterprise, besides all the
other political problems that were involved * certainly contributed to the outcome of
what happened in the late seventies. The government in Iran today, wants [very
much] to go back to implement the very scientific programs and technological
programs which were put aside during the ten years after the revolution. But I
believe that the impact of the absorption of Western science and more than that,
the application of technology, for science today, in the minds of muslim
governments is not separated from application of technology, they are not simply
interested in pure science. Pure scientists have a lot of trouble finding money for their
work; it is the applied aspect which is emphasized. I think this [cultural dislocation] is
going to, without doubt, continue until something serious is done.
I remember in 1983 when the Saudi government decided to found a science

museum center in Riyadh, they contacted me and I went several times to Saudi
Arabia and spoke to all of the leading people involved. I told them at that time, that
a science museum could be a time bomb. Do not think that a science museum is
simply neutral in its cultural impact. It has a tremendous impact upon those who go
into it. If you go into a building in which one room is full of dinosaurs, the next room is
full of wires, and the third full of old trains, you are going to have a segmented view
of knowledge which is going to have a deep effect upon the young person who
goes there, who has been taught about Tauhid, about Unity, about the Unity of
knowledge, about the Unity of God, the Unity of the universe. There is going to be a
dichotomy created in him. You must be able to integrate knowledge. ** I mention
this to you as an example.
The problem [is] that with the increase of success of both the teaching of science
and the technology, will bring with it a cultural dislocation [and] philosophical
questioning which have to be answered especially at a time when the Islamic world
does not want to play the role of a dead duck. There is not a moment in the history
of Islam, when the muslims like the other great civilizations of Asia are trying to play
the game of the West. The Islamic world wants to pull its own weight, wants to finds
its own identity, and therefore this problem is going to be acute.
Secondly, I believe that [a] very major crisis [is being] set afoot by the very
application of modern technology, that is the environmental crisis. [This crisis is] of
course global. You cannot say, 'I am drawing a boundary around my country, I do
not want the hole in the ozone zone, [to make] the sun shine upon my head'. You
have no choice in that. Because of that, and because of the fact that Islamic
countries, like Buddhist countries, like Hindu countries, will always eat from the bread
crumbs of Western technology in the situation of the world today, more of an
attempt is made towards the direction of alternative technologies. [This] began in
Iran in the seventies, and thank God, is still going on a little, and [in] other places
[like] Eygpt where a little [attempt] to spend some of the energy of society towards
alternative technology [is being made]. [All of] which also means to try to look upon
science as the mother of technology in somewhat of a different way.

And finally, I think, the intellectual effort is now being made. What is called by some
people, the Islamisation of knowledge and which is now very popular, [and] which
goes back to some of my own humble writings in the fifties, and later on, the treatise
written by the late Ismail Al-Faruqui who was assassinated in Philadelphia two years
back. This little treatise he wrote called, "The Islamisation of Knowledge'', is now being
discussed in educational conferences throughout the Islamic World, [which] is finally
going to bear some fruit. Although it will require much more concerted effort of the
most intelligent and gifted members of the Islamic community, who must know
Western science in depth, who must know Islamic thought in depth, the
cosmological message of the Quran, not only its ethical message, and at the same
time have the energy to pursue this through. The task is a very daunting and difficult
one. The problem of the partition of science from Islam is a problem that exists unless
Islam is willing to give up its claim to being a total way of life. [If that were so], we
must suppress not only what we do on Friday noons, * but what we do and think
every moment of our daily lives. It is going to preserve an integrated principle that of
course * must also be taken into consideration.
Islam – Once A Forefront of Science
The Koran actually forms one of the cornerstones of science in Islam in a way unlike
any other scripture of any other religion, - Glen M. Cooper
By: Michael Woods

Pittsburgh Post Gazette
In Islamic Spain, Islam's Golden Age was at first imitated, then exceeded, as scholars
poured in from the Muslim east. One example is the ninth-century scholar 'Abbas ibn
Firnas who experimented with flight 699 years before Leonardo da Vinci and
constructed a planetarium in which the planets revolved. This reconstruction by
Michael Grimsdale, based on descriptions dating to that era, suggests the elaborate
gearing that Ibn Firnas had to have developed. - Source: Saudi Aramco World
TOLEDO, Spain -- Islamic medicine and science led the world for centuries while
Europe stagnated in the Dark Ages.
From 800 AD to 1500, Arabic was the language of science, as English is today.
Muslims occupied Spain, and Europeans flocked to Toledo and other Spanish cities,
or traveled great distances to Baghdad or Damascus, to translate Islamic science
and medical books into Latin.
Islamic medicine in the year 1000 was a marvel of sophistication, featuring

competency tests for doctors, drug purity regulations, hospitals staffed by nurses and
interns, advanced surgeries, and other practices beyond the dreams of medieval
Europeans.
So why is much of today's Islamic world a "scientific desert," to use the stark language
of a 2002 article in the journal Nature? Why do many predominantly Muslim countries,
home to 1.3 billion people and 75 percent of the world's oil wealth, neglect science
and technology? And how might they recapture their amazing scientific heritage?

These questions have resounded at international, Arab and Islamic scientific

conferences and have made headlines in science journals. Here's how the Nature
article summed up the situation in the Middle East, for instance:
"The region is, for the most part, a scientific desert. In some states, oil wealth has
allowed the construction of fabulous cities, magnificent mosques and sumptuous
shopping malls. But little scientific infrastructure has emerged. Collectively, the Arab
nations spend only 0.15 per cent of their gross domestic product on research and
development, well below the world average of 1.4 per cent."
Muslims account for 20 percent of the world's population, but less than one percent
of its scientists. Scientists in Islamic countries now make barely 0.1 percent of the
world's original research discoveries each year.
Authorities on Islamic science cite various reasons for this state of affairs, but the
Koran is not among them.
"The Koran actually forms one of the cornerstones of science in Islam in a way unlike
any other scripture of any other religion," said Glen M. Cooper, a professor of the
history of science and Islam at Brigham Young University.
"The Koran enjoins the believer and the unbeliever alike to examine nature for signs
of the creator's handiwork, evidence of his existence, and his goodness," Cooper
said. "Reason is revered as one of the most important of God's gifts to men. The
examination of nature led historically into a scientific perspective and program."
Farkhonda Hassan, a professor at the University of Cairo who has written about
barriers to science careers for Islamic women, agreed.
"The teachings of the Holy Prophet of Islam emphasize the acquiring of knowledge
as bounden duties of each Muslim from the cradle to the grave, and that the quest
for knowledge and science is obligatory upon every Muslim man and woman," she
said. "One eighth -- that is, 750 verses -- of the Koran exhort believers to study, to
reflect, and to make the best use of reason in their search for the ultimate truth."
Search they once did.
The rise of Islamic science
After Muhammad's death in 632, Muslim armies swept out of the Arabian Peninsula
and expanded the borders of Islam east and west.
They absorbed not just land, but also scientific knowledge from India and Greek
learning planted centuries earlier by the armies of Alexander the Great. Muslims
translated into Arabic the treasures of Hippocrates, Aristotle, Archimedes and other
great physicians, philosophers and scientists.
By 711, the Muslims had reached Spain, and they ended up dominating the region
until Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella drove out the last of them in 1492.

The impact of Islam's discoveries during this period went far beyond individual
innovations like algebra or the establishment of models for modern hospitals and
universities. The spread of Islamic knowledge to Europe sparked, or at least helped to
spark, the Renaissance and scientific revolution of the 17th century.
"It is highly probable that, but for the Arabs, modern European civilization would
never have arisen at all," Sir Thomas Arnold and Alfred Guillaume wrote in their 1997
classic, "The Legacy of Islam."
Robert Briffault wrote in the "Making of Humanity" in 1938 that "Spain, not Italy, was
the cradle of the rebirth of Europe. After steadily sinking lower and lower into
barbarism, it had reached the darkest depths of ignorance and degradation when
cities of the Saracenic world, Baghdad, Cairo, Cordoba, and Toledo, were growing
centers of civilization and intellectual activity. It was there that the new life arose
which was to grow into a new phase of human evolution."
Yet most Americans are completely unaware of Islam's rich scientific heritage, said
George Saliba, a professor of Arabic and Islamic science at Columbia University, and
more than a dozen other experts interviewed for this article.
"That is unfortunate," Cooper said. "Much of our modern science and philosophy
owes a large debt to Islamic civilization during the Middle Ages for preserving the
classical heritage in all intellectual fields, and for improving upon it in many of these
fields. If the average American understood this, there would be fewer smug citizens
looking down on 'backward Muslims' with hate and fear."
Two reasons Americans are relatively clueless on the subject are the Arabic-English
language barrier and a long tradition of U.S. historians focusing on European
scientific traditions, said Jeffrey Oaks of the University of Indianapolis.
"Anything not taught in high school is going to escape public consciousness," added
Thomas F. Glick, an expert on Islamic history at Boston University.
Some historians from mainly Islamic countries see it differently.
"We believe that, for dishonorable purposes, there is in the West an intention to
ignore the important scientific role played by Muslim scholars during the medieval
age," said Abdul Nasser Kaadan, a professor with the Institute for the History of
Arabic Science at the University of Aleppo in Syria. "This is to support the allegation
that Muslim and Arabic mentality never in the past and not in the future can lead
any scientific research."

Explaining the decline
So what happened to the once glorious scientific legacy of Islam and Arabia?
Experts cite many things.
Universities were an Islamic invention later adopted in Europe, but Muslim universities
did not shelter and preserve scientific knowledge during wars and other upheavals.
Christian warriors carved up the Islamic empire and cut off contact between great
scientific centers. Here in Spain, the Catholic reconquest of Ferdinand and Isabella
deprived Islamic science of the great libraries and schools in Cordoba, Seville and
Toledo.
Conflicts also cut off science's lifeblood -- cash for research and education. And the
Ottomans, who took over much of the Islamic world in the early 1500s, used their
resources to make war, not science.
In the 1700s, a puritanical form of Islam took root in Saudi Arabia, with a doctrine that
rejected knowledge acquired after the first 300 years of Islam's existence.
Several scholars said one problem is the lack of awareness among Arabs and
Muslims about their own scientific heritage.
"Muslims generally are unaware that their civilization had a high point of superiority in
nearly every aspect," Cooper said. "Their current challenge is to face the fact that
the Islamic edge has been completely lost.
"It would be a hard thing, I think, to be part of a religion and culture with such a
glorious history as that of Islam, when that glory is all in the distant past, and an
essentially godless civilization -- from their perspective -- enjoys the lead in power and
science."
Eventually, in the United States and Europe, science began paying some of its own
bills. Inventions like the telephone, radio, plastics and antibiotics led industry to pour
billions into scientific research. In much of the Arab world, science remained
dependent on handouts from sultans, kings or caliphs.
"Science and scientific research can flourish only when a country is affluent and has
a sound and balanced economy," said Ahmad Y. al-Hassan, also a faculty member
of the Arabic science institute at the University of Aleppo. "But when agriculture is the
dominant sector, then a country will remain poor, and when petroleum is the only
source of income, then this economy in the long run also is doomed."
Others also cited Arab oil wealth, and how rulers spend and invest their billions.
"They probably would have been better off without their mineral resources," said J. J.
Witkam of Leiden University in The Netherlands. "It is a corrupting element in any
society. But when societies are so unbalanced as most Islamic countries are, then it
gets cancerous proportions."

The United Nations Development Program called oil wealth "a mixed blessing" in a
2003 report that called on Arab countries to reclaim their scientific heritage. It
focused on the 22 members of the League of Arab States and their 280 million
people.
UNDP pointed out that Arab rulers invest much of their oil money in the United States
and other foreign countries, rather than using it to develop their own nations, and
import technical know-how instead of educating ample numbers of their own
citizens to be scientists and engineers. The report also cited "the pursuit of personal
gain, the preference for the private over the public good, social and moral
corruption, the absence of honesty and accountability and many other illnesses."
Experts also link the stagnation of Islamic science to a movement that took root more
than a century ago that contends all knowledge can be found in the Koran.
Meanwhile, the industrialized world has been moving toward a "knowledge society"
fueled by information and liberal education.
Signs of rebirth?
The United Nations Development Program, in a report published last year, described
in often painful detail some of the factors that have contributed to the decline of
science and the rise of extremism in Arab societies. Among them are:
Increases in average income have been lower in the Arab world than anywhere else
for 20 years, except for the poorest African countries. "If such trends continue...it will
take the average Arab citizen 140 years to double his or her income, whole other
regions are set to achieve that level in a matter of less than 10 years," the report
noted. One in 5 Arabs lives on less than $2 a day.
Arab unemployment is the highest in the developing world.
Surveys show more than half of young Arabs want to leave their countries and live in
the United States or other industrialized countries where opportunities are better.
The Arab brain drain is the world's worst, with about 25 percent of new graduates in
science, medicine and engineering emigrating each year.
About 1 in 4 Arab adults can neither read nor write. This is a particular problem
among Arab women, 50 per cent of whom are illiterate. Many children do not
attend school.
The quality of education has declined, with many schools teaching mainly
interpretations of the Koran, rather than other knowledge or skills.
Less than 0.6 per cent of Arabs use the Internet and barely 1.2 percent have access
to a personal computer. There are 18 computers per 1,000 Arabs, compared to the
global average of 78.3.

During the entire 20th century, fewer than 10,000 books were translated into Arabic --
equivalent to the number translated into Spanish in a single year. Religious books
account for 17 per cent of new publications in Arab countries, compared to a world
average of 5 per cent.
Censorship stifles ideas, information and innovation. Numerous censors review book
manuscripts, each with the power to edit text or demand revisions.
The UNDP report also described what's needed to re-energize scientific inquiry in
Arab and Islamic societies.
It included relatively straightforward suggestions like spending more on scientific

research and ordinary education rather than religious schools. Other
recommendations would involve reinventing new systems of government in some
countries. One called for "guaranteeing the key freedoms of opinion, speech, and
assembly through good governance bounded by law." Some involved correcting
tenacious problems like poverty and unemployment.
"Our civilization once supported a knowledge society that was the envy of the
world," said Rima Khalaf Hunaidi, a U.N. assistant secretary general who helped
prepare the report. "They will do so again if we clear away the defective social,
economic and political structures we have piled upon them. We can free our minds
to reason without fear; free our people's souls to breathe."
Columbia University's Saliba echoed the need to focus on education.
"What's needed to increase research in Islamic countries?," he asked. "The same

thing that is needed in any other country: priority on education, funding, training of
teachers, building better relations between school and home, educating the
parents, allocating higher budgets for education than for defense -- a situation that
is not too different from what we face in this country, as well."
Arab scientists and governments are making some progress.
In 2000, a group of leading scientists formed the Arab Science and Technology
Foundation in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The emirates are among a handful of
Arab countries -- which include Egypt, Pakistan, and Jordan -- that are investing
more in science education and research.
Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qassimi, the ruler of Sharjah, donated $1 million from
his own pocket to start the science foundation and provided its $5-million
headquarters building. The foundation hopes to raise $100 million so it can provide
research grants and encourage Arab scientists in other countries to return home.
The emir of Qatar is backing the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and
Community Development, which is building a vast "Education City" featuring branch
campuses of Carnegie Mellon and Cornell universities.
"The pendulum can swing back," wrote Ibrahim B. Syed of the University of Louisville in
an article about Islamic medicine:

"One thousand years ago the Muslims were the great torchbearers of international
scientific research. Every student and professional from each country outside the
Islamic Empire aspired, yearned, and dreamed to go to Islamic universities to learn,
to work, to live and to lead a comfortable life in an affluent and most advanced
and civilized society.
"Islamic countries have the opportunity and resources to make Islamic science and
medicine number one in their world once again."
Science & Muslim Scientists
The Arabs who had wielded the arms with such remarkable success, that they had
become the masters of a third of the knows world in a short span of thirty years, met
with even greater success in the realm of knowledge. But the west has persistently
endeavored to under-rate the achievements of Islam.
Writing in his outspoken book The intellectual Development of Europe, John William
Draper says, "I have to deplore the systematic manner in which the literature of
Europe has contrived to put out of sight our scientific obligations to the
Mohammadans. Surely they can not be much longer hidden. Injustice founded on
religious rancour and national conceit cannot be perpetuated for ever. What should
the modern astronomer say, when, remembering the contemporary barbarism of
Europe, he finds the Arab Abul Hassan speaking of turbes, to the extremities of which
ocular and object diopters, perhaps sights, were attached, as used at Meragha?
What when he reads of the attempts of Abdur Rahman Sufi at improving the
photometry of stars? Are the astronomical tables of Ibn Junis (A.D. 1008) called the
Hakemite tables, or the Ilkanic tables of Nasir-ud-din Toosi, constructed at the great
observatory just mentioned, Meragha near Tauris (1259 A.D.), or the measurement of
time by pendulum oscillations, and the method of correcting astronomical tables by
systematic observations are such things worthless indications of the mental State?
The Arab has left his intellectual impress on Europe, as, before long, Christendom will
have to confess; he has indelibly Written it on the heavens, as any one may see who
reads the names of the stars on a common celestial globe."
What is Science?
Science, has been defined as, "the ordered knowledge of natural phenomena and
the relations between them. Its end is the rational interpretation of the facts of
existence as disclosed to us by our faculties and senses." The celebrated scientist Sir J.
Arthur Thomson considers science to be "the well criticized body of empirical
knowledge declaring in the simplest and tersest terms available at the time what
can be observed and experimented with, and summing up uniformities of change in
formulae which are called laws verifiable by all who can use the methods."
According to another well known scientist Karl Pearson the hypotheses of science
are based on "observed facts, which, when confirmed by criticism and experiment,
are turned into laws of Nature."

Experimental Method
Observation and experiment are the two sources of scientific knowledge. Aristotle
was the father of the Greek sciences, and has made a lasting contribution to physics,
astronomy, biology, meteorology and other sciences. The Greek method of
acquiring scientific knowledge was mainly speculative, hence science as such could
make little headway during the time of the Greeks.
The Arabs who were more realistic and practical in their approach adopted the
experimental method to harness scientific knowledge. Observation and experiment
formed the vehicle of their scientific pursuits, hence they gave a new outlook to
science of which the world had been totally unaware. Their achievements in the
field of experimental science added a golden chapter to the annals of scientific
knowledge and opened a new vista for the growth of modern sciences.
Al-Ghazali was the follower of Aristotle in logic, but among Muslims, Ishraqi and Ibn-
iTaimiyya were first to undertake the systematic refutation of Greek logic. Abu Bakr
Razi criticised Aristotle's first figure and followed the inductive spirit which was
reformulated by John Stuart Mill. Ibn-i-Hazm in his well known work Scope of Logic
lays stress on sense perception as a source of knowledge and Ibn-i-Taimiyya in his
Refutation of Logic proves beyond doubt that induction is the only sure form of
argument, which ultimately gave birth to the method of observation and experiment.
It is absolutely wrong to assume that experimental method was formulated in Europe.

Roger Bacon, who, in the west is known as the originator of experimental method in
Europe, had himself received his training from the pupils of Spanish Moors, and had
learnt everything from Muslim sources. The influence of Ibn Haitham on Roger Bacon
is clearly visible in his works. Europe was very slow to recognize the Islamic origin of
her much advertised scientific (experimental) method. Writing in the Making of
Humanity Briffault admits, "It was under their successors at the Oxford School that
Roger Bacon learned Arabic and Arabic science. Neither Roger Bacon nor his later
namesake has any title to be credited with having introduced the experimental
method. Roger Bacon was no more than one of the apostles of Muslim science and
method to Christian Europe; and he never wearied of declaring that the knowledge
of Arabic and Arabic science was for his contemporaries the only way to true
knowledge.
Discussions as to who was the originator of the experimental method......are part of

the colossal misrepresentation of the origins of European civilization. The
experimental method of Arabs was by Bacon's time widespread and eagerly
cultivated throughout Europe....Science is the most momentous contribution of Arab
civilization to the modern world, but its fruits were slow in ripening. Not until long after
Moorish culture had sunk back into darkness did the giant to which it had given birth,
rise in his might. It was not science only which brought Europe back to life. Other and
manifold influences from the civilization of Islam communicated its first glow to
European life.

For although there is not a single aspect of European growth in which the decisive
influence of Islamic culture is not traceable, nowhere is it so clear and momentous as
in the genesis of that power which constitutes the permanent distinctive force of the
modern world, and the supreme source of its victory-natural science and the
scientific spirit.., The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in
startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to
Arab culture, it owes its existence....The ancient world was, as we saw, pre-scientific.
The astronomy and mathematics of Greeks were a foreign importation never

thoroughly acclimatized in Greek culture. The Greeks systematized, generalized and
theorized, but the patient ways of investigations, the accumulation of positive
knowledge, the minute methods of science, detailed and prolonged observation
and experimental inquiry were altogether alien to the Greek temperament. Only in
Hellenistic Alexandria was any approach to scientific work conducted in the ancient
classical world. That spirit and those methods were introduced into the European
world by the Arabs."' In his outstanding work The Reconstruction of Religious Thought
in Islam, Dr. M. Iqbal, the poet of Islam writes, "The first important point to note about
the spirit of Muslim culture then is that for purposes of knowledge, it fixes its gaze on
the concrete, the finite.
It is further clear that the birth of the method of observation and experiment in Islam
was due not to a compromise with Greek thought but to prolonged intellectual
warfare with it. In fact the influence of Greeks who, as Briffault says, were interested
chiefly in theory, not in fact, tended rather to obscure the Muslim's vision of the
Qur'an, and for at least two centuries kept the practical Arab temperament from
asserting itself and coming to its own." Thus the experimental method introduced by
the Arabs was responsible for the rapid advancement of science during the
mediaeval times.
Chemistry
Chemistry as a science is unquestionably the invention of the Muslims. It is one of the

sciences in which Muslims have made the greatest contribution and developed it to
such a high degree of perfection that they were considered authorities in this
science until the end of the 17th century A. D. Jabir and Zakariya Razi have the
distinction of being the greatest chemists the mediaeval times produced. Writing in
his illuminating History of the -Arabs, Philip K. Hitti acknowledges the greatness of
Arabs in this branch of science when he says, "After materia medica, astronomy and
mathematics, the Arabs made their greatest scientific contribution in chemistry. In
the study of chemistry and other physical sciences, the Arabs introduced the
objective experiment, a decided improvement over the hazy speculation of Greeks.
Accurate in the observation of phenomena and diligent in the accumulation of
facts, the Arabs nevertheless found it difficult to project proper hypotheses."
Jabir Ibn Hayyan (Geber) who flourished in Kufa about 776 A.D. is known as the
father of modern chemistry and along with Zakariya Razi, stands as the greatest
name in the annals of chemical science during mediaeval times. He got his
education from Omayyad Prince Khalid Ibn Yazid Ibn Muawiyah and the celebrated
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq. He worked on the assumption that metals like lead, tin and iron
could be transformed into gold by mixing certain chemical substances.

It is said that he manufactured a large quantity of gold with the help of that
mysterious substance and two centuries later, when a street was rebuilt in Kufa a
large piece of gold was unearthed from his laboratory. He laid great emphasis on
the importance of experimentation in his research and hence he made great
headway in chemical science, Western writers credit him with the discovery of
several chemical compounds, which are not mentioned in his twenty-two extant
Arabic works.
According to Max Meyerhof "His influence may be traced throughout the whole
historic course of European alchemy and chemistry." He is credited, with the writing
of 100 chemical works. "Nevertheless, the works to which his name was attached"
says Hitti, "were after the 14th century, the most influential chemical treatises in both
Europe and Asia."" He explained scientifically the two principal operations of
chemistry, calcination and reduction, and registered a marked improvement in the
methods of evaporation, sublimation filtration, distillation and crystallization. Jabir
modified and corrected the Aristotelian theory of the constituents of metal, which
remained unchanged until the beginning of modern chemistry in the 18th century.
He has explained in his works the preparation of many chemical substances
including "Cinnabar" (sulfide of mercury) and arsenic oxide. It has been established
through historical research that he knew how to obtain nearly pure vitrilos, alums,
alkalis and how to produce 'the so-called liver' and milk of sulfur by heating sulfur
with alkali. He prepared mercury oxide and was fully conversant with the
preparation of crude sulfuric and nitric acids. He knew the method of the solution of
gold and silver with this acid. His chemical treatises on such subjects have been
translated into several European languages including Latin and several technical
scientific terms invented by Jabir have been adopted in modern chemistry. A real
estimate of his achievements is only possible when his enormous chemical work
including the Book of Seventy are published. Richard Russell (1678, A.D.) an English
translator ascribes a book entitled Sun of Perfection to Jabir. A number of his
chemical works have been published by Berthelot. His books translated into English
are the Book of Kingdom, Book of Balances and Book of Eastern mercury. Jabir also
advanced a theory on the geologic formation of metals and dealt with many useful
practical applications of chemistry such as refinement of metals, preparation of steel
and dyeing of cloth and leather, varnishing of waterproof cloth and use of
manganese dioxide to color glass.
Jabir was recognized as the master by the later chemists including al-Tughrai and
Abu al-Qasim al-Iraqi who flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries respectively.
These Muslim chemists made little improvement on the methods of Jabir. They
confined themselves to the quest of the legendary elixir which they could never find.
Zakariya Razi known as Rhazas in Latin is the second great name in mediaeval
chemical science. Born in 850 A.D. at Rayy, he is known as one of the greatest
physicians of all times. He wrote Kitab al Asrar in chemistry dealing with the
preparation of chemical substances and their application. His great work of the art
of alchemy was recently found in the library of an Indian prince. Razi has proved
himself to be a greater expert than all his predecessors, including Jabir, in the exact
classification of substances. His description of chemical experiments as well as their
apparatus are distinguished for their clarity which were not visible in the writings of his
predecessors.

Jabir and other Arabian chemists divided mineral substances into bodies (gold, silver
etc.), souls (sulfur, arsenic, etc.) and spirits (mercury and sal-ammoniac) while Razi
classified his mineral substances as vegetable, animal and mineral.
The mineral substances were also classified by Al-Jabiz. Abu Mansur Muwaffaq has
contributed to the method of the preparation and properties of mineral substances.
Abul Qasim who was a renowned chemist prepared drugs by sublimation and
distillation. High class sugar and glass were manufactured in Islamic countries. The
Arabs were also expert in the manufacture of ink, lacquers, solders, cements and
imitation pearls.
Physics
The Holy Qur'an had awakened a spirit of inquiry among the Arabs which was
instrumental in their splendid achievements in the field of science, and according to
a western critic led them to realize that "science could not be advanced by mere
speculation; its only sure progress lay in the practical interrogation of nature. The
essential characteristics of their method are experiment and observation. In their
writings on Mechanics, hydrostatics, optics, etc., the solution of the problem is always
obtained by performing an experiment, or by an instrumental observation. It was this
that made them the originator of chemistry, that led them to the invention of all
kinds of apparatus for distillation, sublimation, fusion and filtration; that in astronomy
caused them to appeal to divided instrument, as quadrant and astrolabe; in
chemistry to employ the balance the theory of which they were perfectly familiar
with; to construct tables of specific gravities and astronomical tables, that produced
their great improvements in geometry and trigonometry."
The Muslims developed physics to a high degree and produced such eminent
physicist as Kindi, Jahiz, Banu Musa, Beruni, Razi and Abdur Rahman Ibn Nasr.
Abu Yusuf Ibn Ishaq, known as al-Kindi was born at Kufa in the middle of the 9th
century and flourished in Baghdad. He is the most dominating and one of the
greatest Muslim scholars of physics. Over and above this, he was an astrologer,
philosopher, alchemist, optician and musical theorist. He wrote more than 265 books,
the majority of which have been lost. Most of his works which survived are in Latin
having been translated by Gerard of Cremona. Of these fifteen are on meteorology,
several on specific weight, on tides, on optics and on reflection of light, and eight
are on music. His optics influenced Roger Bacon. He wrote several books on iron and
steel to be used for weapons. He applied mathematics not only to physics, but also
to medicine. He was therefore regarded by Cardon, a philosopher of the
Renaissance, "as one of the 12 subtlest minds." He thought that gold and silver could
only be obtained from mines and not through any other process. He endeavored to
ascertain the laws that govern the fall of bodies. Razi investigated on the
determination of specific gravity of means of hydrostatic balance, called by him
Mizan-al-Tabii.

Most of his works on physics, mathematics, astronomy and optics have perished. In
physics his writings deal with matter, space, time and motion. In his opinion matter in
the primitive state before the creation of the world was composed of scattered
atoms, which possessed extent. Mixed in various proportions with the articles of void,
these atoms produced these elements which are five ih number namely earth, air,
water, fire and celestial element. Fire is created by striking iron on the stone.
Abu Rehan Beruni, was a versatile genius, who adorned the durbar of Mahmud of
Ghazni. His outstanding achievement in the realm of physics was the accurate
determination of the weight of 18 stones. He also discovered that light travels faster
than sound. He has also contributed immensely to geological knowledge by
providing the correct explanation of the formation of natural spring and artesian
wells, He suggested that the Indus valley was formerly an ancient basin filled with
alluvial soil. His Kitab al Jawahir deals with different types of gems and their specific
gravity. A voluminous unedited lapidary by Betuni is kept in manuscript form in the
Escorial Library. It deals with a large number of stones and metals from the natural,
commercial and medical point of view. Barlu Musa has left behind him a work on
balance, while Al-Jahiz used hydrostatic balance to determine specific gravity. An
excellent treatise had been written by Al-Naziri regarding atmosphere.
Khazini, was a well known scientist of Islam, who explained the greater density of
water when nearer to the center of the earth. Roger Bacon, who proved the same
hypotheses afterwards based his proof on the theories advanced by Khazini. His
brilliant work Mizanul Hikma deals with gravity and contains tables of densities of
many solids and liquids. It also contains "observation on capillarity, uses of aerometer
to measure densities and appreciate the temperature of liquids, theory of the lever
and the application of balance to building." Chapters on weights and measures'
were written by Ibn Jami and Al-Attar. Abdur Rahman Ibn Nasr wrote an excellent
treatise on weights and measures for the use of Egyptian markets.
Biology
The Muslim scientists made considerable progress in biology especially in botany,

and developed horticulture to a high degree of perfection. They paid greater
attention to botany in comparison to zoology. Botany reached its zenith in Spain. In
zoology the study of the horse was developed almost to the tank of a science. Abu
Ubaidah (728--825 A. D.) who wrote more than 100 books, devoted more than fifty
books to the study of the horse.
Al-Jahiz, who flourished in Basra is reputed to be one of the greatest zoologists the
Muslim world has produced. His influence in the subject may be traced to 'the
Persian'Al-Qazwini' and the Egyptian 'Al-Damiri'. His book 'Ritab al Haywan' (book ori
animals) contains germs of later theories of evolution, adaptation and animal
psychology. He was the first to note changes in bird life through migrations, Re
described the method of obtaining 'ammonia from animal offal by dry distilling.'

Al-Damiri, who died in 1405 in Cairo and who was influenced by Al-Jahiz is the
greatest Arab zoologist. His book Hayat Haywarz (Life of animal) is the most
important Muslim work in zoology. It is an encyclopaedia on animal life containing a
mine of information on the subject. It contains the history of animals and preceded
Buffon by 700 years.
Al-Masudi, has given the rudiments of the theory of evolution in his well known work
Meadows of gold. Another of his works Kitab al-Tanbih wal Ishraq advances his views
on evolution namely from mineral to plant, from plant to animal and from animal to
man.
In botany Spanish Muslims made the greatest contribution, and some of them are
known as the greatest botanists of mediaeval times. They were keen observers and
discovered sexual difference between such plants as palms and hemps. They
roamed about on sea shores, on mountains and in distant lands in quest of rare
botanical herbs. They classified plants into those that grow from seeds, those that
grow from cuttings and those that grow of their own accord, i.e., wild growth. The
Spanish Muslims advanced in botany far beyond the state in which "it had been left
by Dioscorides and augmented the herbology of the Greeks by the addition of 2,000
plants" Regular botanical gardens existed in Cordova, Baghdad, Cairo and Fez for
teaching and experimental purposes. Some of these were the finest in the world.
The Cordovan physician, Al-Ghafiqi (D. 1165) was a renowned botanist, who
collected plants in Spain and Africa, and described them most accurately.
According to G. Sarton he was "the greatest expert of his time on simples. His
description of plants was the most precise ever made in Islam; he gave the names of
each in Arabic, Latin and Berber".l His outstanding work Al Adwiyah al Mufradah
dealing with simples was later appropriated by Ibn Baytar."
Abu Zakariya Yahya Ibn Muhammad Ibn Al-Awwan, who flourished at the end of 12
century in Seville (Spain) was the author of the most important Islamic treatise on
agriculture during the mediaeval times entitled Kitab al Filahah. The book treats
more than 585 plants and deals with the cultivation of more than 50 fruit trees. It also
discusses numerous diseases of plants and suggests their remedies. The book
presents new observations on properties of soil and different types of manures.
Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Baytar, was the greatest botanist and pharmacist of
Spain--in fact the greatest of mediaeval times. He roamed about in search of plants
and collected herbs on the Mediterranean littoral, from Spain to Syria, described
more than 1,400 medical drugs and compared them with the records of more than
150 ancient and Arabian authors. The collection of simple drugs composed by him is
the most outstanding botanical work in Arabic. "This book, in fact is the most
important for the whole period extending from Dioscorides down to the 16th
century." It is an encyclopedic work on the subject. He later entered into the service
of the Ayyubid king, al-Malik al-l(amil, as his chief herbalist in Cairo. From there he
traveled through Syria and Asia Minor, and died in Damascus. One of his works AI-
Mughani-fi al Adwiyah al Mufradah deals with medicine. The other Al Jami Ji al
Adwiyah al Mufradah is a very valuable book containing simple remedies regarding
animal, vegetable and mineral matters which has been described above. It deals
also with 200 novel plants which were not known up to that time.

Abdul Abbas Al-Nabati also wandered along the African Coast from Spain to Arabia
in search of herbs and plants. He discovered some rare plants on the shore of Red
Sea.
Another botanist Ibn Sauri, was accompanied by an artist during his travels in Syria,
who made sketches of the plants which they found.
Ibn Wahshiya, wrote his celebrated work al-Filahah al-Nabatiyah containing

valuable information about :animals and plants.
Many Cosmographical encyclopedias have been written by Arabs and Persians,

which contain sections on animals, plants and stones, of which the best known is that
of Zakariya al-Kaiwini, who died in 1283 A. D. Al-Dinawari wrote an excellent 'book of
plants' and al-Bakri has written a book describing in detail the 'Plants of Andalusia'
Ibn Maskwaih, a contemporary of Al-Beruni, advanced a definite theory about

evolution. According to him plant life at its lowest stage of evolution does not need
any seed for its birth and growth. Nor does it perpetuate its species by means of the
seed.
The great advancement of botanical science in Spain led to the development of

agriculture and horticulture on a grand scale. "Horticulture improvements" says G.
Sarton, "constituted the finest legacies of Islam, and the gardens of Spain proclaim to
this clay one of the noblest virtues of her Muslim conquerors- The development of
agriculture was one of the glories of Muslim Spain."
Transmission to the West
The Muslims were the pioneers of sciences and arts during mediaeval times and
formed the necessary link between the ancients and the moderns. Their light of
learning dispelled the gloom that had enveloped Europe. Moorish Spain was the
main source from which the scientific knowledge of the Muslims and their great
achievements were transmitted to France, Germany and England. The Spanish
universities of Cordoba, Seville and Granada were thronged with Christian and
Jewish students who learnt science from the Muslim scientists and who then
popularized them in their native lands. Another source for the transmission of Muslim
scientific knowledge was Sicily, where during the reign of Muslim kings and even
afterwards a large number of scientific works were translated from Arabic into Latin.
The most prominent translators who translated Muslims works from Arabic into
European languages were Gerard of Cremona, Adelard of Bath, Roger Bacon and
Robert Chester. Writing in his celebrated work Moors in Spain Stanley Lane Poole says,
"For nearly eight centuries under the Mohammadan rulers, Spain set out to all Europe
a shining example of a civilized and enlightened State--Arts, literature and science
prospered as they prospered nowhere in Europe. Students flocked from France,
Germany and England to drink from the fountain of learning which flowed down in
the cities of Moors. The surgeons and doctors of Andalusia were in the van of
science; women were encouraged to serious study and the lady doctor was not
always unknown among the people of Cordova. Mathematics, astronomy and
botany, history, philosophy and jurisprudence, were to be mastered in Spain, and
Spain alone.

The practical work of the field, the scientific methods of irrigation, the arts of
fortification and shipbuilding, of the highest and most elaborate products of the
loom, the gravel and the hammer, the potter's wheel and mason's trowel, were
brought to perfection by the Spanish Moors. Whatever makes a kingdom great and
prosperous, whatever tends to refinement and civilization was found in Muslim
Spain."
The students flocked to Spanish cities from all parts of Europe to be infused with the
light of learning which lit up Moorish Spain. Another western historian writes, "The light
of these universities shone far beyond the Muslim world, and drew students to them
from east and west. At Cordoba in particular there were a number of Christian
students, and the influence of Arab philosophy coming by way of Spain upon
universities of Paris, Oxford and North Italy and upon western Europe thought
generally, was very considerable indeed. The book copying industry flourished at
Alexandria, Damascus, Cairo and Baghdad and about the year 970, there were 27
free schools open in Cordoba for the education of the poor."
Such were the great achievements of Muslims in the field of science which paved
the way for the growth of modern sciences.
Islam & Science
RELIGION and SCIENCE have always been considered to be twin sisters by Islam and
today at a time when science has taken great strides, they still continue to be
associated. Furthermore, certain scientific data are used for a better understanding
of the Qur’anic text. In a century where, for many, scientific truth has dealt a
deathblow to religious belief, it is precisely the discoveries of science that, in an
objective examination of the Islamic Revelation, have highlighted the supernatural
character of various aspects of the Revelation.
After a study which lasted ten years, the famous French physician Maurice Bucaille
adressed the French Academy of Medicine in 1976 and expressed the complete
agreement of the Qur’an and established findings of modern science. He presented
his study on the existence in the Qur’an of certain statements concerning physiology
and reproduction. His reason for doing that was that "our knowledge of these
disciplines is such, that it is impossible to explain how a text produced at the time of
the Qur’an could have contained ideas that have only been discovered in modern
times".
Decades later a noted embryologist Keith L. Moore and expert in his field, upon
being presented with the statements made in the Qur’an regarding the stages of the
formation of the embryo from the mixing of the male and female gametes up to the
embryo’s full development remarked "It has been a pleasure for me to help clarify
statements in the Qur’an about Human Development. It is clear to me that these
statements must have come to Muhammad from God or Allaah because almost all
of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later." Professor Moore
presented his findings to scientists at several conferences.

Several Canadian periodicals published many of Moore’s statements and in addition

he presented three television programmes in which he highlighted the compatibility
of modern science with what has been revealed in the Qur’an 1400 years ago.
Consequently, he was asked: "Does this mean that you believe that the Qur’an is the
word of God?" to which he replied "I find no difficulty in accepting this."
In fact Professor Moore was so amazed at the accuracy of the descriptions and the
terminology used for the various stages of the development of the embryo that he
modified his own textbook on the subject. He incorporated all the relevant Qur’anic
passages and authentic statements of the Prophet Muhammad into his book, The
Developing Human: Clinically oriented embryology with Islamic additions, which was
published by WB Saunders in 1987 and was a standard university textbook in the
United States. The book now contains passages of the Qur’an and the Hadeeth
(verified statements of the Prophet Muhammad) for every stage of development
and Professor Moore has also adopted the classification used in the above two
sources.
Consider also the statement of Tejatet Tejasen (Professor at the Dept. of Anatomy,
Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mei University, Thailand) after his study on the Qur’an
passages dealing with embryology: "From my studies and what I have learnt at this
conference I believe that everything that has been recorded in the Qur’an 1400
years ago must be true. That can be proved the scientific way". Also the statement
of E. Marshal Johnson (Professor and Chairman, Dept. of Anatomy, Daniel Bough
Institute, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA) when he became aware of
such statements in the Qur’an and investigated them: "The Qur’an describes not only
the development of external form but emphasizes also the internal stages - the
stages inside the embryo of its creation and development, emphasizing major events
recognized by contemporary science... If I was to transpose myself into that era,
knowing what I do today and describing things, I could not describe the things that
were described... I see no evidence to refute the concept that this individual
Muhammad had to be developing this information from some place... so I see
nothing in conflict with the concept that divine intervention was involved..."
Upon being presented with hadeeths (verified statements of the Prophet

Muhammad) concerning dominant and recessive characteristics Joe Leigh Simpson
(Professor of Obstretics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Medical School,
Chicago, Illinois, USA) said: "... these Hadeeths could not have been obtained on the
basis of the scientific knowledge that was available at the time of the’writer’... It
follows that not only is there no conflict between genetics and religion (Islam) but in
fact religion (Islam) may guide science by adding revelation to some of the
traditional scientific approaches... There exist statements in the Qur’an shown
centuries later to be valid which support knowledge in the Qur’an having been
derived from God".

Consider also the statement of T.V.N. Persaud (Professor and Head, Dept. of
Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Manitoba, Canada):
"Muhammad was a very ordinary man, he couldn’t read, didn’t know how to write,
in fact he was an illiterate... were talking about 1400 years ago, you have some
illiterate person making profound statements that are amazingly accurate, of a
scientific nature... I personally can’t see how this could be mere chance, there are
too many accuracies and like Dr. Moore I have no difficulty in my mind reconciling
that this is a divine inspiration or revelation which lead him to these statements".
These are just a number of quotes from the "Scientific Community" regarding the
nature and the origins of the Qur’an. In fact the Qur’an and Hadeeth do not just talk
about embryology but hundreds of other phenomenon including the earth and sun
being round, spinning around their own axis and following their own orbits, the origin
and formation of the universe, the two types of seas between which is a barrier, the
role of mountains in stabilising the earths crust, the formation of milk in cows, the
cause of sexual diseases, the location of pain receptors within the body, the
expansion of the universe, the precise nature of the water cycle, the change in
atmospheric pressure at high altitudes, the gender of the bee which is responsible for
producing honey (female), the stars consuming themselves via the combustion of
their gases and this being the source of their light and many more.
Explaining all these statements by chance alone is something which has been
resorted to, surprisingly by those deemed to be possessors of intellect and erudition.
However this is not tenable as the following demonstration will show. When you make
a guess regarding the true nature of something (in an accurate and precise manner
that is) there are only two possibilities. Either you are right or wrong. If you make
another guess then you only have one chance in four of being correct both times. If
you make a third guess then you have one chance in eight of being correct all three
times and so on. The chances of correctly describing, lets say, ten phenomena are 1
in 1024. Another point to bear in mind is that the greater the number of things you
describe, the chance of being wrong is greater and thus the risk you are taking of
being discredited gets bigger and bigger. The Qur’an and the Sunnah (Authentic
sayings of the Prophet (sas)) make statements on literally hundreds of phenomenen
and at the same time openly calls the scientific community to verify them. If one
from the scientific community was to make hundreds of new claims regarding his
particular field and was then to call all his fellow specialists to prove him wrong he
would know without doubt that he is standing on an undermined sand cliff which is
ready to crumble with him. How then for the one who makes statements about the
specialities of others?
One will be surprised to learn that such a scientific approach has been commanded
in the Qur’an with the objective of ascertaining its truthfulness.
Do they not carefully consider (investigate) the Qur’an or are there locks upon their
hearts. [Surah 47:24]
Do they not carefully analyse the Quran. If it had been from other than Allaah then
surely they would have found many discrepancies therein [Surah 4:82]

So religious (that is Islamic) beliefs are not based upon blind acceptance as many
have generalised to all religions and thus falsely attributed to the Qur’an and Islam.
This has been the experience of Europe in the past 3-400 years in which scientific
advancement and its findings were seen as heretical, its proponents ridiculed and
often exiled and tortured. Islam has never had that experience.
It is true that peoples academic capabilities differ and thus some will be unable to
ascertain the truth of it and therefore may accept it blindly. But again they have the
opportunity to ask the people of knowledge, those who are in a position to make
such a judgement, like those quoted above. It is from the principles of wisdom and
justice that when you don’t know you don’t make a judgement yourself but rather
consult one who is in a position to do so. In fact this is something Allaah has also
commanded:
So ask the People of Knowledge if you do not know [Surah 21:7]
and He has also said:
And those who have been given Knowledge know that that which has been
revealed to you from your Lord is the Truth [Surah 34:6]
This is a clear proof of the lack of the dependance upon dogma, superstition and
personal experience and an indication of the obligation to research, ascertain and
to verify in a scientific manner the credibility of religious (Islamic) belief. Fortunately
there are those who have done exactly that like Keith Moore and his scientific
colleagues but there are others who have invented lies and slanders in order to
discredit the Qur’an and the Prophet. However when these lies and slanders are put
to the test scientifically they fail miserably and their irrationality and bias becomes
evident. Some of the common claims are that Muhammad was possessed or was an
eloquent poet or was a magician or was one who was brainwashed or was a
soothsayer. In fact all of these have been denied and rebutted in the Qur’an itself in
numerous places and numerous times. It is even more strange that these were the
very same claims made by the people who belied the Prophet during his lifetime,
and they are the only ones that are resorted to today. What a great advancement!
Nay! We hurl the Truth against falsehood and it does smash it’s brains and thus it
perishes. And woe be to you for what you describe (with your tongues) [Surah 21:18]
Note: All quotes have been taken from a video in which after having been
presented with the statements in the Qur’an and Hadeeth and given the chance to
investigate, the various scientists were questioned as to their opinion regarding the
Qur’an. There response was recorded live. The video is called "The Truth" and is
available from the Islamic Society upon request. If you would like to know more or
have any queries about this topic then please feel free to contact the Islamic
Society on Ext. 2019 or if you prefer you are more than welcome to the Society in the
Chaplaincy Centre or drop us a line via the Students Union Pigeon Holes.

The Quraan & Modern Science
INTRODUCTION
Dr. Maurice Bucaille is an eminent French surgeon, scientist, scholar and author of
"THE BIBLE, THE QUR'AN AND SCIENCE" which contains the result of his research into
the Judeo-Christian Revelation and the Qur'an. It is a unique contribution in the field
of religion and science.
Being an outstanding Scientist, he was selected to treat the mummy of Merneptah

(Pharaoh) which he did. During his visit to Saudi Arabia he was shown the verses of
the Holy Qur'an in which Allah says that the dead body of the Pharaoh will be
preserved as a "Sign" for posterity. An impartial scientist like Dr. Bucaille, who (being
also a Christian) was conversant with the Biblical version of Pharaoh's story as being
drowned in pursuit of Prophet Moses. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that
unknown to the world till only of late, the Holy Qur'an made definite prediction about
the preservation of the body of that same Pharaoh of Moses' time. This led Dr.
Bucaille to study the Holy Qur'an thoroughly after learning the Arabic language. The
final conclusion of his comparative study of Qur'an and the Bible is that the
statements about scientific phenomena in the Holy Qur'an are perfectly in
conformity with the modern sciences whereas the Biblical narration's on the same
subjects are scientifically entirely unacceptable.
FROM THE ORIGIN OF MAN
As most people in the West have been brought up on misconceptions concerning

Islam and the Qur'an; for a large part of my life, I myself was one such person. Let me
cite one or two specific examples to indicate the kind of inaccurate ideas generally
current.
MISCONCEPTIONS
As I grew up, I was always taught that 'Mahomet' was the author of the Qur'an; I
remember seeing French translations bearing this information. I was invariably told
that the 'author' of the Qur'an simply compiled, in a slightly different form, stories of
sacred history taken from the Bible; the 'author' was said to have added or removed
certain passages, while setting forth the principles and rules of the religion he himself
had founded. There are moreover Islamic scholars today in France whose duties
include teaching and who express exactly these views, although perhaps in a more
subtle form.
This description of the origins of the Qur'anic text, which is so out of touch with reality,
might lead one immediately to assume that if there are scientific errors in the Bible,
there must also be errors of this kind in the Qur'an! This is the natural conclusion to be
drawn in such circumstances, but it is based on a misconception. We are well aware
that at the time of Muhammad - the Qur'anic Revelation took place between 610
and 632 A.D - scientific obscurantism prevailed, both in the Orient as well as in the
West.

In France, for example, this period corresponded roughly to the reign of King
Dagobert, the last of the Mrovingians. This approach to what was supposedly the
Qur'anic text may on first sight seem logical, but when one examines the text with an
informed and impartial eye, it becomes clear that this approach is not at all in
keeping with reality. We shall see in a moment the truth of this statement, which is
obvious from the texts.
Whenever there is textual proof of the existence in the Qur'an of statements that are
in agreement with modern knowledge, but which in the Bible are related in a
manner that is scientifically unacceptable, the stock response is that, during the
period separating the two Scriptures, Arab scientists made discoveries in various
disciplines which enabled them to arrive at these supposed adaptations. This
approach takes no account whatsoever of the history of the sciences. The latter
indicates that the great period of Islamic civilizations, during which, as we know,
science made considerable progress, came several centuries after the
communication of the Qur'an to the communication of the Qur'an to man.
Furthermore, scientific history informs us that, as far as the subjects dealt with in this
present book are concerned, no discoveries were made during, the period
separating the Bible from the Qur'an.
When this aspect of the Qur'an is mentioned in the West, however, we are likely to
hear it said that while this may indeed be so, nowhere is this fact referred to in the
translations of the Qur'an which we possess today, or in the prefaces and
commentaries that accompany them.
This is a very judicious remark. Muslim - and indeed non-Muslim -
translators who have produced a French version of the Qur'an are basically men of
letters. More often than not, they mistranslate a passage because they do not
possess the scientific knowledge required to understand its true meaning. The fact is,
however, that in order to translate correctly, one must first understand what one is
reading. A further point is that translators - especially those mentioned above - - may
have been influenced by notes provided by ancient commentators often came to
be regarded as highly authoritative, even though they had no scientific knowledge -
nor indeed had anybody else at that time. They were incapable of imagining that
the texts might contain allusions to secular knowledge, and thus they could not
devote attention to a specific passage by comparing it to other verses in the Qur'an
dealing with the same subject - a process that often provides the key to the
meaning of a word or expression. From this results the fact that any passage in the
Qur'an that gives rise to a comparison with modern secular knowledge is likely to be
unreliably translated.
Very often, the translations are peppered with inaccurate - if not totally nonsensical -
statements. The only way to avoid such errors is to possess a scientific background
and to study the Qur'anic text in the original language.

SCIENTIFIC ERRORS
On the subject of man, as well as the other topics mentioned earlier, it is not possible
to find any corresponding data in the Bible. Furthermore the scientific errors
contained in the Bible - such as those describing man's first appearance on earth,
which, as we have seen, may be deduced from the Genealogies that figure in
Genesis are not to be found in the Qur'an. It is crucial to understand that such errors
could not have been 'edited out' of the Qur'an since the time they first became
apparent: well over a thousand years have elapsed since the most ancient
manuscripts and today's texts of the Qur'an, but these texts are still absolutely
identical. Thus, if Muhammad were the author of the Qur'an (a theory upheld by
some people), it is difficult to see how he could have spotted the scientific errors in
the Bible dealing with such a wide variety of subjects and have proceeded to
eliminate every single one of them when he came to compose his own text on the
same themes. Let us state once again, that no new scientific facts had been
discovered since the time the Bible was written that might have helped eliminate
such errors.
In view of the above, it is imperative to know the history of the texts, just as it is
essential to our understanding of certain aspects of the Bible for us to be aware, of
the conditions in which it was written.
As we have noted earlier, experts in Biblical exegesis consider the books of Old and
New Testaments to be divinely inspired works. Let us now examine, however, the
teachings of Muslim exegetes, who present the Qur'an in quite a different fashion.
When Muhammad was roughly forty years old, it was his custom to retire to a retreat
just outside Mecca in order to meditate. It was here that he received a first message
from God via the Angel Gabriel, at a date that corresponds to 610 A.D. After a long
period of silence, this first message was followed by successive revelations spread
over some twenty years. During the Prophet's lifetime, they were both written down
and recited by heart among his first followers. Similarly, the revelations were divided
into suras (chapters) and collected together after the Prophet' death (in 632 A.D.) in
a book: the Qur'an. The Book contains the Word of God, to the exclusion of any
human additions. Manuscripts dating from the first century of Islam authenticate
today's text, the other form of authentication being the recitation by heart of the
Qur'an, a practice that has continued unbroken from the time of the Prophet down
to the present day.

UNCORRUPTED NATURE OF THE QUR'AN
In contrast to the Bible, therefore, we are presented with a text that is none other
than the transcript of the Revelation itself; the only way it can be received and
interpreted is literally. The purity of the revealed text has been greatly emphasized,
and the uncorrupted nature of the Qur'an stems from the following factors:
First, as stated above, fragments of the text were written down during the Prophet's
lifetime; inscribed on tablets, parchments and other materials current at the time.
The Qur'an itself refers to the fact that the text was set down in writing. We find this in
several suras dating from before and after the Hejira (Muhammad's departure from
Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D.) In addition to the transcription of the text, however,
there was also the fact that it was learned by heart. The text of the Qur'an is much
shorter than the Old Testament and slightly longer than the New Testament. Since it
took twenty years for the Qur'an to be revealed, however, it was easy for the
Prophet's followers to recite it by heart, sura by sura. This process of recitation
afforded a considerable advantage as far as an uncorrupted text was concerned,
for it provided a system of double-checking at the time the definitive text was written
down. This took place several years after the Prophet's death; first under the
caliphate of Abu Bakr, his first successor, and later under the caliphate of Omar and
in particular that of Uthman (644 to 655 A.D.) The latter ordered an extremely strict
recension of the text, which involved checking it against the recited versions.
TEXT OF QUR'AN UNCORRUPTED
After Muhammad's death, Islam rapidly expanded far beyond the limits of the area
in which it was born. Soon, it included many peoples whose native language was
not Arabic. Very strict steps were taken to ensure that the text of the Qur'an did not
suffer from this expansion of Islam: Uthman sent copies of his entire recension to the
principal centers of the vast Islamic empire. Some copies still exist today, in more or
less complete form, in such places as Tashkent (U.S.S.R) and Istanbul. Copies have
also been discovered that date from the very first centuries after the Hejira; they are
all identical, and all of them correspond to the earliest manuscripts.
Today's editions of the Qur'an are all faithful reproductions of the original copies. In
the case of the Qur'an, there are no instances of rewriting or corruption of the text
over the course of time.
If the origin of the Qur'an had been similar to those of the Bible, it would not be
unreasonable to suppose that the subjects it raised would be presented in the light
of the ideas influenced by certain
opinions of the time, often derived from myth and superstition. If this were the case,
one might argue that there were untold opportunities for inaccurate assertions,
based on such sources, to find their way into the many and varied subjects briefly
summarized above. In actual fact, however, we find nothing of the kind in the
Qur'an.

But having said this, we should note that the Qur'an is a religious book par
excellence. We should not use statements that have a bearing on secular
knowledge as a pretext to go hunting after any expression of scientific laws. As
stated earlier, all we should seek are reflections on natural phenomena, phrases
occasioned by references to divine omnipotence and designed to emphasize that
omnipotence in the eyes of mankind throughout the ages. The presence of such
reflections in the Qur'an has become particularly significant in modern times, for their
meaning is clearly explained by the data of contemporary knowledge. This
characteristic is specific to the Qur'an.
UNEXPECTED DISCOVERIES
It was not until I had learnt Arabic and read the Qur'an in the original that I realized
the precise meaning of certain verses. Only then did I make certain discoveries that
were astounding. With my basic ideas on the Qur'an - which to begin with were
inaccurate, just as those of most people in the West - I certainly did not expect to
find in the text the statements that I in fact uncovered. With each new discovery, I
was beset with doubt lest I might be mistaken in my translation or perhaps have
provided an interpretation rather than a true rendering of the Arabic text.
Only after consultations with several specialists in linguistics and exegesis, both
Muslim and non-Muslim, was I convinced that a new concept might be formed from
such a study: the compatibility between the statements in the Qur'an and firmly
established data of modern science with regard to subjects on which nobody at the
time of Muhammad - not even the Prophet himself - could have had access to the
knowledge we possess today. Since then, I have not found in the Qur'an any support
given to the myths or superstitions present at the time the text was communicated to
man. This is not the case for the Bible, whose authors expressed themselves in the
language of their period.
In 'La Bible le Coran et la Science' (The Bible, the Qur'an and Science), which first
appeared in the original French in 1976 and which subsequently appeared in English
in 1978, I set forth the main points of these findings. On November 9, 1976, I gave a
lecture to the Academia de Medecine (French academy of Medicine) in which I
explored the statements of the origins of man contained in the Qur'an; the title of the
lecture was 'Donnees physiologiques et embryologiques de Coran'(Physiological and
Embryological Data in the Qur'an). I emphasised the fact that these data - which I
shall summarize below - formed part of a much wider study. The following are some
of the points which arise from a reading of the Qur'an:
* a concept of the creation of the world which, while different from the ideas
contained in the Bible, is fully in keeping with today's general theories on the
formations of the universe;
* statements that are in perfect agreement with today's ideas concerning the
movements and evolution of the heavenly bodies;
* a prediction of the conquest of space;

* notions concerning the water cycle in nature and the earth's relief, which were not
proven correct until many centuries later.
All of these data are bound to amaze anyone who approaches them in
an objective spirit. They add a much wider dimension to the problem studied in the
present work. The basic point remains the same , however: we must surely be in the
presence of facts which place a heavy strain on our natural propensity for explaining
everything in materialistic terms, for the existence in the Qur'an of these scientific
statements appears as a challenge to human explanations.
That does not mean to say, however, that the statements in the Qur'an - especially
those concerning man - may all of them be examined in the light of the findings of
modern science. The creation of man as described in both the Bible and the Qu'ran
totally eludes scientific investigation of the event per se.
Similarly, when the New Testament or the Qur'an informs us that Jesus was not born
of a father, in the biological sense of the term, we cannot counter this Scriptural
statement by saying that there is no example in the human species of an individual
having been formed without receiving the paternal chromosomes that make up one
half of its genetic inheritance. Science does not explain miracles, for by definition
miracles are inexplicable, thus, when we read in both the Qur'an and the Bible that
man was moulded from the ground, we are in fact learning a fundamental religious
principle: Man returns from where he came, for from the place he is buried, he will
rise again on the judgment.
Side by side with the main religious aspect of such reflections on man, we find in the
Qur'an statements on man that refer to strictly material facts. They are quite amazing
when one approaches them for the first time. For example, the Qur'an describes the
origins of life in general and devotes a great deal of space to the morphological
transformation undergone by man, repeatedly emphasizing the fact that God
fashioned him as He willed. We likewise discover statements on human reproduction
that are expressed in precise terms that lend themselves to comparison with the
secular knowledge we today possess on the subject.
INTEREST TO MEN OF SCIENCE
The many statements in the Qur'an that may thus be compared with modern
knowledge are by no means easy to find. In preparing the study published in 1976, I
was unable to draw on any previous works known in the West, for there were none.
All I could refer to were a few works in Arabic dealing with themes treated in the
Qur'an that were of interest to men of science - there was, however, no overall study.
Over and above this, research of this kind requires scientific knowledge covering
many different disciplines. It is not easy, however, for Islamologists to acquire such
knowledge, for they possess a mainly literary background. Indeed, such questions
hardly seem to occupy a place in their field of classic Islamology, at least as far as
the West is concerned. Only a scientist, thoroughly acquainted with Arabic literature,
can draw comparisons between the Qur'anic text - for which he must be able to
read Arabic - and the data supplied by modern knowledge.

There is another reason why such statements are not immediately apparent: Verses
bearing on a single theme are scattered throughout the Qur'an. The book is indeed
a juxtaposition of reflections on a wide variety of subjects referred to one after the
other and taken up again later on, often several times over. The data on a precise
theme must therefore be collected from all over the Book and brought together
under a single heading. This requires many hours' work tracking down verses, in spite
of the existence of thematic indexes provided by various translators, for such lists
may perhaps be incomplete and indeed, in many cases, they often are.
Muslim Scientist & Thinker
JABIR IBN HAIYAN

Father of Chemistry
(Died 803 C.E.)
Jabir Ibn Haiyan, the alchemist Geber of the Middle Ages, is generally known as the
father of chemistry. Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan, sometimes called al-Harrani and al-
Sufi, was the son of the druggist (Attar). The precise date of his birth is the subject of
some discussion, but it is established that he practiced medicine and alchemy in
Kufa around 776 C.E. He is reported to have studied under Imam Ja'far Sadiq and
the Ummayed prince Khalid Ibn Yazid. In his early days, he practiced medicine and
was under the patronage of the Barmaki Vizir during the Abbssid Caliphate of
Haroon al-Rashid. He shared some of the effects of the downfall of the Barmakis and
was placed under house arrest in Kufa, where he died in 803 C.E.
Jabir's major contribution was in the field of chemistry. He introduced experimental

investigation into alchemy, which rapidly changed its character into modern
chemistry. On the ruins of his well-known laboratory remained after centuries, but his
fame rests on over 100 monumental treatises, of which 22 relate to chemistry and
alchemy. His contribution of fundamental importance to chemistry includes
perfection of scientific techniques such as crystallization, distillation, calcinations,
sublimation and evaporation and development of several instruments for the same.
The fact of early development of chemistry as a distinct branch of science by the
Arabs, instead of the earlier vague ideas, is well-established and the very name
chemistry is derived from the Arabic word al-Kimya, which was studied and
developed extensively by the Muslim scientists.
Perhaps Jabir's major practical achievement was the discovery of mineral and
others acids, which he prepared for the first time in his alembic (Anbique). Apart
from several contributions of basic nature to alchemy, involving largely the
preparation of new compounds and development of chemical methods, he also
developed a number of applied chemical processes, thus becoming a pioneer in
the field of applied science. His achievements in this field include preparation of
various metals, development of steel, dyeing of cloth and tanning of leather,
varnishing of water-proof cloth, use of manganese dioxide in glass-making,
prevention of rusting, lettering in gold, identification of paints, greases, etc.

During the course of these practical endeavors, he also developed aqua regia to
dissolve gold. The alembic is his great invention, which made easy and systematic
the process of distillation. Jabir laid great stress on experimentation and accuracy in
his work.
Based on their properties, he has described three distinct types of substances. First,
spirits i.e. those which vaporize on heating, like camphor, arsenic and ammonium
chloride; secondly, metals, for example, gold, silver, lead, copper, iron, and thirdly,
the category of compounds which can be converted into powders. He thus paved
the way for such later classification as metals, non-metals and volatile substances.
Although known as an alchemist, he did not seem to have seriously pursued the
preparation of noble metals as an alchemist; instead he devoted his effort to the
development of basic chemical methods and study of mechanisms of chemical
reactions in themselves and thus helped evolve chemistry as a science from the
legends of alchemy. He emphasized that, in chemical reactions, definite quantities
of various substances are involved and thus can be said to have paved the way for
the law of constant proportions.
A large number of books are included in his corpus. Apart from chemistry, he also
contributed to other sciences such as medicine and astronomy. His books on
chemistry, including his Kitab-al-Kimya, and Kitab al-Sab'een were translated into
Latin and various European languages. These translations were popular in Europe for
several centuries and have influenced the evolution of modern chemistry. Several
technical terms devised by Jabir, such as alkali, are today found in various European
languages and have become part of scientific vocabulary. Only a few of his books
have been edited and published, while several others preserved in Arabic have yet
to be annotated and published.
Doubts have been expressed as to whether all the voluminous work included in the
corpus is his own contribution or it contains later commentaries/additions by his
followers. According to Sarton, the true worth of his work would only be known when
all his books have been edited and published. His religious views and philosophical
concepts embodied in the corpus have been criticized but, apart from the question
of their authenticity, it is to be emphasized that the major contribution of Jabir lies in
the field of chemistry and not in religion. His various breakthroughs e.g., preparation
of acids for the first time, notably nitric, hydrochloric, citric and tartaric acids, and
emphasis on systematic experimentation are outstanding and it is on the basis of
such work that he can justly be regarded as the father of modern chemistry. In the
words of Max Mayerhaff, the development of chemistry in Europe can be traced
directly to Jabir Ibn Haiyan.

MOHAMMAD BIN MUSA AL-KHAWARIZMI

Mathematics, Astronomy, Geography (Algorithm, Algebra, Calculus)
(770 - 840 C.E.)
Abu Abdullah Mohammad Ibn Musa al-Khawarizmi was born at Khawarizm (Kheva),
south of Aral sea. Very little is known about his early life, except for the fact that his
parents had migrated to a place south of Baghdad. The exact dates of his birth and
death are also not known, but it is established that he flourished under Al- Mamun at
Baghdad through 813-833 and probably died around 840 C.E.
Khawarizmi was a mathematician, astronomer and geographer. He was perhaps

one of the greatest mathematicians who ever lived, as, in fact, he was the founder
of several branches and basic concepts of mathematics. In the words of Phillip Hitti,
he influenced mathematical thought to a greater extent than any other mediaeval
writer. His work on algebra was outstanding, as he not only initiated the subject in a
systematic form but he also developed it to the extent of giving analytical solutions
of linear and quadratic equations, which established him as the founder of Algebra.
The very name Algebra has been derived from his famous book Al-Jabr wa-al-
Muqabilah. His arithmetic synthesized Greek and Hindu knowledge and also
contained his own contribution of fundamental importance to mathematics and
science. Thus, he explained the use of zero, a numeral of fundamental importance
developed by the Arabs. Similarly, he developed the decimal system so that the
overall system of numerals, 'algorithm' or 'algorizm' is named after him. In addition to
introducing the Indian system of numerals (now generally known as Arabic numerals),
he developed at length several arithmetical procedures, including operations on
fractions. It was through his work that the system of numerals was first introduced to
Arabs and later to Europe, through its translations in European languages. He
developed in detail trigonometric tables containing the sine functions, which were
probably extrapolated to tangent functions by Maslama. He also perfected the
geometric representation of conic sections and developed the calculus of two errors,
which practically led him to the concept of differentiation. He is also reported to
have collaborated in the degree measurements ordered by Mamun al-Rashid were
aimed at measuring of volume and circumference of the earth.
The development of astronomical tables by him was a significant contribution to the

science of astronomy, on which he also wrote a book. The contribution of
Khawarizmi to geography is also outstanding, in that not only did he revise Ptolemy's
views on geography, but also corrected them in detail as well as his map of the
world. His other contributions include original work related to clocks, sun-dials and
astrolabes.
Several of his books were translated into Latin in the early 12th century. In fact, his
book on arithmetic, Kitab al-Jam'a wal- Tafreeq bil Hisab al-Hindi, was lost in Arabic
but survived in a Latin translation. His book on algebra, Al-Maqala fi Hisab-al Jabr
wa-al- Muqabilah, was also translated into Latin in the 12th century, and it was this
translation which introduced this new science to the West "completely unknown till
then". He astronomical tables were also translated into European languages and,
later, into Chinese.

His geography captioned Kitab Surat-al-Ard, together with its maps, was also
translated. In addition, he wrote a book on the Jewish calendar Istikhraj Tarikh al-
Yahud, and two books on the astrolabe. He also wrote Kitab al-Tarikh and his book
on sun-dials was captioned Kitab al-Rukhmat, but both of them have been lost.
The influence of Khawarizmi on the growth of science, in general, and mathematics,

astronomy and geography in particular, is well established in history. Several of his
books were readily translated into a number of other languages, and, in fact,
constituted the university text-books till the 16th century. His approach was
systematic and logical, and not only did he bring together the then prevailing
knowledge on various branches of science, particularly mathematics, but also
enriched it through his original contribution. No doubt he has been held in high
repute throughout the centuries since then.
YAQUB IBN ISHAQ AL-KINDI

Philosophy, Physics, Optics, Medicine, Mathematics, Metallurgy
(800-873 C.E.)
Abu Yousuf Yaqub Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi was born at Kufa around 800 C.E. His father was
an official of Haroon al-Rashid. Al-Kindi was a contemporary of al-Mamun, al-
Mu'tasim and al-Mutawakkil and flourished largely at Baghdad. He vas formally
employed by Mutawakkil as a calligrapher. On account of his philosophical views,
Mutawakkil was annoyed with him and confiscated all his books. These were,
however, returned later on. He died in 873 C.E. during the reign of al-M'utamid.
Al-Kindi was a philosopher, mathematician, physicist, astronomer, physician,

geographer and even an expert in music. It is surprising that he made original
contributions to all of these fields. On account of his work he became known as the
philosopher of the Arabs.
In mathematics, he wrote four books on the number system and laid the foundation
of a large part of modern arithmetic. No doubt the Arabic system of numerals was
largely developed by al-Khawarizmi, but al-Kindi also made rich contributions to it.
He also contributed to spherical geometry to assist him in astronomical studies.
In chemistry, he opposed the idea that base metals can be converted to precious
metals. In contrast to prevailing alchemical views, he was emphatic that chemical
reactions cannot bring about the transformation of elements. In physics, he made
rich contributions to geometrical optics and wrote a book on it. This book later on
provided guidance and inspiration to such eminent scientists as Roger Bacon.
In medicine, his chief contribution comprises the fact that he was the first to
systematically determine the doses to be administered of all the drugs known at his
time. This resolved the conflicting views prevailing among physicians on the dosage
that caused difficulties in writing recipes.
Very little was known on the scientific aspects of music in his time. He pointed out
that the various notes that combine to produce harmony, have a specific pitch
each. Thus, notes with too low or too high a pitch are non-pleasant. The degree of
harmony depends on the frequency of notes, etc.

He also pointed out the fact that when a sound is produced, it generates waves in
the air which strike the ear-drum. His work contains a notation on the determination
of pitch.
He was a prolific writer: the total number of books written by him was 241, the
prominent among which were divided as follows:
Astronomy 16, Arithmetic 11, Geometry 32, Medicine 22, Physics 12, Philosophy 22,
Logic 9, Psychology 5, and Music 7.
In addition, various monographs written by him concern tides, astronomical

instruments, rocks, precious stones, etc. He was also an early translator of Greek
works into Arabic, but this fact has largely been over-shadowed by his numerous
original writings. It is unfortunate that most of his books are no longer extant, but
those existing speak very high of his standard of scholarship and contribution. He was
known as Alkindus in Latin and a large number of his books were translated into Latin
by Gherard of Cremona. His books that were translated into Latin during the Middle
Ages comprise Risalah dar Tanjim, Ikhtiyarat al-Ayyam, Ilahyat-e-Aristu, al-Mosiqa,
Mad-o-Jazr, and Aduiyah Murakkaba.
Al-Kindi's influence on development of science and philosophy was significant in the

revival of sciences in that period. In the Middle Ages, Cardano considered him as
one of the twelve greatest minds. His works, in fact, lead to further development of
various subjects for centuries, notably physics, mathematics, medicine and music.
THABIT IBN QURRA

Astronomy, Mechanics, Geometry, Anatomy
(836-901 C.E.)
Thabit Ibn Qurra Ibn Marwan al-Sabi al-Harrani was born in the year 836 C.E. at
Harran (present Turkey). As the name indicates he was basically a member of the
Sabian sect, but the great Muslim mathematician Muhammad Ibn Musa Ibn Shakir,
impressed by his knowledge of languages, and realising his potential for a scientific
career, selected him to join the scientific group at Baghdad that was being
patronised by the Abbasid Caliphs. There, he studied under the famous Banu Musa
brothers. It was in this setting that Thabit contributed to several branches of science,
notably mathematics, astronomy and mechanics, in addition to translating a large
number of works from Greek to Arabic. Later, he was patronised by the Abbasid
Caliph al-M'utadid. After a long career of scholarship, Thabit died at Baghdad in 901
C.E.
Thabit's major contribution lies in mathematics and astronomy. He was instrumental in

extending the concept of traditional geometry to geometrical algebra and
proposed several theories that led to the development of non-Euclidean geometry,
spherical trigonometry, integral calculus and real numbers. He criticized a number of
theorems of Euclid's elements and proposed important improvements. He applied
arithmetical terminology to geometrical quantities, and studied several aspects of
conic sections, notably those of parabola and ellipse. A number of his computations
aimed at determining the surfaces and volumes of different types of bodies and
constitute, in fact, the processes of integral calculus, as developed later.

In astronomy he was one of the early reformers of Ptolemaic views. He analyzed

several. problems related to the movements of sun and moon and wrote treatises on
sun-dials.
In the fields of mechanics and physics he may be recognized as the founder of

statics. He examined conditions of equilibrium of bodies, beams and levers.
In addition to translating a large number of books himself, he founded a school of

translation and supervised the translation of a further large number of books from
Greek to Arabic.
Among Thabit's writings a large number have survived, while several are not extant.
Most of the books are on mathematics, followed by astronomy and medicine. The
books have been written in Arabic but some are in Syriac. In the Middle Ages, some
of his books were translated into Latin by Gherard of Cremona. In recent centuries, a
number of his books have been translated into European languages and published.
He carried further the work of the Banu Musa brothers and later his son and grandson
continued in this tradition, together with the other members of the group. His original
books as well as his translations accomplished in the 9th century exerted a positive
influence on the development of subsequent scientific research.
ALI IBN RABBAN AL-TABARI

Medicine, Mathematics, Calligraphy, Literature
(838-870 C.E.)
This accomplished Hakim was the tutor of the unparalleled physician Zakariya al-Razi.
Luck favoured the disciple more than the teacher in terms of celebrity. As compared
to Razi people know very little about his teacher Ali.
Ali Bin Rabban's surname was Abu al-Hasan, the full name being Abu al-Hasan Ali Bin
Sahl Rabban al-Tabari. Born in 838 C.E. his father Sahl hailed from a respectable Jew
family. The nobility and sympathy inherent in his very nature soon endeared him to
his countrymen so much so that they used to call him Rabban which implies "my
leader".
Professionally Sahl was an extremely successful physician. He had command over

the art of calligraphy too. Besides he had a deep insight into the disciplines of
Astronomy, Philosophy, Mathematics and Literature. Some complicated articles of
Batlemus's book al-Mijasti came to be resolved by way of Sahl's scholarly expertise,
translators preceding him had failed to solve the mystery.
Ali received his education in the disciplines of Medical science and calligraphy from
his able father Sahl and attained perfection in these fields. He had also mastered
Syriac and Greek languages to a high degree of proficiency.
Ali hailed from a Israelite family. Since he had embraced Islam, he is classified
amongst Muslim Scholars. This family belonged to Tabristan's famous city Marv.

The fame acquired by Ali Bin Rabban did not simply account for the reason that a
physician of the stature of Zakariya al-Razi was amongst his disciple. In fact the main
cause behind his exaltation lies in his world-renowned treatise Firdous al-Hikmat.
Spread over seven parts, Firdous al-Hikmat is the first ever Medical encyclopedia
which incorporates all the branches of medical science in its folds. This work has
been published in this century (20th century) only. Prior to this publication only five of
his manuscripts were to be found scattered in libraries the world over. Dr.
Mohammed Zubair Siddiqui compared and edited the manuscripts. In his preface
he has provided extremely useful information regarding the book and the author
and, wherever felt necessary, explanatory notes have been written to facilitate
publication of this work on modern publishing standards.
Later on this unique work was published with the cooperation of English and German
institutions. Following are the details of its all seven parts:
1. Part one: Kulliyat-e-Tibb. This part throws light on contemporary ideology of

medical science. In that era these principles formed the basis of medical science.
2. Part two: Elucidation of the organs of the human body, rules for keeping good
health and comprehensive account of certain muscular diseases.
3. Part three: Description of diet to be taken in conditions of health and disease.
4. Part four: All diseases right from head to toe. This part is of profound significance in
the whole book and comprises twelve papers:
i) General causes relating to eruption of diseases. ii) Diseases of the head and the
brain. iii) Diseases relating to the eye, nose, ear, mouth and the teeth. iv) Muscular
diseases (paralysis and spasm). v) Diseases of the regions of the chest, throat and the
lungs. vi) Diseases of the abdomen. vii) Diseases of the liver. viii) Diseases of
gallbladder and spleen. ix) Intestinal diseases. x) Different kinds of fever. xi)
Miscellaneous diseases--Brief explanation of organs of the body. xii) Examination of
pulse and urine. This part is the largest in the book and is almost half the size of the
whole book.
5. Part five: Description of flavor, taste and color.

6. Part six: Drugs and poison.
7. Part seven: Deals with diverse topics. Discusses climate and astronomy. Also
contains a brief mention of Indian medicine.
Though he wrote Firdous al-Hikmat in Arabic but he simultaneously translated it into

Syriac. He has two more compilations to his credit namely Deen-o-Doulat and Hifdh
al-Sehhat. The latter is available in manuscript-form in the library of Oxford University.
Besides Medical science, he was also a master of Philosophy, Mathematics and
Astronomy. He breathed his last around 870 C.E.

AL-FARGHANI
Astronomy, Civil Engineering
(C. 860)
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani, born in Farghana,

Transoxiana, was one of the most distinguished astronomers in the service of al-
Mamun and his successors. He wrote "Elements of Astronomy" (Kitab fi al-Harakat al-
Samawiya wa Jawami Ilm al-Nujum i.e. the book on celestial motion and thorough
science of the stars), which was translated into Latin in the 12th century and exerted
great influence upon European astronomy before Regiomontanus. He accepted
Ptolemy's theory and value of the precession, but thought that it affected not only
the stars but also the planets. He determined the diameter of the earth to be 6,500
miles, and. found the greatest distances and also the diameters of the planets.
Al-Farghani's activities extended to engineering. According to Ibn Tughri Birdi, he

supervised the construction of the Great Nilometer at al-Fustat (old Cairo). It was
completed in 861, the year in which the Caliph al-Mutawakkil, who ordered the
construction, died. But engineering was not al-Farghani's forte, as transpires from the
following story narrated by Ibn Abi Usaybi'a.
Al-Mutawakkil had entrusted the two sons of Musa ibn Shakir, Muhammad and
Ahmad, with supervising the digging of a canal named al-Ja'fari. They delegated
the work to Al-Farghani, thus deliberately ignoring a better engineer, Sind ibn Ali,
whom, out of professional jealousy, they had caused to be sent to Baghdad, away
from al-Mutawakkil's court in Samarra. The canal was to run through the new city, al-
Ja'fariyya, which al-Mutawakkil had built near Samarra on the Tigris and named after
himself. Al-Farghani committed a grave error, making the beginning of the canal
deeper than the rest, so that not enough water would run through the length of the
canal except when the Tigris was high. News of this angered the Caliph, and the two
brothers were saved from severe punishment only by the gracious willingness of Sind
ibn Ali to vouch for the correctness of al-Farghani's calculations, thus risking his own
welfare and possibly his life. As had been correctly predicted by astrologers,
however, al-Mutawakkil was murdered shortly before the error became apparent.
The explanation given for Al-Farghani's mistake is that being a theoretician rather
than a practical engineer, he never successfully completed a construction.
The Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim, written in 987, ascribes only two works to Al-Farghani: (1)
"The Book of Chapters, a summary of the Almagest" (Kitab al-Fusul, Ikhtiyar al-Majisti)
and (2) "Book on the Construction of Sun-dials" (Kitab 'Amal al-Rukhamat).
The Jawami, or 'The Elements' as we shall call it, was Al- Farghani's best-known and
most influential work. Abd al-Aziz al-Qabisi (d. 967) wrote a commentary on it, which
is preserved in the Istanbul manuscript, Aya Sofya 4832, fols. 97v-114v. Two Latin
translations followed in the 12th century. Jacob Anatoli produced a Hebrew
translation of the book that served as a basis for a third Latin version, appearing in
1590, whereas Jacob Golius published a new Latin text together with the Arabic
original in 1669. The influence of 'The Elements' on mediaeval Europe is clearly
vindicated by the presence of innumerable Latin manuscripts in European libraries.

References to it in mediaeval writers are many, and there is no doubt that it was
greatly responsible for spreading knowledge of Ptolemaic astronomy, at least until
this role was taken over by Sacrobosco's Sphere. But even then, 'The Elements' of Al-
Farghani continued to be used, and Sacrobosco's Sphere was evidently indebted to
it. It was from 'The Elements' (in Gherard's translation) that Dante derived the
astronomical knowledge displayed in the 'Vita nuova' and in the 'Convivio'.
MOHAMMAD IBN ZAKARIYA AL-RAZI

Medicine, Ophthalmology, Smallpox, Chemistry, Astronomy
(864-930 C.E.)
Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi (864-930 C.E.) was born at Ray, Iran.
Initially, he was interested in music but later on he learnt medicine, mathematics,
astronomy, chemistry and philosophy from a student of Hunayn Ibn Ishaq, who was
well versed in the ancient Greek, Persian and Indian systems of medicine and other
subjects. He also studied under Ali Ibn Rabban. The practical experience gained at
the well-known Muqtadari Hospital helped him in his chosen profession of medicine.
At an early age he gained eminence as an expert in medicine and alchemy, so that
patients and students flocked to him from distant parts of Asia.
He was first placed in-charge of the first Royal Hospital at Ray, from where he soon
moved to a similar position in Baghdad where he remained the head of its famous
Muqtadari Hospital for along time. He moved from time to time to various cities,
specially between Ray and Baghdad, but finally returned to Ray, where he died
around 930 C.E. His name is commemorated in the Razi Institute near Tehran.
Razi was a Hakim, an alchemist and a philosopher. In medicine, his contribution was
so significant that it can only be compared to that of Ibn Sina. Some of his works in
medicine e.g. Kitab al- Mansoori, Al-Hawi, Kitab al-Mulooki and Kitab al-Judari wa al-
Hasabah earned everlasting fame. Kitab al-Mansoori, which was translated into Latin
in the 15th century C.E., comprised ten volumes and dealt exhaustively with Greco-
Arab medicine. Some of its volumes were published separately in Europe. His al-
Judari wal Hasabah was the first treatise on smallpox and chicken-pox, and is largely
based on Razi's original contribution: It was translated into various European
languages. Through this treatise he became the first to draw clear comparisons
between smallpox and chicken-pox. Al-Hawi was the largest medical encyclopedia
composed by then. It contained on each medical subject all important information
that was available from Greek and Arab sources, and this was concluded by him by
giving his own remarks based on his experience and views. A special feature of his
medical system was that he greatly favored cure through correct and regulated
food. This was combined with his emphasis on the influence of psychological factors
on health. He also tried proposed remedies first on animals in order to evaluate in
their effects and side effects. He was also an expert surgeon and was the first to use
opium for anesthesia.
In addition to being a physician, he compounded medicines and, in his later years,

gave himself over to experimental and theoretical sciences. It seems possible that he
developed his chemistry independently of Jabir Ibn Hayyan. He has portrayed in
great detail several chemical reactions and also given full descriptions of and
designs for about twenty instruments used in chemical investigations.

His description of chemical knowledge is in plain and plausible language. One of his
books called Kitab-al-Asrar deals with the preparation of chemical materials and
their utilization. Another one was translated into Latin under the name Liber Experi-
mentorum, He went beyond his predecessors in dividing substances into plants,
animals and minerals, thus in a way opening the way for inorganic and organic
chemistry. By and large, this classification of the three kingdoms still holds. As a
chemist, he was the first to produce sulfuric acid together with some other acids,
and he also prepared alcohol by fermenting sweet products.
His contribution as a philosopher is also well known. The basic elements in his
philosophical system are the creator, spirit, matter, space and time. He discusses
their characteristics in detail and his concepts of space and time as constituting a
continuum are outstanding. His philosophical views were, however, criticized by a
number of other Muslim scholars of the era.
He was a prolific author, who has left monumental treatises on numerous subjects.
He has more than 200 outstanding scientific contributions to his credit, out of which
about half deal with medicine and 21 concern alchemy. He also wrote on physics,
mathematics, astronomy and optics, but these writings could not be preserved. A
number of his books, including Jami-fi-al-Tib, Mansoori, al-Hawi, Kitab al-Jadari wa al-
Hasabah, al-Malooki, Maqalah fi al- Hasat fi Kuli wa al-Mathana, Kitab al-Qalb, Kitab
al-Mafasil, Kitab-al- 'Ilaj al-Ghoraba, Bar al-Sa'ah, and al-Taqseem wa al-Takhsir, have
been published in various European languages. About 40 of his manuscripts are still
extant in the museums and libraries of Iran, Paris, Britain, Rampur, and Bankipur. His
contribution has greatly influenced the development of science, in general, and
medicine, in particular.
ABU ABDULLAH AL-BATTANI

Astronomy, Mathematics, Trigonometry
(868--929 C.E.)
Abu Abdallah Muhammad Ibn Jabir Ibn Sinan al-Battani al-Harrani was born around
858 C.E. in Harran, and according to one account, in Battan, a State of Harran.
Battani was first educated by his father Jabir Ibn San'an al-Battani, who was also a
well-known scientist. He then moved to Raqqa, situated on the bank of the
Euphrates, where he received advanced education and later on flourished as a
scholar. At the beginning of the 9th century, he migrated to Samarra, where he
worked till the end of his life in 929 C.E. He was of Sabian origin, but was himself a
Muslim.
Battani was a famous astronomer, mathematician and astrologer. He has been held
as one of the greatest astronomists of Islam. He is responsible for a number of
important discoveries in astronomy, which was the result of a long career of 42 years
of research beginning at Raqqa when he was young. His well-known discovery is the
remarkably accurate determination of the solar year as being 365 days, 5 hours, 46
minutes and 24 seconds, which is very close to the latest estimates. He found that
the longitude of the sun's apogee had increased by 16° , 47' since Ptolemy. This
implied the important discovery of the motion of the solar apsides and of a slow
variation in the equation of time. He did not believe in the trepidation of the
equinoxes, although Copernicus held it.

Al-Battani determined with remarkable accuracy the obliquity of the ecliptic, the
length of the seasons and the true and mean orbit of the sun.
He proved, in sharp contrast to Ptolemy, the variation of the apparent angular

diameter of the sun and the possibility of annular eclipses. He rectified several orbits
of the moon and the planets and propounded a new and very ingenious theory to
determine the conditions of visibility of the new moon. His excellent observations of
lunar and solar eclipses were used by Dunthorne in 1749 to determine the secular
acceleration of motion of the moon. He also provided very neat solutions by means
of orthographic projection for some problems of spherical trigonometry.
In mathematics, he was the first to replace the use of Greek chords by sines, with a
clear understanding of their superiority.
He also developed the concept of cotangent and furnished their table in degrees.
He wrote a number of books on astronomy and trigonometry. His most famous book
was his astronomical treatise with tables, which was translated into Latin in the 12th
century and flourished as De scienta stellerum — De numeris stellerum et motibus. An
old translation of this is available of the Vatican. His Zij was, in fact, more accurate
than all others written by that time.
His treatise on astronomy was extremely influential in Europe till the Renaissance, with
translations available in several languages. His original discoveries both in astronomy
and trigonometry were of great consequence in the development of these sciences.
ABU AL-NASR AL-FARABI

Sociology, Logic, Philosophy, Political Science, Music
(870-950 C.E.)
Abu Nasr Mohammad Ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi was born in a small village Wasij, near
Farab in Turkistan in 259 A.H. (870 C.E.). His parents were originally of Persian descent,
but his ancestors had migrated to Turkistan. Known as al-Phrarabius in Europe, Farabi
was the son of a general. He completed his earlier education at Farab and Bukhara
but, later on, he went to Baghdad for higher studies, where he studied and worked
for a long time viz., from 901 C.E. to 942 C.E. During this period he acquired mastery
over several languages as well as various branches of knowledge and technology.
He lived through the reign of six Abbasid Caliphs. As a philosopher and scientist, he
acquired great proficiency in various branches of learning and is reported to have
been an expert in different languages.
Farabi traveled to many distant lands and studied for some time in Damascus and
Egypt, but repeatedly came back to Baghdad, until he visited Saif al-Daula's court in
Halab (Allepo). He became one of the constant companions of the King, and it was
here at Halab that his fame spread far and wide. During his early years he was a
Qadi (Judge), but later on the took up teaching as his profession. During the course
of his career, he had suffered great hardships and at one time was the caretaker of
a garden. He died a bachelor in Damascus in 339 A.H./950 C.E. at the age of 80
years.

Farabi contributed considerably to science, philosophy, logic, sociology, medicine,

mathematics and music. His major contributions seem to be in philosophy, logic and
sociology and, of course, stands out as an Encyclopedist. As a philosopher, he may
be classed as a Neoplatonist who tried to synthesize Platonism and Aristotelism with
theology and he wrote such rich commentaries on Aristotle's physics, meteorology,
logic, etc., in addition to a large number of books on several other subjects
embodying his original contribution, that he came to be known as the 'Second
Teacher' (al-Mou'allim al-Thani) Aristotle being the First. One of the important
contributions of Farabi was to make the study of logic more easy by dividing it into
two categories viz., Takhayyul (idea) and Thubut (proof).
In sociology he wrote several books out of which Ara Ahl al-Madina al-Fadila
became famous. His books on psychology and metaphysics were largely based on
his own work. He also wrote a book on music, captioned Kitab al-Musiqa. He was a
great expert in the art and science of music and invented several musical
instruments, besides contributing to the knowledge of musical notes. It has been
reported that he could play his instrument so well as to make people laugh or weep
at will. In physics he demonstrated the existence of void.
Although many of his books have been lost, 117 are known, out of which 43 are on
logic, 11 on metaphysics, 7 on ethics, 7 on political science, 17 on music, medicine
and sociology, while 11 are commentaries. Some of his more famous books include
the book Fusus al-Hikam, which remained a text book of philosophy for several
centuries at various centers of learning and is still taught at some of the institutions in
the East. The book Kitab al-lhsa al 'Ulum discusses classification and fundamental
principles of science in a unique and useful manner. The book Ara Ahl al-Madina al-
Fadila 'The Model City' is a significant early contribution to sociology and political
science.
Farabi exercised great influence on science and knowledge for several centuries.
Unfortunately, the book Theology of Aristotle, as was available to him at that time
was regarded by him as genuine, although later on it turned out to be the work of
some Neoplatonic writer. Despite this, he was regarded the Second Teacher in
philosophy for centuries and his work, aimed at synthesis of philosophy and Sufism,
paved the way for Ibn Sina's work.
ABUL HASAN ALI AL-MASU'DI

Geography, History
(DIED 957 C.E.)
Abul Hasan Ali Ibn Husain Ibn Ali Al-Masu'di was a descendant of Abdallah Ibn
Masu'd, a companion of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). An expert
geographer, a physicist and historian, Masu'di was born in the last decade of the 9th
century A.D., his exact date of birth being unknown. He was a Mutazilite Arab, who
explored distant lands and died at Cairo, in 957 C.E.

He traveled to Fars in 915 C.E. and, after staying for one year in Istikhar, he
proceeded via Baghdad to India, where he visited Multan and Mansoora before
returning to Fars. From there he traveled to Kirman and then again to India.
Mansoora in those days was a city of great renown and was the capital of the
Muslim state of Sind. Around it, there were many settlements/townships of new
converts to Islam. In 918 C.E., Masu'di traveled to Gujrat, where more than 10,000
Arab Muslims had settled in the sea-port of Chamoor. He also traveled to Deccan,
Ceylon, Indo-China and China, and proceeded via Madagascar, Zanjibar and
Oman to Basra.
At Basra he completed his book Muruj-al-Thahab, in which he has described in a

most absorbing manner his experience of various countries, peoples and climates.
He gives accounts of his personal contacts with the Jews, Iranians, Indians and
Christians. From Basra he moved to Syria and from there to Cairo, where he wrote his
second extensive book Muruj al-Zaman in thirty volumes. In this book he has
described in detail the geography and history of the countries that he had visited. His
first book was completed in 947 C.E. He also prepared a supplement, called Kitab al-
Ausat, in which he has compiled historical events chronologically. In 957 C.E., the
year of his death, he completed his last book Kitab al-Tanbih wa al-Ishraf, in which
he has given a summary of his earlier book as well as an errata.
Masu'di is referred to as the Herodotus and Pliny of the Arabs. By presenting a critical
account of historical events, he initiated a change in the art of historical writing,
introducing the elements of analysis, reflection and criticism, which was later on
further improved by Ibn Khaldun. In particular, in al-Tanbeeh he makes a systematic
study of history against a perspective of geography, sociology, anthropology and
ecology. Masu'di had a deep insight into the causes of rise and fall of nations.
With his scientific and analytical approach he has given an account of the causes of
the earthquake of 955 C.E., as well as the discussions of the water of the Red Sea
and other problems in the earth sciences. He is the first author to make mention of
windmills, which were invented by the Muslims of Sijistan.
Masu'di also made important contributions to music and other fields of science. In his
book Muruj al-Thahab he provides important information on early Arab music as well
as music of other countries.
His book Muruj al-Thahab wa al-Ma'adin al-Jawahir (Meadows of Gold and Mines of
Precious Stones) has been held as 'remarkable' because of the 'catholicity of its
author, who neglected no source of information and of his truly scientific curiosity'. As
mentioned above, it was followed by his treatise Muruj al-Zaman. In addition to
writing a supplement Kitab al-Ausat, he completed Kitab al-Tanbih wa al-Ishraf
towards the end of his career. It is, however, unfortunate that, out of his 34 books as
mentioned by himself in Al-Tanbih, only three have survived, in addition to Al-Tanbih
itself.

Some doubts have been expressed about some claims related to his extensive
traveling e.g., up to China and Madagascar, but the correct situation cannot be
assessed due to the loss of his several books. Whatever he has recorded was with a
scientific approach and constituted an important contribution to geography, history
and earth sciences. It is interesting to note that he was one of the early scientists who
propounded several aspects of evolution viz., from minerals to plant, plant to animal
and animal to man. His researches and views extensively influenced the sciences of
historiography, geography and earth sciences for several countries.
ABU AL-QASIM AL-ZAHRAWI

Father of Modern Surgery
(936-1013 C.E.)
Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi (known in the west as Abulcasis) was
born in 936 C.E. in Zahra in the neighbourhood of Cordova. He became one of the
most renowned surgeons of the Muslim era and was physician to King Al-Hakam-II of
Spain. After a long medical career, rich with significant original contribution, he died
in 1013 C.E.
He is best known for his early and original breakthroughs in surgery as well as for his
famous Medical Encyclopedia called Al-Tasrif, which is composed of thirty volumes
covering different aspects of medical science. The more important part of this series
comprises three books on surgery, which describe in detail various aspects of surgical
treatment as based on the operations performed by him, including cauterization,
removal of stone from the bladder, dissection of animals, midwifery, styptics, and
surgery of eye, ear and throat. He perfected several delicate operations, including
removal of the dead fetus and amputation.
Al-Tasrif was first translated by Gherard of Cremona into Latin in the Middle Ages. It
was followed by several other editors in Europe. The book contains numerous
diagrams and illustrations of surgical instruments, in use or developed by him, and
comprised a part of the medical curriculum in European countries for many
centuries. Contrary to the view that the Muslims fought shy of surgery, Al-Zahrawi's Al-
Tasrif provided a monumental collection for this branch of applied science.
Al-Zahrawi was the inventor of several surgical instruments, of which three are
notable: (i) an instrument for internal examination of the ear, (ii) an instrument for
internal inspection of the urethra, and (iii) and instrument for applying or removing
foreign bodies from the throat. He specialized in curing disease by cauterization and
applied the technique to as many as 50 different operations.
In his book Al-Tasrif, Al-Zahrawi has also discussed the preparation of various
medicines, in addition to a comprehensive account of surgical treatment in
specialized branches, whose modern counter- parts are E.N.T., Ophthalmology, etc.
In connection with the preparation of medicines, he has also described in detail the
application of such techniques as sublimation and decantation. Al-Zahrawi was also
an expert in dentistry, and his book contains sketches of various instruments used
thereof, in addition to a description of various important dental operations. He
discussed the problem of non-aligned or deformed teeth and how to rectify these
defects.

He developed the technique of preparing artificial teeth and of replacement of

defective teeth by these. In medicine, he was the first to describe in detail the
unusual disease, hemophilia.
There can be no doubt that Al-Zahrawi influenced the field of medicine and surgery
very deeply and the principles laid down by him were recognized as authentic in
medical science, especially surgery, and these continued to influence the medical
world for five centuries. According to Dr. Cambell (History of Arab Medicine), his
principles of medical science surpassed those of Galen in the European medical
curriculum.
ABUL WAFA MUHAMMAD AL-BUZJANI

Mathematics, Astronomy, Geometry, Trigonometry
(940-997 C.E.)
Abul Wafa Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Yahya Ibn Ismail al-Buzjani was born in
Buzjan, Nishapur in 940 C.E. He flourished as a great mathematician and astronomer
at Baghdad and died in 997/998 C.E. He learnt mathematics in Baghdad. In 959 C.E.
he migrated to Iraq and lived there till his death.
Abul Wafa's main contribution lies in several branches of mathematics, especially

geometry and trigonometry. In geometry his contribution comprises solution of
geometrical problems with opening of the compass; construction of a square
equivalent to other squares; regular polyhedra; construction of regular hectagon
taking for its side half the side of the equilateral triangle inscribed in the same circle;
constructions of parabola by points and geometrical solution of the equations:
x4 = a and x4 + ax3 = b
Abul Wafa's contribution to the development of trigonometry was extensive. He was

the first to show the generality of the sine theorem relative to spherical triangles. He
developed a new method of constructing sine tables, the value of sin 30' being
correct to the eighth decimal place. He also developed relations for sine (a+b) and
the formula:
2 sin2 (a/2) = 1 - cos a , and

sin a = 2 sin (a/2) cos (a/2)
In addition, he made a special study of the tangent and calculated a table of

tangents. He introduced the secant and cosecant for the first time, knew the
relations between the trigonometric lines, which are now used to define them, and
undertook extensive studies on conics.
Apart from being a mathematician, Abul Wafa also contributed to astronomy. In this
field he discussed different movements of the moon, and discovered 'variation'. He
was also one of the last Arabic translators and commentators of Greek works.

He wrote a large number of books on mathematics and other subjects, most of

which have been lost or exist in modified forms. His contribution includes Kitab 'Ilm al-
Hisab, a practical book of arithmetic, al-Kitab al-Kamil (the Complete Book), Kitab al-
Handsa (Applied Geometry). Apart from this, he wrote rich commentaries on Euclid,
Diophantos and al-Khawarizmi, but all of these have been lost. His books now extant
include Kitab 'Ilm al-Hisab, Kitab al- Handsa and Kitab al-Kamil.
His astronomical knowledge on the movements of the moon has been criticized in
that, in the case of 'variation' the third inequality of the moon as he discussed was
the second part of the 'evection'. But, according to Sedat, what he discovered was
the same that was discovered by Tycho Brache six centuries later. Nonetheless, his
contribution to trigonometry was extremely significant in that he developed the
knowledge on the tangent and introduced the secant and cosecant for the first
time; in fact a sizeable part of today's trigonometry can be traced back to him.
ABU ALI HASAN IBN AL-HAITHAM

Physics, Optics, Mathematics
(965-1040 C.E.)
Abu Ali Hasan Ibn al-Haitham was one of the most eminent physicists, whose
contributions to optics and the scientific methods are outstanding. Known in the
West as Alhazen, Ibn al-Haitham was born in 965 C.E. in Basrah, and was educated in
Basrah and Baghdad. Thereafter, he went to Egypt, where he was asked to find
ways of controlling the flood of the Nile. Being unsuccessful in this, he feigned
madness until the death of Caliph al-Hakim. He also traveled to Spain and, during
this period, he had ample time for his scientific pursuits, which included optics,
mathematics, physics, medicine and development of scientific methods on each of
which he has left several outstanding books.
He made a thorough examination of the passage of light through various media and
discovered the laws of refraction. He also carried out the first experiments on the
dispersion of light into its constituent colors. His book Kitab-al-Manadhir was
translated into Latin in the Middle Ages, as also his book dealing with the colors of
sunset. He dealt at length with the theory of various physical phenomena like
shadows, eclipses, the rainbow, and speculated on the physical nature of light.
He is the first to describe accurately the various parts of the eye and give a scientific
explanation of the process of vision. He also attempted to explain binocular vision,
and gave a correct explanation of the apparent increase in size of the sun and the
moon when near the horizon. He is known for the earliest use of the camera obscura.
He contradicted Ptolemy's and Euclid's theory of vision that objects are seen by rays
of light emanating from the eyes; according to him the rays originate in the object of
vision and not in the eye. Through these extensive researches on optics, he has been
considered as the father of modern Optics.
The Latin translation of his main work, Kitab-al-Manadhir, exerted a great influence
upon Western science e.g. on the work of Roger Bacon and Kepler. It brought about
a great progress in experimental methods. His research in catoptrics centred on
spherical and parabolic mirrors and spherical aberration.

He made the important observation that the ratio between the angle of incidence
and refraction does not remain constant and investigated the magnifying power of
a lens. His catoptrics contain the important problem known as Alhazen's problem. It
comprises drawing lines from two points in the plane of a circle meeting at a point
on the circumference and making equal angles with the normal at that point. This
leads to an equation of the fourth degree.
In his book Mizan al-Hikmah Ibn al-Haitham has discussed the density of the
atmosphere and developed a relation between it and the height. He also studied
atmospheric refraction. He discovered that the twilight only ceases or begins when
the sun is 19° below the horizon and attempted to measure the height of the
atmosphere on that basis. He has also discussed the theories of attraction between
masses, and it seems that he was aware of the magnitude of acceleration due to
gravity.
His contribution to mathematics and physics was extensive. In mathematics, he

developed analytical geometry by establishing linkage between algebra and
geometry. He studied the mechanics of motion of a body and was the first to
maintain that a body moves perpetually unless an external force stops it or changes
its direction of motion. This would seem equivalent to the first law of motion.
The list of his books runs to 200 or so, very few of which have survived. Even his
monumental treatise on optics survived through its Latin translation. During the
Middle Ages his books on cosmology were translated into Latin, Hebrew and other
languages. He has also written on the subject of evolution a book that deserves
serious attention even today.
In his writing, one can see a clear development of the scientific methods as
developed and applied by the Muslims and comprising the systematic observation
of physical phenomena and their linking together into a scientific theory. This was a
major breakthrough in scientific methodology, as distinct from guess and gesture,
and placed scientific pursuits on a sound foundation comprising systematic
relationship between observation, hypothesis and verification.
Ibn al-Haitham's influence on physical sciences in general, and optics in particular,

has been held in high esteem and, in fact, it ushered in a new era in optical research,
both in theory and practice.
ABU AL-HASAN AL-MAWARDI

Political Science, Sociology, Jurisprudence, Ethics
(972-1058 C.E.)
Abu al-Hasan Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Habib al-Mawardi was born at Basrah in 972
C.E. He was educated at-first in Basrah where, after completion of his basic
education, he learned Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) from the jurist Abu al-Wahid al-
Simari. He then went to Baghdad for advanced studies under Sheikh Abd al-Hamid
and Abdallah al-Baqi. His proficiency in jurisprudence Ethics, Political science and
literature proved useful in securing a respectable career for him. After his initial
appointment as Qadi (Judge), he was gradually promoted to higher offices, till he
became the Chief Justice at Baghdad.

The Abbasid Caliph al-Qaim bi Amr Allah appointed him as his roving ambassador
and sent him to a number of countries as the head of special missions. In this
capacity he played a key role in establishing harmonious relations between the
declining Abbasid Caliphate and the rising powers of Buwahids and Seljukes. He was
favored with rich gifts and tributes by most Sultans of the time. He was still in
Baghdad when it was taken over by Buwahids.
Al-Mawardi died in 1058 C.E.
Al-Mawardi was a great jurist, mohaddith, sociologist and an expert in Political

Science. He was a jurist in the school of Fiqh and his book Al-Hawi on the principles of
jurisprudence is held in high repute.
His contribution in political science and sociology comprises a number of

monumental books, the most famous of which are Kitab al-Ahkam al-Sultania,
Qanun al-Wazarah, and Kitab Nasihat al-Mulk. The books discuss the principles of
political science, with special reference to the functions and duties of the caliphs,
the chief minister, other ministers, relationships between various elements of public
and government and measures to strengthen the government and ensure victory in
war. Two of these books, al-Ahkam al-Sultania and Qanun al-Wazarah have been
published and also translated into various languages. He is considered as being the
author/supporter of the 'Doctrine of Necessity' in political science. He was thus in
favor of a strong caliphate and discouraged unlimited powers delegated to the
Governors, which tended to create chaos. On the other hand, he has laid down
clear principles for election of the caliph and qualities of the voters, chief among
which are attainment of a degree of intellectual level and purity of character.
In ethics, he wrote Kitab Aadab al-Dunya wa al-Din, which became a widely

popular book on the subject and is still read in some Islamic countries.
Al-Mawardi has been considered as one of the most famous thinkers in political
science in the middle ages. His original work influenced the development of this
science, together with the science of sociology, which was further developed later
on by Ibn Khaldun.
ABU RAIHAN AL-BIRUNI

Astronomy, Mathematics (Determined Earth's Circumference)
(973--1048 C.E.)
Abu Raihan Mohammad Ibn Ahmad al-Biruni was one of the well-known figures
associated with the court of King Mahmood Ghaznawi, who was one of the famous
Muslim kings of the 11th century C.E. Al-Biruni was a versatile scholar and scientist
who had equal facility in physics, metaphysics, mathematics, geography and history.
Born in the city of Kheva near "Ural" in 973 C.E., he was a contemporary of the well-
known physician Ibn Sina. At an early age, the fame of his scholarship went around
and when Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi conquered his homeland, he took al-Biruni
along with him in his journeys to India several times and thus he had the opportunity
to travel all over India during a period of 20 years. He learnt Hindu philosophy,
mathematics, geography and religion from the Pundits to whom he taught Greek
and Arabic science and philosophy.

He died in 1048 C.E. at the age of 75, after having spent 40 years in thus gathering
knowledge and making his own original contributions to it.
He recorded observations of his travels through India in his well-known book Kitab al-
Hind which gives a graphic account of the historical and social conditions of the
sub-continent. At the end of this book he makes a mention of having translated two
Sanskrit books into Arabic, one called Sakaya, which deals with the creation of things
and their types, and the second, Patanjal dealing with what happens after the spirit
leaves the body. His descriptions of India were so complete that even the Aein-i-
Akbari written by Abu-al- Fadal during the reign of Akbar, 600 years later, owes a
great deal to al-Biruni's book. He observed that the Indus valley must be considered
as an ancient sea basin filled up with alluvials.
On his return from India, al-Biruni wrote his famous book Qanun-i Masoodi (al-Qanun
al-Masudi, fi al-Hai'a wa al-Nujum), which he dedicated to Sultan Masood. The book
discusses several theorems of astronomy, trigonometry, solar, lunar, and planetary
motions and relative topics. In another well-known book al-Athar al-Baqia, he has
attempted a connected account of ancient history of nations and the related
geographical knowledge. In this book, he has discussed the rotation of the earth
and has given correct values of latitudes and longitudes of various places. He has
also made considerable contribution to several aspects of physical and economic
geography in this book.
His other scientific contributions include the accurate determination of the densities
of 18 different stones. He also wrote the Kitab-al-Saidana, which is an extensive
materia medica that combines the then existing Arabic knowledge on the subject
with the Indian medicine. His book the Kitab-al-Jamahir deals with the properties of
various precious stones. He was also an astrologer and is reputed to have astonished
people by the accuracy of his predictions. He gave a clear account of Hindu
numerals, elaborating the principle of position. Summation of a geometric
progression appropos of the chess game led to the number:
1616° - 1 = 18,446,744,073,709,551,619.
He developed a method for trisection of angle and other problems which cannot be
solved with a ruler and a compass alone. Al-Biruni discussed, centuries before the
rest of the world, the question whether the earth rotates around its axis or not. He
was the first to undertake experiments related to astronomical phenomena. His
scientific method, taken together with that of other Muslim scientists, such as Ibn al-
Haitham, laid down the early foundation of modern science. He ascertained that as
compared with the speed of sound the speed of light is immense. He explained the
working of natural springs and artesian wells by the hydrostatic principle of
communicating vessels. His investigations included description of various
monstrosities, including that known as "Siamese" twins. He observed that flowers have
3,4,5,6, or 18 petals, but never 7 or 9.

He wrote a number of books and treatises. Apart from Kitab-al- Hind (History and
Geography of India), al-Qanun al-Masudi (Astro- nomy, Trigonometry), al-Athar al-
Baqia (Ancient History and Geography), Kitab al-Saidana (Materia Medica) and
Kitab al-Jawahir (Precious Stones) as mentioned above, his book al-Tafhim-li-Awail
Sina'at al-Tanjim gives a summary of mathematics and astronomy.
He has been considered as one of the very greatest scientists of Islam, and, all
considered, one of the greatest of all times. His critical spirit, love of truth, and
scientific approach were combined with a sense of toleration. His enthusiasm for
knowledge may be judged from his claim that the phrase Allah is Omniscient does
not justify ignorance.
IBN SINA
Medicine, Philosophy, Mathematics, Astronomy
(980-1037 C.E.)
Abu Ali al-Hussain Ibn Abdallah Ibn Sina was born in 980 C.E. at Afshana near
Bukhara. The young Bu Ali received his early education in Bukhara, and by the age
of ten had become well versed in the study of the Qur'an and various sciences. He
started studying philosophy by reading various Greek, Muslim and other books on this
subject and learnt logic and some other subjects from Abu Abdallah Natili, a famous
philosopher of the time. While still young, he attained such a degree of expertise in
medicine that his renown spread far and wide. At the age of 17, he was fortunate in
curing Nooh Ibn Mansoor, the King of Bukhhara, of an illness in which all the well-
known physicians had given up hope. On his recovery, the King wished to reward
him, but the young physician only desired permission to use his uniquely stocked
library.
On his father's death, Bu Ali left Bukhara and traveled to Jurjan where Khawarizm
Shah welcomed him. There, he met his famous contemporary Abu Raihan al-Biruni.
Later he moved to Ray and then to Hamadan, where he wrote his famous book Al-
Qanun fi al-Tibb. Here he treated Shams al-Daulah, the King of Hamadan, for severe
colic. From Hamadan, he moved to Isphahan, where he completed many of his
monumental writings. Nevertheless, he continued traveling and the excessive mental
exertion as well as political turmoil spoilt his health. Finally, he returned to Hamadan
where he died in 1037 C.E.
He was the most famous physician, philosopher, encyclopaedist, mathematician

and astronomer of his time. His major contribution to medical science was his famous
book al-Qanun, known as the "Canon" in the West. The Qanun fi al-Tibb is an
immense encyclopedia of medicine extending over a million words. It surveyed the
entire medical knowledge available from ancient and Muslim sources. Due to its
systematic approach, "formal perfection as well as its intrinsic value, the Qanun
superseded Razi's Hawi, Ali Ibn Abbas's Maliki, and even the works of Galen, and
remained supreme for six centuries". In addition to bringing together the then
available knowledge, the book is rich with the author's original contribution.

His important original contribution includes such advances as recognition of the

contagious nature of phthisis and tuberculosis; distribution of diseases by water and
soil, and interaction between psychology and health. In addition to describing
pharmacological methods, the book described 760 drugs and became the most
authentic materia medica of the era. He was also the first to describe meningitis and
made rich contributions to anatomy, gynecology and child health.
His philosophical encyclopedia Kitab al-Shifa was a monumental work, embodying a

vast field of knowledge from philosophy to science. He classified the entire field as
follows: theoretical knowledge: physics, mathematics and metaphysics; and
practical knowledge: ethics, economics and politics. His philosophy synthesizes
Aristotelian tradition, Neoplatonic influences and Muslim theology.
Ibn Sina also contributed to mathematics, physics, music and other fields. He
explained the "casting out of nines" and its application to the verification of squares
and cubes. He made several astronomical observations, and devised a contrivance
similar to the vernier, to increase the precision of instrumental readings. In physics, his
contribution comprised the study of different forms of energy, heat, light and
mechanical, and such concepts as force, vacuum and infinity. He made the
important observation that if the perception of light is due to the emission of some
sort of particles by the luminous source, the speed of light must be finite. He
propounded an interconnection between time and motion, and also made
investigations on specific gravity and used an air thermo- meter.
In the field of music, his contribution was an improvement over Farabi's work and was
far ahead of knowledge prevailing else- where on the subject. Doubling with the
fourth and fifth was a 'great' step towards the harmonic system and doubling with
the third seems to have also been allowed. Ibn Sina observed that in the series of
consonances represented by (n + 1)/n, the ear is unable to distinguish them when n
= 45. In the field of chemistry, he did not believe in the possibility of chemical
transmutation because, in his opinion, the metals differed in a fundamental sense.
These views were radically opposed to those prevailing at the time. His treatise on
minerals was one of the "main" sources of geology of the Christian encyclopaedists
of the thirteenth century. Besides Shifa his well-known treatises in philosophy are al-
Najat and Isharat.
OMAR AL-KHAYYAM
Mathematics, Poetry
(1044-1123 C.E.)
Ghiyath al-Din Abul Fateh Omar Ibn Ibrahim al-Khayyam was born at Nishapur, the
provincial capital of Khurasan around 1044 C.E. (c. 1038 to 1048). Persian
mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, physician and poet, he is commonly
known as Omar Khayyam. Khayyam means the tent-maker, and although generally
considered as Persian, it has also been suggested that he could have belonged to
the Khayyami tribe of Arab origin who might have settled in Persia. Little is known
about his early life, except for the fact that he was educated at Nishapur and lived
there and at Samarqand for most of his life. He was a contemporary of Nidham al-
Mulk Tusi.

Contrary to the available opportunities, he did not like to be employed at the King's
court and led a calm life devoted to search for knowledge. He traveled to the great
centers of learning, Samarqand, Bukhara, Balkh and Isphahan in order to study
further and exchange views with the scholars there. While at Samarqand he was
patronized by a dignitary, Abu Tahir. He died at Nishapur in 1123-24.
Algebra would seem to rank first among the fields to which he contributed. He made
an attempt to classify most algebraic equations, including the third degree
equations and, in fact, offered solutions for a number of them. 'This includes
geometric' solutions of cubic equations and partial geometric solutions of most other
equations. His book Maqalat fi al-Jabr wa al-Muqabila is a masterpiece on algebra
and has great importance in the development of algebra. His remarkable
classification of equations is based on the complexity of the equations, as the higher
the degree of an equation, the more terms, or combinations of terms, it will contain.
Thus, Khayyam recognizes 13 different forms of cubic equation. His method of solving
equations is largely geometrical and depends upon an ingenious selection of proper
conics. He also developed the binomial expansion when the exponent is a positive
integer. In fact, he has been considered to be the first to find the binomial theorem
and determine binomial coefficients. In geometry, he studied generalities of Euclid
and contributed to the theory of parallel lines.
The Saljuq Sultan, Malikshah Jalal al-Din, called him to the new observatory at Ray
around 1074 and assigned him the task of determining a correct solar calendar. This
had become necessary in view of the revenue collections and other administrative
matters that were to be performed at different times of the year. Khayyam
introduced a calendar that was remarkably accurate, and was named as Al-Tarikh-
al-Jalali. It had an error of one day in 3770 years and was thus even superior to the
Georgian calendar (error of 1 day in 3330 years).
His contributions to other fields of science include a study of generalities of Euclid,

development of methods for the accurate determination of specific gravity, etc. In
metaphysics, he wrote three books Risala Dar Wujud and the recently discovered
Nauruz-namah. He was also a renowned astronomer and a physician.
Apart from being a scientist, Khayyam was also a well-known poet. In this capacity,
he has become more popularly known in the Western world since 1839, when
Edward Fitzgerald published an English translation of his Rubaiyat (quatrains). This has
since become one of the most popular classics of world literature. It should be
appreciated that it is practically impossible to exactly translate any literary work into
another language, what to talk of poetry, especially when it involves mystical and
philosophical messages of deep complexity. Despite this, the popularity of the
translation of Rubaiyat would indicate the wealth of his rich thought.
Khayyam wrote a large number of books and monographs in the above areas. Out
of these, 10 books and thirty monographs have been identified. Of these, four
concern mathematics, three physics, three metaphysics, one algebra and one
geometry.

His influence on the development of mathematics in general and analytical

geometry, in particular, has been immense. His work remained ahead of others for
centuries till the times of Descartes, who applied the same geometrical approach in
solving cubics. His fame as a mathematician has been partially eclipsed by his
popularity as a poet; nonetheless his contribution as a philosopher and scientist has
been of significant value in furthering the frontiers of human knowledge.
ABU HAMID AL-GHAZALI

Sociology, Theology, Philosophy
(1058-1128 C.E.)
Abu Hamid Ibn Muhammad Ibn Muhammad al-Tusi al-Shafi'i al-Ghazali was born in
1058 C.E. in Khorasan, Iran. His father died while he was still very young but he had
the opportunity of getting education in the prevalent curriculum at Nishapur and
Baghdad. Soon he acquired a high standard of scholarship in religion and
philosophy and was honored by his appointment as a Professor at the Nizamiyah
University of Baghdad, which was recognized as one of the most reputed institutions
of learning in the golden era of Muslim history.
After a few years, however, he gave up his academic pursuits and worldly interests
and became a wandering ascetic. This was a process (period) of mystical
transformation. Later, he resumed his teaching duties, but again left these. An era of
solitary life, devoted to contemplation and writing then ensued, which led to the
author- ship of a number of everlasting books. He died in 1128 C.E. at Baghdad.
Ghazali's major contribution lies in religion, philosophy and Sufism. A number of

Muslim philosophers had been following and developing several viewpoints of Greek
philosophy, including the Neoplatonic philosophy, and this was leading to conflict
with several Islamic teachings. On the other hand, the movement of Sufism was
assuming such excessive proportions as to avoid observance of obligatory prayers
and duties of Islam. Based on his unquestionable scholarship and personal mystical
experience, Ghazali sought to rectify these trends, both in philosophy and sufism.
In philosophy, Ghazali upheld the approach of mathematics and exact sciences as

essentially correct. However, he adopted the techniques of Aristotelian logic and
the Neoplatonic procedures and employed these very tools to lay bare the flaws
and lacunas of the then prevalent Neoplatonic philosophy and to diminish the
negative influences of Aristotelianism and excessive rationalism. In contrast to some
of the Muslim philosophers, e.g., Farabi, he portrayed the inability of reason to
comprehend the absolute and the infinite. Reason could not transcend the finite
and was limited to the observation of the relative. Also, several Muslim philosophers
had held that the universe was finite in space but infinite in time. Ghazali argued that
an infinite time was related to an infinite space. With his clarity of thought and force
of argument, he was able to create a balance between religion and reason, and
identified their respective spheres as being the infinite and the finite, respectively.
In religion, particularly mysticism, he cleansed the approach of Sufism of its excesses

and reestablished the authority of the orthodox religion. Yet, he stressed the
importance of genuine Sufism, which he maintained was the path to attain the
absolute truth.

He was a prolific writer. His immortal books include Tuhafut al-Falasifa (The
Incoherence of the Philosophers), Ihya al-'Ulum al-Islamia (The Revival of the Religious
Sciences), "The Beginning of Guidance and his Autobiography", "Deliverance from
Error". Some of his works were translated into European languages in the Middle Ages.
He also wrote a summary of astronomy.
Ghazali's influence was deep and everlasting. He is one of the greatest theologians
of Islam. His theological doctrines penetrated Europe, influenced Jewish and
Christian Scholasticism and several of his arguments seem to have been adopted by
St. Thomas Aquinas in order to similarly reestablish the authority of orthodox Christian
religion in the West. So forceful was his argument in the favor of religion that he was
accused of damaging the cause of philosophy and, in the Muslim Spain, Ibn Rushd
(Averros) wrote a rejoinder to his Tuhafut.
AL-IDRISI
Philosophy, Law, Medicine, Astronomy, Theology
(1099-1166 C.E.)
Abu Abdallah Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abdallah Ibn Idris al-Qurtubi al-
Hasani, was born in Ceuta, Spain, in 1099 C.E. He was educated in Cordova. Later
he traveled far and wide in connection with his studies and then flourished at the
Norman court in Palermo. The date of his death is controversial, being either 1166 or
1180 C.E.
Biographical notes on him are to be found rather rarely, and according to F. Pons
Boigues the underlying reason is the fact that the Arab biographers considered al-
Idrisi to be a renegade, since he had been associated with the court of a Christian
king and written in praise of him, in his work. The circumstances which led him to
settle in Sicily at the court of Roger II are not on record.
His major contribution lies in medicinal plants as presented in his several books,
specially Kitab al-Jami-li-Sifat Ashtat al-Nabatat. He studied and reviewed all the
literature on the subject of medicinal plants and formed the opinion that very little
original material had been added to this branch of knowledge since the early Greek
work. He, therefore, collected plants and data not reported earlier and added this
to the subject of botany, with special reference to medicinal plants. Thus, a large
number of new drugs plants together with their evaluation became available to the
medical practitioners. He has given the names of the drugs in six languages: Syriac,
Greek, Persian, Hindi, Latin and Berber.
In addition to the above, he made original contributions to geography, especially as

related to economics, physical factors and cultural aspects. He made a planishere in
silver for King Roger II, and described the world in Al-Kitab al-Rujari (Roger's Book),
also entitled Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi Ikhtiraq al-Afaq (The delight of him who desires to
journey through the climates). This is practically a geographical encyclopaedia of
the time, containing information not only on Asia and Africa, but also Western
countries.

Al-Idrisi, later on, also compiled another geographical encyclopedia, larger than the
former entitled Rawd-Unnas wa-Nuzhat al-Nafs (Pleasure of men and delight of souls)
also known as Kitab al-Mamalik wa al-Masalik.
Apart from botany and geography, Idrisi also wrote on fauna, zoology and
therapeutical aspects. His work was soon translated into Latin and, especially, his
books on geography remained popular both in the East and the West for several
centuries.
IBN RUSHD
Philosophy, Law, Medicine, Astronomy, Theology
(1128-1198 C.E.)
Abu'l Waleed Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Rushd, known as Averros
in the West, was born in 1128 C.E. in Cordova, where his father and grandfather had
both been judges. His grandfather was well versed in Fiqh (Maliki School) and was
also the Imam of the Jamia Mosque of Cordova. The young Ibn Rushd received his
education in Cordova and lived a quiet life, devoting most of his time to learned-
pursuits. He studied philosophy and law from Abu J'afar Haroon and from Ibn Baja;
he also studied medicine.
Al-Hakam, the famous Umayyad Caliph of Spain, had constructed a magnificent

library in Cordova, which housed 500,000 books, He himself had studied many of
these and made brief marginal comments on them. This rich collection laid the
foundation for intellectual study in Spain and provided the background for men like
Ibn Rushd, who lived 2 centuries later.
Abu Yaqub, the Caliph of Morocco, called him to his capital and appointed him as
his physician in place of Ibn Tufail. His son Yaqub al-Mansur retained him for some
time but soon Ibn Rushd's views on theology and philosophy drew the Caliph's wrath.
All his books, barring strictly scientific ones, were burnt and he was banished to
Lucena. However, as a result of intervention of several leading scholars he was
forgiven after about four years and recalled to Morocco in 1198; but he died
towards the end of the same year.
Ibn Rushd made remarkable contributions. in philosophy, logic, medicine, music and
jurisprudence. In medicine his well- known book Kitab al-Kulyat fi al-Tibb was written
before 1162 C.E. Its Latin translation was known as 'Colliget'. In it, Ibn Rushd has
thrown light on various aspects of medicine, including the diagnoses, cure and
prevention of diseases. The book concentrates on specific areas in comparison of
Ibn Sina's wider scope of al-Qanun, but contains several original observations of Ibn
Rushd.
In philosophy, his most important work Tuhafut al-Tuhafut was written in response to
Al-Ghazali's work. Ibn Rushd was criticized by many Muslim scholars for this book,
which, nevertheless, had a profound influence on European thought, at least until
the beginning of modern philosophy and experimental science. His views on fate
were that man is neither in full control of his destiny nor is it fully predetermined for
him. He wrote three commentaries on the works of Aristotle, as these were known
then through Arabic translations.

The shortest Jami may be considered as a summary of the subject. The intermediate
was Talkhis and the longest was the Tafsir. These three commentaries would seem to
correspond to different stages in the education of pupils; the short one was meant
for the beginners, then the intermediate for the students familiar with the subject,
and finally the longest one for advanced studies. The longest commentary was, in
fact, an original contribution as it was largely based on his analysis including
interpretation of Qu'ranic concepts.
In the field of music, Ibn Rushd wrote a commentary on Aristotle's book De Anima.
This book was translated into Latin by Mitchell the Scott.
In astronomy he wrote a treatise on the motion of the sphere, Kitab fi-Harakat al-
Falak. He also summarized Almagest and divided it into two parts: description of the
spheres, and movement of the spheres. This summary of the Almagest was translated
from Arabic into Hebrew by Jacob Anatoli in 1231.
According to Ibn al-Abbar, Ibn Rushd's writings spread over 20,000 pages, the most
famous of which deal with philosophy, medicine and jurisprudence. On medicine
alone he wrote 20 books. Regarding jurisprudence, his book Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa-
Nihayat-al-Muqtasid has been held by Ibn Jafar Thahabi as possibly the best book
on the Maliki School of Fiqh. Ibn Rushd's writings were translated into various
languages, including Latin, English, German and Hebrew. Most of his commentaries
on philosophy are preserved in the Hebrew translations, or in Latin translations from
the Hebrew, and a few in the original Arabic, generally in Hebrew script. This reveals
his wider acceptance in the West in comparison to the East. The commentary on
zoology is entirely lost. Ibn Rushd also wrote commentaries on Plato's Republic,
Galen's treatise on fevers, Al-Farabi's logic, etc. Eighty-seven of his books are still
extant.
Ibn Rushd has been held as one of the greatest thinkers and scientists of the 12th
century. According to Philip Hitti, Ibn Rushd influenced Western thought from the
12th to the 16th centuries. His books were included in the syllabi of Paris and other
universities till the advent of modern experimental sciences.
IBN AL-BAITAR
Pharmacy, Botany
(DIED 1248 C.E.)
Abu Muhammad Abdallah Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Baitar Dhiya al-Din al-Malaqi was one
of the greatest scientists of Muslim Spain and was the greatest botanist and
pharmacist of the Middle Ages. He was born in the Spanish city of Malaqa (Malaga)
towards the end of the 12th century. He learned botany from Abu al-Abbas al-
Nabati, a learned botanist, with whom he started collecting plants in and around
Spain. In 1219 he left Spain on a plant-collecting expedition and travelled along the
northern coast of Africa as far as Asia Minor. The exact modes of his travel (whether
by land or sea) are not known, but the major stations he visited include Bugia,
Qastantunia (Constantinople), Tunis, Tripoli, Barqa and Adalia. After 1224 he entered
the service of al-Kamil, the Egyptian Gover- nor, and was appointed chief herbalist.

In 1227 al-Kamil extended his domination to Damaseus, and Ibn al-Baitar

accompanied him there which provided him an opportunity to collect plants in Syria
His researches on plants extended over a vast area: including Arabia and Palestine,
which he either visited or managed to collect plants from stations located there. He
died in Damascus in 1248.
Ibn Baitar's major contribution, Kitab al-Jami fi al-Adwiya al- Mufrada, is one of the
greatest botanical compilations dealing with medicinal plants in Arabic. It enjoyed a
high status among botanists up to the 16th century and is a systematic work that
embodies earlier works, with due criticism, and adds a great part of original
contribution. The encyclopedia comprises some 1,400 different items, largely
medicinal plants and vegetables, of which about 200 plants were not known earlier.
The book refers to the work of some 150 authors mostly Arabic, and it also quotes
about 20 early Greek scientists. It was translated into Latin and published in 1758.
His second monumental treatise Kitab al-Mlughni fi al-Adwiya al-Mufrada is an

encyclopedia of medicine. The drugs are listed in accordance with their
therapeutical value. Thus, its 20 different chapters deal with the plants bearing
significance to diseases of head, ear, eye, etc. On surgical issues he has frequently
quoted the famous Muslim surgeon, Abul Qasim Zahrawi. Besides Arabic, Baitar has
given Greek and Latin names of the plants, thus facilitating transfer of knowledge.
Ibn Baitar's contributions are characterized by observation, analysis and classification

and have exerted a profound influence on Eastern as well as Western botany and
medicine. Though the Jami was translated/published late in the western languages
as mentioned above, yet many scientists had earlier studied various parts of the
book and made several references to it.
JALAL AL-DIN RUMI

Sociology
(1207-1273 C.E.)
Jalal al-Din Mohammad Ibn Mohammad Ibn Mohammad Ibn Husain al-Rumi was
born in 604 A.H. (1207/8 C.E.) at Balkh (now Afghanistan). His father Baha al-Din was
a renowned religious scholar. Under his patronage, Rumi received his early
education from Syed Burhan-al-Din. When his age was about 18 years, the family
(after several migrations) finally settled at Konya and at the age of 25, Rumi was sent
to Aleppo for advanced education and later to Damascus. Rumi continued with his
education till he was 40 years old, although on his father's death Rumi succeeded
him as a professor in the famous Madrasah at Konya at the age of about 24 years.
He received his mystical training first at the hands of Syed Burhan al-Din and later he
was trained by Shams al-Din Tabriz. He became famous for his mystical insight, his
religious knowledge and as a Persian poet. He used to teach a large number of
pupils at his Madrasah and also founded the famous Maulvi Order in Tasawwuf. He
died in 672 A.H. (1273 C.E.) at Konya, which subsequently became a sacred place
for dancing derveshes of the Maulvi Order.

His major contribution lies in Islamic philosophy and Tasawwuf. This was embodied
largely in poetry, especially through his famous Mathnawi. This book, the largest
mystical exposition in verse, discusses and offers solutions to many complicated
problems in metaphysics, religion, ethics, mysticism, etc. Fundamentally, the
Mathnawi highlights the various hidden aspects of Sufism and their relationship with
the worldly life. For this, Rumi draws on a variety of subjects and derives numerous
examples from every day life. His main subject is the relationship between man and
God on the one hand, and between man and man, on the other. He apparently
believed in Pantheism and portrayed the various stages of man's evolution in his
journey towards the Ultimate.
Apart from the Mathnaui, he also wrote his Diwan (collection of poems) and Fihi-Ma-
Fih (a collection of mystical sayings). However, it is the Mathnawi itself that has
largely transmitted Rumi's message. Soon after its completion, other scholars started
writing detailed commentaries on it, in order to interpret its rich propositions on
Tasawwuf, Metaphysics and Ethics. Several commentaries in different languages
have been written since then.
His impact on philosophy, literature, mysticism and culture, has been so deep
throughout Central Asia and most Islamic countries that almost all religious scholars,
mystics, philosophers, sociologists and others have referred to his verses during all
these centuries since his death. Most difficult problems in these areas seem to get
simplified in the light of his references. His message seems to have inspired most of
the intellectuals in Central Asia and adjoining areas since his time, and scholars like
Iqbal have further developed Rumi's concepts. The Mathnawi became known as the
interpretation of the Qur'an in the Pahlavi language. He is one of the few
intellectuals and mystics whose views have so profoundly affected the world-view in
its higher perspective in large parts of the Islamic World.
IBN AL-NAFIS
Anatomy
(1213-1288 C.E.)
Ala-al-Din Abu al-Hasan Ali Ibn Abi al-Hazm al-Qarshi al- Damashqi al-Misri was born
in 607 C.E. of Damascus. He was educated at the Medical College-cum-Hospital
founded by Nur al- Din Zangi. In medicine his teacher was Muhaththab al-Din Abd
al-Rahim. Apart from medicine, Ibn al-Nafis learnt jurisprudence, literature and
theology. He thus became a renowned expert on Shafi'i School of Jurisprudence as
well as a reputed physician.
After acquiring his expertise in medicine and jurisprudence, he moved to Cairo

where he was appointed as the Principal at the famous Nasri Hospital. Here he
imparted training to a large number of medical specialists, including Ibn al-Quff al-
Masihi, the famous surgeon. He also served at the Mansuriya School at Cairo. When
he died in 678 C.E. he donated his house, library and clinic to the Mansuriya Hospital.
His major contribution lies in medicine. His approach comprised writing detailed
commentaries on early works, critically evaluating them and adding his own original
contribution.

His major original contribution of great significance was his discovery of the blood's
circulatory system, which was re-discovered by modern science after a lapse of
three centuries. He was the first to correctly describe the constitution of the lungs
and gave a description of the bronchi and the interaction between the human
body's vessels for air and blood. Also, he elaborated the function of the coronary
arteries as feeding the cardiac muscle.
The most voluminous of his books is Al-Shamil fi al-Tibb, which was designed to be an
encyclopedia comprising 300 volumes, but it could not be completed due to his
death. The manuscript is available at Damascus. His book on ophthalmology is
largely an original contribution and is also extant. However, his book that became
most famous was Mujaz al-Qanun and a number of commentaries were written on
this. His own commentaries include one on Hippocrates' book. He wrote several
volumes on Ibn Sina's Qanun, that are still extant. Likewise he wrote a commentary
on Hunayn Ibn Ishaq's book. Another famous book embodying his original
contribution was on the effects of diet on health. entitled Kitab al-Mukhtar fi al-
Aghdhiya.
Ibn Al-Nafis' works integrated the then existing medical knowledge and enriched it,
thus exerting great influence on the development of medical science, both in the
East and the West. However, only one of his books was translated into Latin at early
stages and, therefore, a part of his work remained unknown to Europe for a long
time.
IBN KHALDUN
Sociology, Philosophy of History, Political Science
(1332--1395. C.E. )
Abd al-Rahman Ibn Mohammad is generally known as Ibn Khaldun after a remote
ancestor. His parents, originally Yemenite Arabs, had settled in Spain, but after the
fall of Seville, had migrated to Tunisia. He was born in Tunisia in 1332 C.E., where he
received his early education and where, still in his teens, he entered the service of
the Egyptian ruler Sultan Barquq. His thirst for advanced knowledge and a better
academic setting soon made him leave this service and migrate to Fez.
This was followed by a long period of unrest marked by contemporary political

rivalries affecting his career. This turbulent period also included a three year refuge in
a small village Qalat Ibn Salama in Algeria, which provided him with the opportunity
to write Muqaddimah, the first volume of his world history that won him an immortal
place among historians, sociologists and philosophers. The uncertainty of his career
still continued, with Egypt becoming his final abode where he spent his last 24 years.
Here he lived a life of fame and respect, marked by his appointment as the Chief
Malakite Judge and lecturing at the Al-Azhar University, but envy caused his removal
from his high judicial office as many as five times.
Ibn Khaldun's chief contribution lies in philosophy of history and sociology. He sought
to write a world history preambled by a first volume aimed at an analysis of historical
events. This volume, commonly known as Muqaddimah or 'Prolegomena', was based
on Ibn Khaldun's unique approach and original contribution and became a
masterpiece in literature on philosophy of history and sociology.

The chief concern of this monumental work was to identify psychological, economic,
environmental and social facts that contribute to the advancement of human
civilization and the currents of history. In this context, he analyzed the dynamics of
group relationships and showed how group-feelings, al-'Asabiyya, give rise to the
ascent of a new civilization and political power and how, later on, its diffusion into a
more general civilization invites the advent of a still new 'Asabiyya in its pristine form.
He identified an almost rhythmic repetition of rise and fall in human civilization, and
analyzed factors contributing to it. His contribution to history is marked by the fact
that, unlike most earlier writers interpreting history largely in a political context, he
emphasized environmental, sociological, psychological and economic factors
governing the apparent events. This revolutionized the science of history and also
laid the foundation of Umraniyat (Sociology).
Apart from the Muqaddimah that became an important independent book even
during the lifetime of the author, the other volumes of his world history Kitab al-I'bar
deal with the history of Arabs, contemporary Muslim rulers, contemporary European
rulers, ancient history of Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Romans, Persians, etc., Islamic History,
Egyptian history and North-African history, especially that of Berbers and tribes living
in the adjoining areas. The last volume deals largely with the events of his own life
and is known as Al-Tasrif. This was also written in a scientific manner and initiated a
new analytical tradition in the art of writing autobiography. A book on mathematics
written by him is not extant.
Ibn Khaldun's influence on the subject of history, philosophy of history, sociology,

political science and education has remained paramount ever since his life. His
books have been translated into many languages, both in the East and the West,
and have inspired subsequent development of these sciences. For instance, Prof.
Gum Ploughs and Kolosio consider Muqaddimah as superior in scholarship to
Machiavelli's The Prince written a century later, as the former bases the diagnosis
more on cultural, sociological, economic and psychological factors.

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ISLAM – SCIENCE TECHENOLOGY & CIVILIZATION

Rahsia ilmu sains, teknologi dinyatakan dalam al-Quran terus dibongkar

“BACALAH dengan nama Tuhanmu yang menciptakan sekian makhluk. Ia

Ketika al-Quran diturunkan, pelbagai fakta di dalamnya jelas masih asing di

Tiada siapa mengetahui hakikat kehidupan seperti tertera dalam al-Quran

Menjelang pertengahan abad kesembilan, ilmu pengetahuan yang semakin

AZUDDIN JUD HAJI ISMAIL 1

Perkembangan ilmu menzahirkan pelbagai ciptaan teknologi dan inovasi.

Malangnya, pengembangan ilmu dan kegemilangan Tamadun Islam itu tidak

Malah, seolah-olah cuba menafikan kegemilangan cendekiawan Islam, Barat

Bagaimanapun, kegemilangan Islam menguasai ilmu ingin terus diabadikan. Saintis

AZUDDIN JUD HAJI ISMAIL 2

Pameran julung kali bermatlamat mencetuskan kembali kesedaran pentingnya

Lebih penting, pencernaan ilmu pengetahuan akan mengembalikan kesedaran

ISLAMIC - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

AZUDDIN JUD HAJI ISMAIL 3

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Because of the loss of a highly skilled and centralized government, as well as

Medicine was a central part of medieval Islamic culture. Responding to

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Commerce and urban life

AZUDDIN JUD HAJI ISMAIL 6

Technology and Industry of Islamic civilization was highly developed. Distillation

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Architecture and engineering

Mongolian invasion and gradual decline

AZUDDIN JUD HAJI ISMAIL 8

ISLAM – SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND CIVILIZATION

A number of fortunate circumstances came together to make this golden age

AZUDDIN JUD HAJI ISMAIL 9

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Roman techniques of manufacturing glass lenses stimulated Al-Hasan's breakthrough

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Why did it all end?

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4. Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph.D: 2001, irfiweb.org,

5. Some glittering aspects of the Islamic civilisation, Dr Mustafa Siba’i, (p69-91).

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1) 700-825 CE: The period of assimilation and syncretisation of earlier Hellenistic,

A large corpus of literature from Islamic astronomy remains today, numbering

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In 1420, prince Ulugh Beg, himself an astronomer and mathematician, founded

Celestial globes and armillary spheres

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Muslims made several important improvements to the theory and construction of

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The background to the mathematical developments which began in Baghdad

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... Diocles' treatise on mirrors, Theodosius's Spherics, Pappus's work on mechanics,

Al-Khwarizmi's successors undertook a systematic application of arithmetic to

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... represents an essential contribution to another algebra which aimed to study

Let us give other examples of the development of Arabic mathematics. Returning to

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3. Indian numeral system.

Astronomy, time-keeping and geography provided other motivations for

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Many of the Arabic mathematicians produced tables of trigonometric functions as

The astrolabe, whose mathematical theory is based on the stereographic projection

AZUDDIN JUD HAJI ISMAIL 22

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• 864 - 930 - [chemistry; medicine; ...] Razi (Rhazes) Medicine, Ophthalmology,

AZUDDIN JUD HAJI ISMAIL 24

Azuddin Jud Ismail - KM Sejarah Sains & Teknologi Islam

Azuddin Jud Ismail - KM Sejarah Sains & Teknologi Islam