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                Alumni of Aligarh Muslim University (India)
         Muslims Scientist during Muslims Rule over World 

 

Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr ibn Mahbub Al-Jahiz	Top
Al-Jahiz, in full ABU 'UTHMAN 'AMR IBN BAHR IBN MAHBUB AL-JAHIZ (b. c. 776, Basra, Iraq--d. 868/869, Basra), Islamic theologian, intellectual, and litterateur known for his individual and masterful Arabic prose. His family, possibly of Ethiopian origin, had only modest standing in Basra, but his intellect and wit gained him acceptance in scholarly circles and in society. During the reign of the 'Abbasid caliph  al-Ma`mun, al-Jahiz moved to the regime's capital, Baghdad. He did not take a position at court but supported himself, at least in part, with contributions from patrons, often of high rank, in return for the dedications of his books. When the court moved to Samarra`, al-Jahiz journeyed there, but shortly before his death he retired to Basra. Few of his treatises on theology and politics are extant; some are known only from quotations by other authors. His prose masterpieces, however, are available. These essays are at the same time anthologies in which poetry, jokes, and anecdotes, however obscure or daring, have been introduced by al-Jahiz to illustrate his points. His unfinished Kitab al-hayawan ("Animals"), in seven volumes is an anthology of Arabic literature with animal themes to which theological, sociological, and linguistic discussions have been added. Kitab al-bayan wa al-tabyin ("Elegance of Expression and Clarity of Exposition"), another long work, treats literary style and the effective use of language. Kitab al-bukhala` ("Book of Misers") is a collection of stories about the avaricious. Al-Jahiz, in effect, provides in his works an entire education in the humanities of his time. Although noteworthy for his intellectual freedom, al-Jahiz often supported government policy in his writings. He was, for example, part of the rationalist Mu'tazilite school of theology supported by the caliph al-Ma`mun and his successor. When Mu'tazilism was abandoned by the caliph al-Mutawakkil, al-Jahiz remained in favour by writing essays such as Manaqib at-turk  a discussion of the military qualities of the Turkish soldiers, on whom government policy depended.
Abu Hanifah Ahmad ibn Daud Ad-Dinawari	Top
Ad-Dinawari, in full ABU HANIFAH AHMAD IBN DA`UD AL-DINAWARI (b. c. 815--d. c. 895/902), Persian astronomer, botanist, and historian, whose interest in Hellenism and the Arabic humanities has been compared with that of the Iraqi scholar al-Jahiz. Ad-Dinawari studied philology in the Iraqi cities of Basra and Kufah. The systematic approach to learning that he acquired there is reflected in the preserved fragments of his Kitab an-nabat ("Book of Plants"), one of the most famous early Muslim works on botany. Of lexicographical character, it includes oral and written Arabic botanical traditions as well as much Persian material. Written in beautiful prose, it was the standard work in the field for generations. None of ad-Dinawari's works on mathematics have been preserved. There are, however, fragments of his observations on astronomy, Kitab al-anwa`. The only work that has survived in full is al-akhbar at-tiwal ("The Long Narratives"), a history of Persia written from the Persian, rather than the Arabic, viewpoint.
Abdul Wefa Al-Buzajani	Top
Abu al-Wafa, in full ABU AL-WAFA` AL BUZAJANI (b. 940, Buzjan, Iran--d. 998, Baghdad, Iraq), astronomer and one of the greatest of Muslim mathematicians, who made important contributions to the development of trigonometry. Abu al-Wafa worked in an observatory in Baghdad, where he built the first wall quadrant for observing the stars. He discover the inequality in the Moon's motion, later called variation, but in his work on lunar theory he utilized the tangent and cotangent trigonometric functions and calculated tables for them. He also invented the secant and  cosecant functions, proved the generality of the sine theorem for spherical triangles, and devised a new method of calculating sine tables. He translated and wrote commentaries on the works of the Greek mathematicians Euclid and Diophantus and of the Arabic mathematician al-Khwarizmi. Abu al-Wafa` also wrote Kitab fima yahtaj ilayh al-kuttab wa al-ummal min 'ilm al-hisab ("Book on What Is Necessary from the Science of Arithmetic for Scribes and Businessmen") and Kitab fima yahtaj ilayh al-sani 'min al-a'mal al-Handasiyha ("Book on What Is Necessary from Geometric Construction for the Artisan").
Mohammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi	Top
Al-Khwarizmi, in full MUHAMMAD IBN MUSA AL-KHWARIZMI (b. c. 780, Baghdad--d. c. 850),  mathematician and astronomer whose major works introduced Hindu-Arabic numerals and the concepts of algebra. He lived in Baghdad under the caliphates of al-Ma`mun and al-Mu'tasim in the first golden age of Islamic science. His work on elementary mathematics, Kitab al-jabr wa al-muqabalah ("The Book of Integration and Equation"), was translated into Latin in the 12th century and originated the term algebra. The Kitab al-jabr is a compilation of rules for arithmetical solutions of linear and quadratic equations, for elementary geometry, and for inheritance problems concerning the distribution of money according to proportions. The work was based on a long tradition originating in Babylonian mathematics of the early 2nd millennium BC and traceable through Hellenistic, Hebrew, and Hindu treatises. Its elementary and practical nature contributed to its survival when other works on the same subject were lost. Another work on Hindu-Arabic numerals is preserved only in a Latin translation, Algoritmi de numero Indorum ("Al-Khwarizmi Concerning the Hindu Art of Reckoning"). From the title originated the term algorithm. Al-Khwarizmi also compiled a set of astronomical tables.
Thabit ibn Qurrah	Top
Thabit ibn Qurrah, mathematician, physician, and philosopher, and a representative of the flourishing Arab-Islamic culture of the 9th century. Thabit was a scion of a prominent family settled in Harran, a city noted as the seat of an enduring Hellenistic astronomical cult. Some sources describe him as a money changer; it is known that he inherited a large fortune that enabled him to go to Baghdad and obtain a thorough mathematical and philosophical training. In 'Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tadid, Thabit secured appointment as a court astronomer in Baghdad, where he spent the remainder of his life writing mathematical, philosophical, and medical works.