Early Muslims, Mathematics and Astronomy
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Early Muslims, Mathematics and Astronomy

George Sarton says : “ The greatest geographer of the age, not only in Islam but anywhere, was the Syrian prince best known under the name of AbiI-I-Fida”

Post by on Friday, May 27, 2022

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Talking about the remarkable works produced by the Muslims in the field of mathematics, George Sarton says that the mathematical documents written in Arabic (and occasionally in Persian) were so numerous that those could be divided into six groups. The simplest subdivision according to him was geographical; that is, that these mathematicians could be mentioned in groups according to physical proximity, as it could be assumed “as a first approximation that those living in a definite region had more opportunities for influencing one another than they had for influencing foreigners”. He says: “Moving from the Far West to the East, our groups are (1) Maghrib, (2) Spain, (3) Mamluk (Syria and Egypt), (4) Persia, (5) ‘Iraq, (6) Turkey. The three last groups are the least satisfactory from the point of view of classification (mutual exclusiveness), but the last two are so small that the reader will perhaps be willing to consider (4, 5, G) together”.

The greatest Maghribi mathematician, Ibn al-Banna’, has been mentioned by George Sarton who was forty-five years old when the fourteenth century began, and lived on to 1321.Talking about his impact he says : “ his influence continued for at least a couple of centuries. He wrote books on every branch of mathematics and astronomy, the most famous one being the Talkhis fi a‘mal al-hiisab, dealing with calculation and explaining the use of the new numerals. After his death his teachings were transmitted by Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Abuli of Tiemcen and by the Islamized Berber ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Huwail, who wrote one of many commentaries on the Talkhis”.

The only ‘Iraqi astronomer who drew his attention of George Sarton was ‘Abd al-‘AzIz ibn Saraya al-Hilli, who wrote a curious treatise on musical astrology, that is, on the advantage of composing melodies according to the signs of the zodiac (buruj al-aflak) which may happen to dominate. He says further that this was not a novelty, but the continuation of an Islamic tradition going back at least to the ninth century.

Though there was some reluctance on the part of Muslims to welcome printing industry and these prejudices against printing caused Islamic countries to be very backward in this respect, however, It is not true, however, that Islamic printing began only in 1825, for at least eighteen books were printed before 1825 by Chinese Muslims.

The contributions of Muslims in the field of geography were marvellous. George Sarton says : “ The greatest geographer of the age, not only in Islam but anywhere, was the Syrian prince best known under the name of AbiI-I-Fida” (d. 1331). His Taqwim al-buldan (Tables of the countries), composed in 1316-21, is an elaborate geographical treatise describing almost the whole of the known world, and especially valuable with regard to North Africa and Asia.” Ibn Shabib wrote an encyclopaedia of geography, natural history, and folklore which was almost forgotten as such, but is well known (not only in Arabic but also in Persian and Turkish translations) as a part of the Kharidat al-‘Aja’ib put together a century later by the younger Ibn al-Wardi (fl. 1446).

According to George Sarton “the most prolific and creative writers on natural history were Muslims. So many were they that it is necessary to divide them into four groups: (1) Maghrib, (2) Yaman, (3) Mamluk (Syria and Egypt), (4) Persia”.

 

(The Author is Director International Center for Spiritual Studies, Islamic University of Science and Technology Awantipora Pulwama. Former Director, Shah-i-Hamadan Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Kashmir Srinagar. He can be reached on hamidnaseem@gmail.com) 

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