Role of Muslim scholars
It is surprising to take into memorandum that Islam so
intensely desires mankind to study and explore the universe. This decree by
almighty to discover and examine made Muslims to explore mathematics, physics,
medicine and other sciences.
Greek are driven by mere
philosophy in their pursuit attempt to understand nature without resorting to
experimentation. However Muslim scientists spared no efforts to develop this
basis. They excelled in physics in an intelligent fashion to the extent that
they seemed to establish a new science. E.g. they made physics rely on
experimentation and induction rather than philosophy, speculations and mere thoughts.
Contribution of Muslim scholars to science and technology from 8th
to 16th century is noteworthy. The Muslim scholars not only
conserved ancient knowledge but also transformed it into major new
contributions to the basic science and technology.
In
the seventh century A.D., the prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) was sent to the people
of Arabia. After his departure to the heavenly abode, Muslims conquered almost all
of the Arabian Peninsula. Within a century, Islam had spread from Al-Hamrah in
Spain to the borders of China. Islam unified science, theology, and philosophy.
Muslims were commanded to study, seek knowledge, and learn and benefit from
others experiences by Allah in the holy Quran and by the prophet Muhammad
(p.b.u.h) in the Sunnah. It was this that inspired the Muslims to great heights
in sciences, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, philosophy, art and
architecture.
Muslim scholars excelled in acquiring Greek expositions
and established their study by conversion into Arabic a few centuries after the
Hijrah. They significantly examined, assembled, approved and incremented the
Greek science and philosophy. After this phase began what is acknowledged as
the Golden Age of Islam, which remained for over two centuries. It is here we
find many great scientists of Islam who left behind hundreds and thousands of
books on several branches of science.
Science and
technology can prosper among Muslims again, if the condition for free inquiry,
proper incentives, intuitional support and the benefits of science are
encouraged. It is surprising to take into memorandum that Islam so
intensely desires mankind to study and explore the universe. This decree by
almighty to discover and examine made Muslims to explore mathematics, physics,
medicine and other sciences.
Greek are driven by mere
philosophy in their pursuit attempt to understand nature without resorting to
experimentation. However Muslim scientists spared no efforts to develop this
basis. They excelled in physics in an intelligent fashion to the extent that
they seemed to establish a new science. E.g. they made physics rely on
experimentation and induction rather than philosophy, speculations and mere thoughts.
Contribution of Muslim scholars to science and technology from 8th
to 16th century is noteworthy. The Muslim scholars not only
conserved ancient knowledge but also transformed it into major new
contributions to the basic science and technology.
In
the seventh century A.D., the prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) was sent to the people
of Arabia. After his departure to the heavenly abode, Muslims conquered almost all
of the Arabian Peninsula. Within a century, Islam had spread from Al-Hamrah in
Spain to the borders of China. Islam unified science, theology, and philosophy.
Muslims were commanded to study, seek knowledge, and learn and benefit from
others experiences by Allah in the holy Quran and by the prophet Muhammad
(p.b.u.h) in the Sunnah. It was this that inspired the Muslims to great heights
in sciences, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, philosophy, art and
architecture.
Muslim scholars excelled in acquiring Greek expositions
and established their study by conversion into Arabic a few centuries after the
Hijrah. They significantly examined, assembled, approved and incremented the
Greek science and philosophy. After this phase began what is acknowledged as
the Golden Age of Islam, which remained for over two centuries. It is here we
find many great scientists of Islam who left behind hundreds and thousands of
books on several branches of science.
Science and
technology can prosper among Muslims again, if the condition for free inquiry,
proper incentives, intuitional support and the benefits of science are
encouraged.
Contribution
to Mathematics
3.Mohammad Bin Ahmed
1.
1.Abu Ali Ibn Sina
2.
1.Abual-Rihan Al-Beruni
Contribution
to Mathematics
The first great Muslim mathematician,
Muhammad bin Musa al-Khwarizmi, designed the subject of algebra, which was
supplementary advanced by others, most notably by Umar Khayyam. Al-Khwarizmi’s
work, in Latin translation, carried the Arabic numerals along with the
mathematics to Europe, through Spain. The word “algorithm” is derived from his
name.
Al-Khwarizmi, born in 780 A.D., was the forefather
of modern Algebra. He developed sine, cosine and trigonometrically tables,
which were later translated to the West. His book on algebra “Hisab al-Jabr
waal-Muqabalah” (The Calculation of Integration and Equation) was
used until the 16th century as the principal textbook of European universities.
In it he composes that given an equation, collecting the unknowns in one side
of the equation is called al-Jabr and collecting the known in the other
side of the equation is called al- Mukabalah. He also described six
basic types of equations: nx = m, x^2= nx, x^2=m, m+x^2 = nx, m + nx +x^2 and
x^2 = m+nx. He also explained the particular equation x^2+21=10x using
geometrical arguments.
Al-Khwarizmi also aided to
announce Arabic numerals, the decimal position system, and the concept of zero.
Algebra and Algorithm are in fact corruptions of his work and name.
Interestingly, this book on algebra comprised many examples from the Islamic
inheritance laws and how they could be answered using algebra. Under al-Mamun
the caliph of the time, he with some others was the first to map the globe.
2. Ghiyath al-Din al- Kashani
Another exceptional
mathematician was Ghiyath al-Din al-Kashani of the late fourteenth century. He
functioned on the theory of numbers and techniques of computations. In 1424, he
figured a value of 2pi to sixteen decimal digits of accuracy using an
approximation of the circle by 805306368 side polygon. One of his most
important works was “Miftah-ul-Hissab” or “The Calculators’ Key”; in it he
defined an algorithm for finding the fifth root of any number. The book was
taught in Persian schools until the seventeenth century. Later in his life he
relocated to Samarkand on the invitation of the ruler to support directly to a
new scientific school and observatory and conduct research with other scholars
of the time. Kashani also wrote on how to approximate sin by solving a cubic
equation accurately.
3.Mohammad Bin Ahmed
Mohammad Bin Ahmed in the
tenth century invented the concept of zero or sifr. Thus swapping the
cumbersome, Roman numerals and creating a revolution in mathematics. This
directed to improvements in the calculation of the program of the worlds and
progresses in the fields of astronomy and geography. Muslim mathematics had innated
both the Babylonian hexadecimal system and the Indian (Hindu) decimal system,
and this provided the basis for numerical techniques in mathematic. Muslims
constructed mathematical models using the decimal system, conveying all numbers
by means of ten symbols, and each symbol permitted the value of position as
well as absolute value. Many inventive methods of doing multiplications were
established by Muslims; methods of checking by casting out nines, and decimal
fractions. Thus Muslim scholars added and positioned the foundations of modern
mathematics and the use of mathematics in the fields of science and
engineering.
1.
Abu Abdullah al- Battani
Abu
Abdullah al-Battani (862-929 A.D.) was a son of a scientist and also a famous
astronomer, mathematician and astrologer. He is on considered one of the
greatest astronomists of Islam. In mathematics, al-Battani was the first to
substitute the practice of Greek chords and the first to cultivate the concept
of cotangent and provided their table in degrees. He composed a number of books
on astronomy and trigonometry.
Contribution
to Medicine
1.Abu Ali Ibn Sina
Abu
Ali Ibn Sina (980-1037), better recognized to the West as Avicenna, was
conceivably the utmost physician until the contemporary epoch. His renowned
book, Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, stayed a typical textbook even in Europe, for over
700 years. Ibn Sina’s effort is still considered and assembled upon in the
East.
Other substantial offerings
were made in pharmacology, such as Ibn Sina’s Kitab al-Shifa’ (Book of
Healing), and in public health. The Ottomans were particularly noted for their
building of hospitals and for the high level of hygiene practiced in them.
Every single city in the Islamic world had a number of outstanding hospitals
and many of them were specialized for particular diseases, including mental and
emotional.
Abu Ali Ibn Sina, alone
wrote 246 books, together with Kitab-al Shifa (The Book of Healing) containing
20 volumes and Al- Qanun fit Tibb (The Canons of Medicine). The Qanun was the
principal guide for medical science in the West from the twelfth to the
seventeenth century. Dr. William Osler, who wrote The Evolution of Modern
Science, remarks “The Qanun has remained a medical Bible for a longer period
than any other work”. Comprising over a million words, it graphed the entire
medical facts available from ancient and Muslim sources together with his
innovative assistances. Ibn Sina’s creative influences involved such
developments such as acknowledgment of the communicable nature of phthisis and
tuberculosis; spreading of diseases by water and soil and the collaboration
between psychology and health. Also, the book defined over 760 medicines and
became the most authentic of its era. Ibn Sina was also the first to describe
meningitis and prepared ironic contributions to anatomy, gynecology and child
health.
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn
Zakariya al-Razi (865-925 AD), identified as Rhazes, was one of the greatest
inexhaustible Muslim doctors and perhaps second only to Ibn Sina in his
endeavors. He was born at Ray, Iran and became a student of Hunayn ibn Ishaq
and later a student of Ali ibn Rabban. He penned over 200 books, including
Kitab al-Mansuri, ten volumes on Greek medicine, and al-Hawi, an compendium of
medicine in 20 volumes. In al-Hawi, he encompassed every single medical
subject’s statistics offered from Greek and Arab sources and then added his
clarifications based on his understanding and assessments. He categorized
substances as vegetable, animal or mineral while other alchemists divided them
into “bodies”, “souls” and “spirits”. He
originated a treatment for kidney and bladder stones, and clarified the nature
of various infectious diseases. He also accompanied research on smallpox and
measles and was the first to announce the usage of alcohol for medical
purposes. An exclusive piece to his medical system was that he significantly
preferred cure through accurate and controlled nourishment intake. This was
pooled with his emphasizing on the impact of psychological aspects on health.
He also anticipated therapies first on animals in order to assess their effects
and side effects. He was also an expert surgeon and the first to use opium for
anesthesia.
3. Abul Qasim al-Zahrawi
A new physician who soon
tracked al-Razi was Abul Qasim al-Zahrawi (963-1013 AD) who is recognized as
Albucasis to the West. A renowned surgeon in his time, at the court of Caliph
al- Hakam II , students and patients flocked to him from the Muslim world and
Europe. He wrote the medical encyclopedia al-Tasrif li man ajaz an-il-talif,
which enclosed 30 segments of surgical facts and drawings of 200 surgical
tools, maximum of which he designed himself. The Encyclopedia was not only a
typical one for physicians, but even five eras later it was being used as the
standard textbook on surgery in universities in Europe. He also accomplished
many elusive operations such as Cesareans and was also the first to use silk
thread for sewing wounds.
2.
Al - Idrisi
Al-Idrisi was born in
Cordova, Spain in 1099. His major involvement was in medicinal plants which he
labeled in many books, such as Kitab al-Jami-li-Sifat Ashtat al-Nabatat. He
composed plants and data not described previously and compiled this to the
subject of botany. From him a large number of new
medicines from plants with
their assessments suited to medical doctors. Al-Idrisi also prepared unique
assistances to topography, as connected to economics, physical factors and
cultural aspects. He penned geographical encyclopedias, the largest called
Rawd-Unnas wa Nuzhalat Nafs (Pleasure of Men and Delight of Souls). Al-Idrisi
also inscribed on the themes of fauna, zoology and therapeutically features.
His work was soon translated into Latin and his books on geography especially
stayed famous in the East and West for more than a few spans.
5. Jabir
Ibn Hayyan
Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan al
Azdi is considered as the father of Arab chemistry and one of the founders of
modern pharmacy. He was known to Europeans as Geber. He was born in the city of
Tus. He father Hayyan al Azdi was an attar {druggist and pharmacist} who
resided in the city of kufa. He was the student of Jafar al-sadiq. He learned
chemistry, philosophy, astronomy and medicine etc. It is claimed by some authors
that he was a prolific writer authoring 300 books on philosophy, 1300 books on
mechanical devices and huge number of books on chemistry. “Corpus Jabirianum”
with over 500 titles was suspected by others authors as not have been written
by Jabir himself, but were instead additions by his students.
Among the books in the
corpus Jabirianum are
Kitab
al-Rahma al-kabir {the great book of mercy}
Kutub
al- mawazin {books of balance}
Kitab
al-sabeen {the book of the seventy}
Kitab
al-khams mi’a {five hundred books}
Many of these books were
translated into Latin and other European languages in the middle ages. Jabir is
credited with the introduction of experimental methodology into alchemy and the
invention of several chemical processes in the modern chemistry. These include
crystallization, calcination, and sublimation, the synthesis of acids {hydrochloric
acid, nitric, citric, and acetic and triteric acid}. He also developed aqua
regia to dissolve gold.
Contribution
to physics
1.Abual-Rihan Al-Beruni
Al Biruni is a renowned
physicist, who determined the specific density of 18 types of precious stones.
He established the rule which stated that the specific density of a body suits
the volume of the water which makes it move. He also interpreted the exit of
water from geysers and artesian wells in
light of the theory of communicating vessels. One of the most important of
al-Biruni’s many texts is Shadows which he is thought to have written around
1021. The contents of the work include the Arabic nomenclature of shade and
shadows, strange phenomena involving shadows, gnomonic, the history of the
tangent and secant functions, applications of the shadow functions to the
astrolabe and to other instruments, shadow observations for the solution of
various astronomical problems, and the shadow-determined times of Muslim
prayers. Shadows are an extremely important source for our knowledge of the
history of mathematics, astronomy, and physics. It also contains important
ideas such as the idea that acceleration is connected with non-uniform motion,
using three rectangular coordinates to define a point in 3-space, and ideas
that some see as expecting the summary of polar coordinates. Topics in physics
that were studied by al-Biruni comprised hydrostatics and made very accurate
measurements of specific weights. He defined the ratios between the densities
of gold, mercury, lead, silver, bronze, copper, brass, iron, and tin. Al-Biruni
displayed the results as combinations of integers and numbers of the form 1/n,
n = 2, 3, 4... 10
Abuul Fath Al-Khazni was an
incomparable physicist, particularly in relation with dynamics and hydrostatics
to the extent that the succeeding researchers have been startled. His theories
have been still calculated in the field on kinetics at schools and universities
up till now. Among these theories are the Theory of Obliquity and Inclination
and the Theory of Impulse. These two theories played an important role in
kinetics. A lot of historians in the field of science regard Al-Khazani the
physicist of all physicists. He dedicated most of his time to study
hydrostatics; he developed a device to determine the specific gravity of
liquids. He further studied the issue of resistance the body faced when it got
into water. Al-Khazani operated the same apparatus used by his great master
Al-Beruni to determine the specific gravity of some solid and liquid materials.
The measurements of Al-Khazani were so accurate that they startled his
contemporaries and successors.
Al-Khazini pointed out that
air had weight and power to boost things like air, adding that the weight of
the object in the air weighs less than its actual weight and its condensed
weight depends on the density of air. It is worth of note that these studies
concreted the way for the inventions of the barometer (pressure measurement),
air vacuums and pumps among others.
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