Muslim Scientists:

Ibn Al-Nafis Damishqui - Medicine - (1213-1288)

Ibn Al-Nafis was a reputed physician and a renowned expert on Shafi'i School of Jurisprudence. He is famous for the discovery of the blood's circulatory system, and was the first to describe the constitution of lungs, Bronchi, and the coronary arteries. Ala-al-Din Abu al-Hasan Ali Ibn Abi al-Hazm al-Qarshi Ibn Al-Nafis Al-Damashqi was born in 607 A.H. (1213 C.E.) in Damascus. He was educated at the Medical College (and hospital) founded by Nur al-Din Zangi. Ibn Al-Nafis studied medicine under the famous physician Muhazzab al-Din Abd Al-Rahim. He also studied jurisprudence, literature and theology.

His expertise and reputation in medicine and jurisprudence was rewarded by an appointment as the Principal of the famous Nasri Hospital in Cairo. Here, he trained many medical specialists, including the famous surgeon Ibn al-Quff al-Masihi. Subsequently, he served at the Mansuriya School at Cairo. As part of his will, Ibn Al-Nafis donated his house, library and clinic to the Mansuriya Hospital. He died in 678 A.H. (1288 C.E.).

Ibn Al-Nafis made major contributions in medicine. He wrote detailed commentaries and critique on the medical knowledge available up to his time, and added to it many original contributions. His greatest original contribution was the discovery of the blood's circulatory system, which was rediscovered three centuries later. Ibn Al-Nafis was the first to correctly describe the constitution of 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.

Ibn Al-Nafis� Al-Shamil fi al-Tibb was an encyclopedia comprising 300 volumes, but it could not be completed as planned due to his death. This manuscript is preserved as special collections in Damascus. His book on ophthalmology is primarily an original contribution and is also extant. Among his books Mujaz al-Qanun became most famous and later, several commentaries were written on it. He wrote another famous book Kitab al-Mukhtar fi al-Aghdhiya that deals with the effects of diet on health. He also wrote several commentaries on Hippocrates' book and on Ibn Sina's Qanun, which are still extant.

Ibn Al-Nafis' work exerted great influence on the development of medical science, both in the Islamic world and Europe. His work integrated the medical knowledge with great clarity and emphasized precision. Initially, only one of his books was translated into Latin. Consequently, much of his work remained unknown to Europe for several centuries.

Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahravi (Albucasis) - Surgery, Medicine - (936-1013)

Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas Al-Zahrawi was born near Cordoba, Spain, when it was part of the Islamic Empire. He was a physician, surgeon and chemist. He is best remembered for his encyclopedia of medicine, the Al-Tasrif li man ajaz an-il-talif (An Aid for Those Who Lack the Capacity to Read Big Books), known as the al-Tasrif. This became a standard reference in Islamic and European medicine for over 500 years. In Europe, Al-Zahrawi was known as Albucasis, and was particularly famous for his surgical knowledge.

Al-Zahrawi’s encyclopedia included sections on surgery, medicine,orthopaedics, ophthalmology, pharmacology and nutrition. In it he described over 300 diseases and their treatments. He also included detailed descriptions of numerous surgical procedures, and the use of over 200 surgical instruments, many of which he developed. The most famous section of the encyclopedia, on surgery, was translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona in the 1100s. From this time it also became a standard text in Europe, and was still being reprinted in the 1770s.

While famed for his writing, Al-Zahrawi was also a prominent practitioner and teacher. In recognition of his skills, he was appointed as the court physician to King Al-Hakam II of Spain.

Abu Raihan Al-Biruni - Astronomy, Mathematics, determined Earth's circumference - (973-1048)

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 thre Pandits 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 theories 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:

16^16° - 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.

Al-Farabi (Al Pharabius) - Sociology, Logic, Philosophy, Political Science, Music -(870-950)

Al-Farabi, known as Al-Phrarabius in the West, contributed to philosophy, logic, sociology and science. He was best known as the "Second Teacher" (al-Mou'allim al-Thani), Aristotle being the First. Abu Nasr Mohammad Ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi was born near Farab in Turkistan in 870 C.E. His ancestors were originally of Persian descent and his father was a General. After completing his education at Farab and Bukhara, he moved to Baghdad for higher studies. Here, he studied several languages, science and technology, and philosophy. Also, he traveled to Damascus and Egypt for further studies. Al-Farabi died a bachelor in Damascus in 950 C.E.

Al-Frabi was a Qadi (Judge) in the early years of his long career. He eventually decided to take up teaching as his profession. Al-Farabi showed remarkable competence in several languages. Due his exceptional talents in several branches of science and philosophy, he received the attention of King Saif al-Daula at Halab (Aleppo). However, due to some unfortunate circumstances, he suffered great hardships and was once demoted to the caretaker of a garden.

Al-Frabi's major contribution is in logic, philosophy, and sociology. In addition, he contributed immensely to Mathematics, science, medicine, and music. He was also an Encyclopedist. Al-Farabi's great contribution in logic was that he made the study of logic systematic by dividing the subject into two categories: Takhayyul (idea) and Thubut (proof). He attempted to reconcile Platonism and Aristotelismwith theology and wrote commentaries on physics, logic, and meteorology. Al-Farabi held the belief that philosophy and Islam are in harmony. He proved the existence of the void in his contribution to Physics. His book Kitab al-Ihsa al-'Ulum presents fundamental principles and classification of sciences from a fresh perspective.

Al-Frabi wrote several books on sociology, the most famous of which is the book entitled 'Ara Ahl al-Madina al-Fadila' (The Model City). It is a significant contribution to sociology and political science. He also wrote books on metaphysics and psychology that included his original work. Al-Farabi states that an isolated individual cannot achieve all the perfections by himself and without the aid of many other individuals. It is the innate disposition of every man to join another human being or other men in the labor he ought to perform....Therefore, to achieve what he can of that perfection, every man needs to stay in the neighborhood of others and associate with them. At another place he writes, "Instruction in the theoretical science should be given either to the imams and princes, or else to those who should preserve the theoretical sciences....They should be made to pursue a course of study and form the habits of character from their childhood until each of them reaches maturity."

He was an expert in music, contributed to musical notes and invented several musical instruments. Al-Farabi could play his instrument so well as to make people laugh or weep. His book on music, entitled 'Kitab al-Musiqa,' is well known.

Al-Farabi wrote a large number of books in several fields that include his original contribution. One hundred seventeen books are known to have survived. Of theses forty-three books are on logic, seven each on political science and ethics, eleven on metaphysics, and twenty-eight books on medicine, sociology, music and commentaries.

Al-Farabi's book 'Fusus al-Hikam' was used as a text book of philosophy for several centuries in Europe. He had great influence on science and philosophy for several centuries.

Ali Ibn Rabban Al-Tabari - Medicine, Mathematics, Calligraphy - (838-870)

Al-Tabari was the teacher of the distinguished physician Zakariya al-Razi (Rhazes). Ali Ibn Rabban Al-Tabari was born in 838 C.E. He was also known as Abu al-Hasan. Al-Tabari is most famous for his world-renowned medical treatise 'Firdous al-Hikmat.' Besides the medical science, he was also an accomplished Philosopher, Mathematician and Astronomer. He died in 870 C.E.

Ali Ibn Rabban’s parents belonged to the city of Marv (Tabristan). His father Sahl belonged to a respectable family and his compatriots called him as ‘Rattan’ a high title of respect meaning ‘my leader.’ His father was a very successful and accomplished physician and was known for his work in the art of calligraphy. He was well learned in Astronomy, Philosophy, Mathematics and Literature. His father wrote a scholarly commentary on Batlemus's book Al-Mijasti, expounding some of the finer points that were not understood well by previous translators.

Ali Al-Tabari received education in Medical sciences and calligraphy from his father Sahl. He attained competence in these fields at an early age. In addition, he also mastered Syriac and Greek languages.

Al-Tabari’s world-renowned seven-volume treatise Firdous al-Hikmat is the first Medical encyclopedia that incorporates several branches of medical science. This work was translated and published for the first time in the twentieth century. Prior to this publication, only five of his original manuscripts were found in libraries of the West. Dr. M.Z. Siddiqui has recently edited all volumes of Firdous al-Hikmat. In the Preface, Dr. Siddiqui has provided very useful information regarding this encyclopedia and Al-Tabari. Where necessary, he has added explanatory notes to facilitate understanding of this work. Firdous al-Hikmat was published later also in the Western Europe. The seven volumes contain the following:

Volume One: Kulliyat-e-Tibb. This volume discusses contemporary knowledge of medical science.

Volume Two: Elucidation of the organs of the human body, rules for keeping good health, and comprehensive account of certain muscular diseases.

Volume Three: Discussion and prescription of diet for good health and prevention of diseases.

Volume Four: Discussion of all diseases from head to toe. This volume is most valuable of the seven volumes. It is the largest volume and is nearly half the size of the encyclopedia. Volume four is divided into twelve sections:

1. General causes relating to eruption of diseases;

2. Diseases of the head and the brain;

3. Diseases relating to the eye, nose, ear, mouth and the teeth;

4. Muscular diseases (paralysis and spasm);

5. Diseases of the regions of the chest, throat and the lungs;

6. Diseases of the abdomen;

7. Diseases of the liver;

8. Diseases of gallbladder and spleen;

9. Intestinal diseases;

10. Different kinds of fever;

11. Miscellaneous diseases - includes a brief explanation of organs of the body;

12. Examination of pulse and urine;

Volume Five: Flavor, taste and color.

Volume Six: Drugs and Poison.

Volume Seven: Miscellaneous topics on health care. It includes a discussion of climate and astronomy, and a brief review of Indian medicine.

Al-Tabari wrote Firdous al-Hikmat in Arabic and also translated it into Syriac. He wrote two more works, Deen-e-Doulat and Hifz al-Shehhat. The Oxford University library has the latter manuscript.

Al-Razi (Rhazes) - Medicine, Ophthalmology, Smallpox , Chemistry, Astronomy - (864-930)

The well-known writer George Sarton says in his Introduction to the History of Science that "Rhazes was the greatest physician of Islam and the Medieval Ages." And the Encyclopedia of Islam remarks that "Rhazes remained up to the 17th century the undisputable authority of medicine." The Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO), May 1970, pays tribute to him by stating: "His writings on smallpox and measles show originality and accuracy, and his essay on infectious diseases was the first scientific treatise on the subject."

Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakariya Ar-Razi was born at Ray near modern Tehran in 251 A.H. (864 C.E.) It is said that early in his life al-Razi was interested in singing and music besides other professions. Because of his eagerness for knowledge, he became more interested in the study of alchemy and chemistry, philosophy, logic, mathematics and physics. It was the field of medicine that he spent most of his life, practicing it, studying and writing about it. Due to his fame in medicine he was appointed head of the physicians of the Ray Hospital, and later put in charge of the Baghdad main Hospital during the reign of the Adhud-Daulah.

An interesting episode of Al-Razi's remarkable method of choosing the right spot for the Baghdad main hospital is described as follows. When Adhud Daulah asked Al-Razi to build a hospital, he had pieces of fresh meat placed at various parts of the city of Baghdad. Some time later, he checked each piece to find out which one was less rotten than the others, and he chose the spot of the least rotten pieces of meat a site for the hospital.

Ar-Razi was a pioneer in many areas of medicine and treatment and the health sciences in general. In particular, he was a pioneer in the fields of pediatrics, obstetrics and ophthalmology. In medicine, his contribution was so significant that it can only be compared to that of Ibn Sina (Avicenna). 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. A special feature of his medical system was that he greatly favored cures 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. Ar-Razi was the first person to introduce the use of alcohol (Arabic Al-Kuhl) for medical purposes. He was also an expert surgeon and was the first to use opium for anaesthesia.

Ar-Razi was the first to give an account of the operation for the extraction of a cataract and also the first scientist to discuss the pupillary reaction or the widening and narrowing of the pupil of the eye. He explained that the reaction was due to the presence of small muscles which act according to the intensity of light. The current understanding on this subject confirms his work.

The greatest medical work of Ar-Razi (Rhazes), and perhaps the most extensive ever written by a medical man, is al-Hawi, i.e., the "Comprehensive Book," which includes indeed Greek, Syrian, and early Arabic medical knowledge in their entirety. Throughout his life Ar-Razi must have collected extracts from all the books available to him on medicine. In his last years, he combined these with his medical experience into an enormous twenty volume medical encyclopedia. Al-Hawi was the largest medical encyclopedia composed by then. It was translated into Latin under the auspices of Charles I of Anjou by the Sicilian Jewish physician, Faraj ibn Salim (Farragut) in 1279 and was repeatedly printed from 1488 onwards. Al-Hawi was known as 'Continens' in its Latin translation. "By 1542 there had appeared five editions of this vast and costly work, besides many more of various parts of it. Its influence on European medicine was thus very considerable." (The Legacy of Islam, pp. 323-5). Another scholar points out that Ar-Razi's "al-Hawi was one of the nine volumes constituting the whole library of the Paris Faculty of Medicine in 1395." (Durant; Haider, Bammate, 29).

Kitab al-Mansoori, which was translated into Latin (known by the title 'Liber Almansoris') in the 1480s in Milan, comprised ten volumes and dealt exhaustively with Greco-Arab medicine. Some of its volumes have been published separately into German and French. The ninth volume of the translation made by Gerard of Cremona the "Nonus Al-Mansuri," was a popular text in Europe until the sixteenth century (Durant, p247). Ar-Razi in Al-Mansoori devoted a whole chapter on anatomy. In it he has presented a detailed description of the various organs of the human body, and sensory and motor parts. He has also given elaborate descriptions of the intervertebral foramina and the spinal chord, and correctly asserted that an injury either to the brain or spinal chord would lead to paralysis of the parts of the organs whose nerve supply was damaged or destroyed.

His al-Judari wa al-Hasabah was the first treatise on smallpox and chickenpox, and is largely based on Razi's original contribution. It was first translated into Latin in 1565 and later into several European languages and went into forty editions between 1498 and 1866. It was translated into English by William A. Greenhill, London, 1848. Through his treatise Razi became the first to draw clear comparisons between smallpox and chickenpox.

Ar-Razi gave many valuable pieces of advice to practicing physicians: "A physician should not forget to ask his patient all sorts of questions pertaining to the possible causes of his illness, both internal and external....If a physician can treat a patient through nutrition rather than medicine he has done the best thing. A physician should always try to convince his patient of improvement and hope in the effectiveness of treatment, for the psychological state of the patient has a great effect on his physical condition. He used to advise his patients thus: "Whoever seeks treatment with too many physicians might suffer the risk of the faults of each one of them. A patient should restrict consultation to one trustworthy physician."

Ar-Razi also compounded medicines and took keen interest in experimental and theoretical sciences. It is conjectured that he developed his chemistry independently of Jabir Ibn Hayyan (Geber). He has discussed 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 Kitab-al-Asrar deals with the preparation of chemical materials and their utilization. Another one was translated into Latin under the name Liber Experimentorum. 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 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 is outstanding.

Ar-Razi was a prolific author, who has left monumental treatises on numerous subjects. He has more than two hundred outstanding scientific contributions to his credit, out of which about half deal with medicine and twenty-one on Alchemy. He also wrote on physics, mathematics, astronomy and optics, but these writings could not be preserved. A number of his other books, including Jami-fi-al-Tib, 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, and Rampur (India). His contribution has greatly influenced the development of science, in general, and medicine in particular.

Like other great scholars of Islamic history, Razi's erudition was all-embracing and his scientific work remarkable. The foregoing description represents only a part of the great legacy left by Ar-Razi. He died in 930 C.E. Razi's portrait adorns the great hall of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Paris.

Ibn Al-Haitham / Ibn-e-Al-Hisham (Alhazen) - Physics,Optics, Mathematics - (965-1040)

Abu 'Ali Al-Hasan bin Al-Haytham (965-1040 C.E.) was one of the most eminent physicists, whose contributions to optics and scientific methods are outstanding. Known in the West as Alhazen, Ibn Al-Haytham was born in 965 CE 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.

After failing in his attempt to regulate the flow of the Nile, Ibn Al-Haytham feared that al-Hakim would punish him. To avoid punishment, he pretended to be insane until al-Hakim's death. 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 bookKitaab-al-Manaadhir 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.

Ibn Al-Haytham is the first to accurately describe 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, Kitaab-al-Manaadhir, exerted a great influence upon Western science, for example on the work of Roger Bacon and Kepler. It brought about great progress in experimental methods. His research in catoptrics centered 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 contains 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 Meezaan al-Hikmah, Ibn Al-Haytham has discussed the density of the atmosphere and developed a relation between it and the elevation. 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.

Ibn Al-Haytham's contribution to mathematics and physics was extensive. In mathematics, he developed analytical geometry by establishing a link 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 clear development of the scientific methods as developed and applied by the Muslims, comprising the systematic observation of physical phenomena and their linking together into a scientific theory. This was a major breakthrough in scientific methodology, making it distinct from guess-work and conjecture, and placed scientific pursuits on a sound foundation comprising systematic relationship between observation, hypothesis and verification.

Ibn Al-Haytham'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.