Professional Documents
Culture Documents
/ / / /* / /
CHAPTER 2
CONTRIBUTION OF MUSLIMS
IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE -
AN OVERVIEW
however, the situation was much different. Europe was in the Dark
from the new scientific discoveries being made in the Islamic lands
Europe kept itself in the Dark Ages while from China to Spain
115
of learning” .1 The real exchange of ideas, which led to the scientific
center for advanced knowledge and learning for the entire Europe.
Scholars and students from various parts of the world and Europe
demonstrated best by one example: “In the ninth century, the library
500,000”2
the late 7th century C.E. and early 8th century C.E. In Europe, some
of the earliest colleges are those under the University of Paris and
which already existed in the Muslim lands and legal historians have
March 1995.
2 Idem
116
Graduate (Sahib) and undergraduate (mutafaqqih) was derived
Muslim scientists:
and others.3
3George Sarton, Introduction to the History o f Science, edit, by Prof. Hamed A. Ead, wmv.frm.eun.eg.
117
H e wrote about a hundred books on Chemistry in which he
these four elements combined to form Mercury and Sulphur and that
all metals are formed from these two substances when combined in
various proportions. Jabir was aware that when Mercury and Sulphur
gold would be the product. This theory was widely adopted; altered
cloth and leather, varnishes to water-proof cloth and protect iron, use
4Prof. Masudul Hasan., History o f Islam, Delhi, Adam Publishers, 1998, V ol.l, p.664.
5The New Engclopaedia Britannica, Chicago USA, Ency. Britannica Inc., 1992, Vol. 6, p. 451.
118
The alembi'<? is his great discovery, which made easy and systematic
example Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Iron and thirdly, the category of
scientific vocabulary. Only a few of his books have been edited and
of acids for the first time, notably Nitric acid, Hydrochloric acid,
chemistry.9
8From Arabic a l-’anbt “the still,” from Greek ambix “cup.” an apparatus form erly used in
distillation.
9 Mazhar M. Qureshi, Introduction to Muslim Contributions to Science and Technology, New Delhi, Adam Publishers,
2006, p.55.
119
3.2 Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi
(d.840 C.E.)
Abu Abdullah
Khwaxizm (Kheva,
Uzbekistan), south of
it is established that he
H e has the distinction of being the author of the oldest Arabic work
120
on Mathematics Kitab al Jam'a wa al Tafriq. H e synthesized Greek and
along with his map of the world. He prepared a map of the earth in
12TC Phillip Hitti, History of the Arabs, New York, St. Martins Press, 1970, p.573.
121
wrote a treatise on astronomy.14 Based on his many-sided expertise of
music.15
was a philosopher,
mathematician, physicist,
Arabs.16
Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi
15Dr. M ohammad R. Mirza and Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi (ed.), Muslim Contribution to Science, Delhi,
N ew Era Publishers, 1997, p. 8.
122
In Mathematics, he wrote four books on the number system
and wrote a book on it. This book later on provided guidance and
universal geography.19
administered of all the drugs known at his time. This resolved the
xiIbid., p. 663.
wIbid., p.639.
123
In Music he pointed out that the various notes which combine
out the fact that when a sound is produced, it generates waves in the
on the camel, the horse, the sheep and other animals.23 His famous
writings include Kitdb al-Ibil, Kitdb al-Khalil, Kitdb al-Wuhush, Kitdb al-
Sha, and Kitdb Khalq al-Insan. The last book on human anatomy
20Ibid., p.687.
124
demonstrates his considerable knowledge and expertise on the
subject.24
the notice of the caliph Harun al-Rashld, who employed him as the
such as names of plants and insects, the horse, the camel, and
survived.25
125
3.5 Al-Jahiz (d. 869C.E.)
26Abdul AH, Arab Islamic Legacy to Life Science, Delhi, Idarah Adabiyat, 1993, p.83.
27Dt. Abdul Hamid, Afaq Islamiyah, Cairo, p.182.
126
foremost contribution of al-Jahiz as zoologist in this book was that
existence, he opines that there is a natural war for life between every
note changes in birds’ lives through migrations. H e was also the first
that the new characteristic thus developed help them survive their
28Mehmet Bayrakdar, “Al Jahiz and the Rise of Biological Evolutionism”, Hamdard Islamicus,
Pakistan, 1985, Vol. VIII, No.2, p.34.
29Prof. Masudul Hasan, loc.cit.
i0Ibid., p. 663.
127
collection of stories about the avaricious. Al-Jahiz, in his works
31 For detail see eng. trans., Exploits o f the Turks, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1915.
i2The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, op.cit., p. 472.
33Abdul All, op. cit., p.92.
128
plants cultivated for food, fruit bearing plants and wild plants. H e
Mechanics, in addition to
™IbitL, p.93.
35Tbe New Engclopaedia Britannica, op. cit., Vol. 4, p. 100.
36Dr. Mohammad R. Mirza and Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi, op. cit., p. 177.
37The New Engclopaedia Britannica, op. cit., Vol. 23, p. 572.
129
geometrical algebra and proposed several theories that led to the
developed later.
130
Am ong Thabit's writings a large number have survived, while
in Arabic but some are in Syriac. In the Middle Ages, some of his
H e carried further the work of the Banu Musa brothers and later
his son and grandson continued this tradition, together with the other
131
3.8 ‘All Ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari
(838-870C.E.)
A bu al-Hassan ‘All ibn
2. Part two: Explanation o f the organs o f the human body, rules for
keeping good health and comprehensive account o f certain muscular
diseases.
41Abdul All, op. cit., p.58, see also Nayyar Hakim WasM, Tibb al ‘A rab, (urdu tran. Of Arabian
Medicine, by Edward G. Brownr), Lahore, 1954, p. 52-56.
132
3. Part three: Description o f diet to be taken in conditions o f health and
disease.
4. Part four: A ll diseases right from head to toe. This part is o f profound
significance in the whole book and comprises twelve papers:
i) General causes relating to eruption o f diseases.
ii) Diseases o f the head and the brain.
iii) Diseases relating to the eye, nose, ear, mouth and the teeth.
iv) Muscular diseases (paralysis and spasm).
133
3.9 Yuhannah Ibn Masawayh (d.857C.E.)
Abu Abdullah
Samarra.47 H e is known as
Arabs” .
Abu Abdullah al-Battanl
134
BattanI was a famous Astronomer, Mathematician and
16°, 47' since Ptolemy. This implied the important discovery of the
the length of the seasons and the true and mean orbit of the sun. He
135
by means of orthographic 51 projection for some problems of
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad
al-Farghani, bom at
distinguished astronomers of
stars) or “Elements of
136
Ibn al-Nadim in his al-Fihrist, written in 987C.E. ascribes only
the book that served as a basis for a third Latin version, appearing in
least until this role was taken over by Sacrobosco's Sphere. But even
137
astronomical knowledge displayed in the 'Vita nuova' and in the
'Convivio'.56
scientific contributions to
Alchemy.
medicine e.g. Kitdb al- Mansuri, Al-Ham, Kitdb al-Muluki and Kitab al-
Judari u>a al- Hasabah earned everlasting fame. His al-Judari n>a al
Hasabab was the first treatise on smallpox and chicken-pox, and is
56 Idem
138
he became the first to draw clear comparisons between smallpox
information that was available from Greek and Arab sources, and
this was concluded by him by giving his own remarks based on his
effects. H e was also an expert surgeon and was the first to use
chemical reactions and also given full descriptions of and designs for
plants, animals and minerals, thus in a way opening the way for
139
produce Sulphuric acid together with some other acids, and he also
the tenth century. H e was well known for his knowledge in Alchemy
and Botany.62
140
contains valuable information on almost all the matters relating to
calamities that befall standing crops and plants have been dealt with
Abu Nasr
Muhammad Ibn
al-Farakh al-Farabi
Farab in Turkistan.
H e died a bachelor
in Damascus65 at
al-Farabi
64Abdul AH, op. cit., p.94.
141
Farabi contributed considerably to science, Philosophy, Logic,
a descendent of Abdullah
(S.A.W.S). An expert
142
century C.E. H e was a Mutazilite Arab, who explored distant lands
H e travelled to Fars in 915 C.E. and after staying for one year
was a city of great renown and was the capital of the Muslim state of
Islam. In 918 C.E. Masu‘di travelled to Gujrat where more than 10,
contacts with the Jews, Iranians, Indians and Christians. From Basra
that he had visited. His first book was completed in 947 C.E. He
143
which he has given a summary of his earlier book as well as an
errata.
into the cause of rise and fall of nations. With his scientific and
Red Sea and other problems in the earth science. H e is the first
144
3.16 Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi(936-1013C.E.)
A bu al-Qasim
Zahrawi, honoured in
the neighbourhood of
Cordova.68
H e is best known
original breakthroughs
in surgery as well as
145
stypics, and surgery of eye, ear and throat. H e performed several
amputation.
different operations.70
146
rectify these defects. H e developed the technique of preparing
hemophilia.71
Abu al-Wafa
Muhammad Ibn
M uhammad Ibn
Buzjan, Nishapur.
He flourished as a
great Mathematician
and Astronomer at
Baghdad.72
Abu al-Wafa's
main contribution
lies in several
branches of
al-Buzjanl
147
mathematics, especially geometry and trigonometry. In geometry his
taking for its side half the side of the equilateral triangle inscribed in
x4 = a and x4 + ax3 = b
new method of constructing sine tables, the value of sin 30' being
works aimed at the practical user, Kitdb jt ma Yahtaj ilayhi al-Kuttab wa’l-
sUmmal min ‘ilm al-Hisab (Book on What is Necessary from the Science
148
of Arithmetic for Scribes and Businessmen) and Kitab f i ma Yahtaj
Ilayhi al-Sani‘min al-A ‘m al al-Handasiyya (Book on What Is Necessary
A bu ‘AH Hasan
eminent physicists,
whose contributions
outstanding. Know n
in the West as
Egypt.75
149
passive reception by the eyes of light rays reflected from objects, not
given the centre of the eye and the observed point— which is stated
Daw’ al-Qamar (On the Light of the Moon), al-Hala wa-qaws Qu^ah (On
the Halo and the Rainbow), Surat al-Kusuf (On the Shape of the
Euclid's definition of lines that never meet. His Maqala f i Tamdm Kitab
al-Makhrutat (Completion of the Conics) is an attempt to reconstruct
the lost eighth book of Apollonius's Conics (c. 200 BC). Am ong his
other mathematical works are treatises on the area of crescent-shaped
that the twilight only ceases or begins when the sun is 19° below the
to gravity.77
151
guess and gesture, and placed scientific pursuits on a sound
Abu Rayhan
Physics, Metaphysics,
Mathematics, Geography
152
the related geographical knowledge. In this book, he has discussed
the rotation of the earth and has given correct values of latitudes
79 IA S News Litter, Amman Jordan, Islamic World Academy of Science, 2007, vol.21, no. 35, p.8.
8HM uham m ad Saud, Islam A n d Evolution ofScience, Delhi, A d a m Publishers, 1994, p. 41.
ixIbid., p.38.
153
monstrosities, including that known as "Siamese" twins.82 H e
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.84
Astronomy.
83M uham m ad Saud, op. cit., p.96. See also George Sarton, Introduction to History of Science, Vol. 1,
Washinting, 1956, p.707.
154
from his claim that the phrase Allah is Omniscient does not justify
oc
ignorance.
A bu All al-
Husain Ibn
village of Afshana
near Bukhara. H e
died at Hamadan.
H e was known as
“The Prince of
Physicians”.86
He was the
Ibn Sina
most famous Physician, Philosopher, Encyclopedist, Mathematician
siIbid., p.66.
155
knowledge available from ancient and Muslim sources. Due to its
bringing together the then available knowledge, the book is rich with
described 760 drugs and became the most authentic materia medica
of the era. H e was also the first to describe meningitis and made rich
>
1. Theoretical knowledge: -Physics, Mathematics and Metaphysics
forms of energy, heat, and light and such concepts as force, vacuum
156
perception of light is due to the emission of some sort of particles
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
HSTbe Encyclopaedia ofReligion and Ethics, Edinburgh, 1953, Vol. 11, p. 274.
157
3.20 ‘Umar al-Khayyam (1044-1124 C.E.)
Ghayath al-Din
Ibrahim al-Khayyam
also at Nishapur. He
reputed Mathematician,
Astronomer, Philosopher,
his times.90
al-K h a yya m
158
equation. His method of solving equations is largely geometrical and
day in 3770 years and was thus even superior to the Georgian
three books including Risala Dar Wujud and the recently discovered
N a u ru n a m a h ?x
91Idem
15 9
3.21 Abu Marwan Ibn Zuhr (1161-1162 C.E.)
A bu Marwan
A bd al-Malik Ibn
Seville.92
physicians and
clinicians of the
for the first time, scabies, the itch mite and may thus be regarded as
direct feeding through the gullet and rectum in the cases where
92Cyril Glasse, The Consist Encyclopaedia o f Islam, London, 1989, p. 177. See also G eorge Sarton.,
Introduction to the History ofScience, edit, by Prof. Hamed A . Ead, mm>frcu.eun.eg.
160
Zuhr's original contributions. The book gives in detail pathological
Muhammad Ibn
and educated at
Cordova.94
His major
contribution lies in
medicinal plants as
AI-IdrfsT
161
presented in his several books, especially Kitab al-Jami ‘-li-Siffat Ash tat
al-Nabatat. H e collected plants and data not reported earlier and
only on Asia and Africa, but also Western countries. The later
and the remaining seventy in the middle of it. Each map represents
a tenth part of one of the seven climes in which the world was
divided by Ptolemy. These climes are the latitudinal lands which lie
to the north of the equator and are divided by lines of longitude into
95 IA S News Letter, Am m an Jordan, Islamic W orld Academy o f Science, 2006, vol.20, no.33, p.8.
162
engraved by the artisans on around base made of silver. It was the
This material was collected from the envoys of the king, from the
information. The
sphericity of the
remarkable features
which is wrongly
considered to be a
^ - ' i, . H J
97Muhammad Saud, op.at., pp. 107-108. A lso George Sarton, op. cit., p.410.
163
3.23 Ibn Rushd (1126-1198 C.E.)
A bu al-Walid
Muhammad Ibn
Ahm ad Ibn
Muhammad Ibn
Rushd, known as
Averroes in the
Cordova." He
died in 1198
C .E .100
Ibn Rushd
made remarkable
"M .M .Sharif, A history o fMuslim Philosophers, Delhi, A dam Publishers, 20 0 1, Vol. 1, p. 540.
164
of Ibn Sina's wider scope of al-Qanun, but contains several original
intermediate was Talkhis and the longest was the Tafsir. These three
education of pupils; the short one was meant for the beginners, then
the intermediate for the students familiar with the subject, and
w iIdem
165
3.24 Ibn al-Baytar (d. 1248 C.E.)
A bu Muhammad
specialization in Botany
of Malaqa (Malaga)
died in Damascus in
earlier works, with due criticism, and adds a great part of original
166
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 mosdy Arabic and it also quotes about 20 early Greek
Arabic, Baytar gives Greek and Latin names of the plants, thus
167
3.25 Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274 C.E.)
A bu Jafar
Muhammad Ibn
Tus (Khurasan). In
he went to
there in 1274
C .E .107
Nasir al-Din
was compiled by him as a new subject in its own right for the first
168
as Kitab al Shakl al- Q atta ’.10S’As the chief scientist at the observatory
expressed in Almagest.n0
Ibn al-Nafis
Damishqi al-Misri
was bom in
Damascus. H e died
in 1288 C .E .111 H e
the Mansuriya
Hospital at Cairo.112
His major,
the lungs and gave a description of the bronchi and the interaction
between the human body's vessels for air and blood. Also, he
170
elaborated the function of the coronary arteries as feeding the
cardiac muscle.114
From what has been discussed above, it is quite obvious that the
i.e., the method of scientific investigation to which they were led due
ll6W ells Herbert George (1866-1946), English author and political philosopher, m ost famous for
his science-fantasy novels with their prophetic depictions o f technolog}' as well as the horrors o f
20-century warfare.
171
o f rudimentary speculation. ... One has to remember their
extraordinary poverty in the matter o f experimental apparatus.
They had no accurate means o f measuring the minor intervals o f
time, no really efficient numerical notation, no very accurate scale,
no rudiments o f telescope or microscope.117
n7H.G.W ells, The Outline ofHistoty, New York, Garden City, 1920, p. 308-309.
118 Robert Briffault, The Making ofHumanity, Lahore, Islamic Book Foundation, 1980, p.191.