Introduction

 

To God,

in gratitude

for giving me

an appreciation

of science

as a tenet

of my faith

 

*****

I am not a Muslim. I am simply a man in search of truth -- the truth about myself, my people, my country, my world, my universe and God. In my search for truth, the following women and men have served as beacons of hope and fountains of knowledge.  They have brought light into my world ... and into yours.  

As Salaam Alaikum,

Everett Jenkins

November 14, 2021

Fairfield, California

Notes on the Use of Muslim Scientists and Inventors

 For this on-line work, entries are listed alphabetically ignoring spaces, commas, hyphens and apostrophes. Listings which contain identical names are listed in chronological order unless the name is the beginning of a series of individuals from the same country. In that case, the names are grouped in chronological order within the context of the individual country.

In order to facilitate ease of reference, names used are those by which the person is commonly known to the Muslim world. Arabic names that begin with prefixes such as the "al"in "al-'Abbas" are listed under the root portion of the name. Thus, a listing for "al-'Abbas" would be found under "'Abbas."

Additionally, the following abbreviations are used in this text: b. = born; d. = died; c. = circa (or about); r. = period of reign; and ? = uncertain.

Appendices

Appendix A:  Arabic Names

This compilation of Muslim Scientists and Inventors is ultimately a compendium of Arabic names. Generally, Arabic names consist of five components:

(1)ism derived from Islamic or pre-Islamic tradition (e.g., Ibrahim, Dawud, 'Abd Allah [ "servant of God"], Asad [ "lion"]);

(2)kunya, a surname, denoting the father of the oldest son (e.g., Abu Ja'far ["father of Ja'far"]; or an attribute (e.g., Abu al-Atahiya ["father of folly"];

(3)nasab,the father's/mother's name (e.g., Ibn Rushd ["son of Rushd"];

(4) nisba, the place of origin, or residence (e.g., al-Qurashi ["from the tribe of Quraysh"]; and

(5)laqab, one or more surnames (e.g., al-Atrash ["the deaf one"], al-Jahiz [ "the goggle-eyed"].

A typical Arab name would follow the formula: laqab -kunya - ism - nasab - nisba - laqab. For example, the name 'Izz al-Din Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Sayf al-Din Abi al-Mansur Muhammad ibn 'Izz al-Din Abi al-Qasim Thabit ibn Muhammad ibn Husayn ibn Hasan ibn Rizq Allah al-Qurashi al-Tahhan consists of the following components:

'Izz al-Din {laqab}

Abu Ja'far{kunya}

Muhammad{ism}

ibn Sayf al-Din{father's laqab}

Abi al-Mansur{father's kunya}

Muhammad{father's ism}

ibn 'Izz al-Din{father's laqab}

Abi al-Qasim{grandfather's kunya}

Thabit{grandfather's ism}

ibn Muhammad{great-grandfather}

ibn Husayn {great-great-grandfather}

ibn Hasan {great-great-great-grandfather}

ibn Rizq Allah{great-great-great-great-grandfather}

al-Qurashi {nisba}

al-Tahhan{laqab ["the miller"])

Index A

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‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (646-705). Umayyad caliph from 685 to 705 who succeeded in restoring the unity of the Arabs under Syrian leadership by ending the second fitnah. During his tenure, the administration was centralized; Arabic was substituted for Greek and Persian; and Islamic coinage was issued. Also, during his reign, the‘Uthmanic text of the Qur’an was re-edited with vowel-punctuation; the postal service was reorganized and expanded; the damaged Ka'ba was repaired; the tradition of weaving a silk cover for the Ka'ba began; and the Dome of the Rock was built in Jerusalem.

'Abd al-Malik was a well-educated man and a capable ruler, despite the many political problems that impeded his rule. During his reign, all important records were translated into Arabic, and for the first time a special currency for the Muslim world was minted, which led to war with the Byzantine Empire under Justinian II. The Byzantines were led by Leontios at the Battle of Sebastopolis in 692 in Asia Minor and were decisively defeated by 'Abd al-Malik after the defection of a large contingent of Slavs. The Islamic currency was then made the only currency exchange in the Muslim world. Also, many reforms happened in his time as regards agriculture and commerce.

'Abd al-Malik became caliph after the death of his father Marwan I in 685. Within a few years, he dispatched armies, under al-Hajjaj bin Yousef, on a campaign to reassert Umayyad control over the Islamic empire. Hajjaj first defeated the governor of Basra and then led his forces into Hejaz, where Ibn Zubayr was killed -- ending his short claim to the caliphate. The Siege of Mecca in 692 started with Hajjaj at the head of about 2000 Syrians he set out against 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, the caliph of Hejaz at Mecca. Hajjaj advanced unopposed as far as his native Taif, which he took without any fighting and used as a base. The caliph had charged him first to negotiate with 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr and to assure him of freedom from punishment if he capitulated. However, if the opposition continued, to starve him out by siege, but on no account to let the affair result in bloodshed in the Holy City. Since the negotiations failed and al-Hajjaj lost patience, he sent a courier to ask 'Abd al-Malik for reinforcements and also for permission to take Mecca by force. He received both, and thereupon bombarded Mecca using catapults from the mountain of Abu Qubays. The bombardment continued during the Pilgrimage or Hajj.

After the siege had lasted for seven months and 10,000 men, among them two sons of 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, had gone over to al-Hajjaj, 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr with a few loyal followers, including his youngest son, were killed in the fighting around the Ka'ba (October 692).

Hajjaj's success led 'Abd al-Malik to assign him the role of governor of Iraq and give him free rein in the territories he controlled. Hajjaj arrived when there were many deserters in Basra and Kufa. He promptly and forcefully impelled them to return to combat. Hajjaj, after years of serious fighting, quelled religious disturbances, including the rebellion launched by Salih ibn Musarrih and continued after Salih's death by Shahib. These rebels repeatedly defeated more numerous forces and at their height entered Kufah. However, 'Abd al-Malik's Syrian reinforcements enabled Hajjaj to turn the tide.

Under Hajjaj, Arab armies put down the revolt of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath in Iraq from 699 to 701, and also took most of Turkestan. 'Abd al-Rahman rebelled following Hajjaj's repeated orders to push further into the lands of Zundil. After his defeat in Iraq, again achieved through 'Abd al-Malik's dispatch of Syrian reinforcements to Hajjaj, 'Abd al-Rahman returned east. There one city closed its gates to him and in another he was seized. However, Zundil's army arrived and secured his release. Later, 'Abd al-Rahman died and Zundil sent his head to Hajjaj who sent it to 'Abd al-Malik. These victories paved the way for greater expansions under 'Abd al-Malik's son al-Walid.

'Abd al-Malik was effective in increasing the size of the empire. In the Maghreb (western North Africa), in 686, a force led by Zuhayr ibn Qais won the Battle of Mamma over Byzantines and Berbers led Kusayla, on the Qairawan plain, and re-took Ifriqiya and its capital Kairouan.

In 695, Hasan ibn al-Nu'man captured Carthage and advanced into the Atlas Mountains. A Byzantine fleet arrived and retook Carthage. However, in 698, Hasan ibn al-Nu'man returned and defeated Tiberios III at the Battle of Carthage. The Byzantines withdrew from all of Africa except Ceuta.

Hasan met trouble from the Zenata tribe of Berbers under al-Kahina. They inflicted a serious defeat on him and drove him back to Barqa. However, in 702, 'Abd al-Malik strongly reinforced him. With a large army and the support of the settled population of North Africa, Hasan pushed forward. He decisively defeated the Zenata in a battle at Tabarka, 85 miles west of Carthage. He then developed the village of Tunis ten miles from the destroyed Carthage. Around 705, Musa ibn Nusayr replace Hasan. 'Abd al-Malik pacified much of North Africa, although he failed to take Ceuta.

'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan was the first caliph to make his own coins.  These coins -- these dinars -- were the first gold coins with an Arabic inscription, as previously money had been silver Sassanian goins, and gold and copper Byzantine coins.  By making his own coins in 691 or 692, Caliph Abd al-Malik could now keep his rule independent from Byzantium and unify all Muslims with one currency.

The new dinar was copied from the Byzantine currency, the solidus. It was similar in both size and weight, and on the face were three standing figures, like the Byzantine coin, which had the figures of Heracles, Heraclias Constantine, and Heraclonas.  A big difference was the Arabic testimony of Islam surrounding the design on the reverse.  "In the name of God, there is no deity but God; He is One; Muhammad is the messenger of God."

The Byzantine Emperor was furious with this development, as new money meant competition and he refused to accept it, responding with a new coin.  This angered Caliph 'Abd al-Malik, who made another coin with an upright figure of the caliph, wearing an Arab headdress and holding a sword, again with the testimony of Islam on the reverse, where the coin was also dated.

The coin "throwing" continued, and true to form the Byzantine emperor replied with yet another, and by this point in 697 'Abd al-Malik had had enough, and introduced the first Islamic coin withou any figures.  On both sides of this new dinar were verses from the Qur'an, which made each piece an individual message of the faith.  'Abd al-Malik then issued a decree making it the only currency to be used throughout Umayyad lands.  All remaining Byzantine and Arab-Byzantine pieces had to be handed to the treasury, to be melted down and re-struck.  Those we did not comply faced the death penalty.

 

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Amiri, Sarah bint Yousef Al

Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri (b. 1987, United Arab Emirates) is the Minister of State for Advanced Technology within the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology in the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), chair of the UAE Space Agency, and the United Arab Emirates Council of Scientists, and Deputy Project Manager of the Emirates Mars Mission. 

Amiri was born in the United Arab Emirates in 1987. She studied computer science at the American University of Sharjah,  earning bachelor's and master's degrees.  She was always interested in aerospace engineering but grew up at a time when the United Arab Emirates did not have a space program.

Amiri began her career at the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology, where she worked on DubaiSat-1 and DubaSat-2.  In 2018 she was appointed the chairwoman of the UAE Council for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and in 2016 the head of the Emirates Scientist Council.

In 2020, Amiri was the science lead for the Emirates Mars Mission, Hope.  The mission was partnered with the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of California, Berkeley, and Arizona State University.  She spoke at TEDxDubai Salon about the Hope Mars Mission. In November 2017, Amiri became the first Emirati to speak at an international TED event when she spoke about the Hope Mars Mission in Louisiana. The mission launched in July 2020 and reached Mars in February 2021 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates. In 2015, the World Economic Forum honored Amiri as one of its 50 Young Scientists for her contributions to science, technology and engineering.

In October 2017, Amiri was named Minister of State for Advanced Sciences and became a member of the United Arab Emirates Cabinet. In an effort to increase global scientific collaboration,  Amiri toured scientific institutions in the United States in November 2017.  On November 23, 2020, Amiri was placed on the list of the BBC's 100 Women and, in February 2021, she was also named in Time’s 2021 List of Next 100 Most Influential People.

Index B

 

Biruni
Biruni (Abu Raihan Muhammad al-Biruni) (Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni) (Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad Biruni) (Alberuni) (September 5, 973 - December 13, 1048).  One of the most original and profound scholars of medieval Islam.  Of Iranian origin, he was equally versed in the mathematical, astronomic, physical and natural sciences and also distinguished himself as a geographer and historian, chronologist and linguist and as an impartial observer of customs and creeds.

Al-Biruni  is considered to be one of the most prominent (if not "the" most prominent) of figures in the phalanx of those universally learned Muslim scholars who characterize the Golden Age of Islamic Science.   His great contributions in so many diverse fields earned him the title al-Ustadh -- “the Master” -- the Professor par excellence.    Indeed, some historians have called the period of his activity as “The Age of al-Biruni.”

Abu Raihan Muhammad al-Biruni was born in Khwarizm (now Kara-kalpakskaya in present day Uzbekistan) in 973.  He studied Arabic, Islamic law, and several other fields of knowledge.  Later, he learned Greek, Syriac, and Sanskrit.  His knowledge of several languages helped him in understanding the available disparate scholarship and to bring a fresh and original approach to his work.  Al-Biruni was of the view that whatever the subject one should use every available source in its original form, investigate the available work with objective scrutiny, and carry out research through direct observation and experimentation.

Al-Biruni was a contemporary of the famous physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and is known to have corresponded with him.  Al-Biruni’s contributions are so extensive that an index of his written works covers more than sixty pages.  His scientific work combined with the contributions of al-Haitham (Al-Hazen) and other Muslim scientists laid down the early foundation of modern science. 

Al-Biruni made original and important contributions to science.  He discovered seven different ways of finding the direction of the north and south, and discovered mathematical techniques to determine exactly the beginnings of the season.  He also wrote about the sun and its movements and the eclipse.  In addition, he invented a number of astronomical instruments.  Many centuries before the rest of the world, Al-Biruni theorized that the earth rotated on its axis and made accurate calculations of latitude and longitude.  These observations are contained in his book Al-Athar al-Baqia.  He wrote a treatise on timekeeping in the year 1000 of the Christian calendar.

Al-Biruni was the first to conduct elaborate experiments related to astronomical phenomena.  He stated that the speed of light is immense as compared with the speed of sound.  He described the Milky Way as a collection of countless fragments of the nature of nebulous stars.  Al-Biruni described his observation of the solar eclipse of April 8, 1019, and the lunar eclipse of September 17, 1019.  He observed the lunar eclipse at Ghazna and gave precise details of the exact altitude of various well-known stars at the moment of first contact.  Al-Biruni’s book Al-Tafhim-li-Awail Sina’at al-Tanjim summarizes work on mathematics and astronomy. 

Al-Biruni’s contributions in physics include an accurate determination of the specific weight of eighteen elements and compounds including many metals and precious stones.  His book Kitab-al-Jamahir discusses the properties of various precious stones.  He was a pioneer in the study of angles and trigonometry.  He worked on shadows and chords of circles and developed a method for the trisection of an angle.  He elaborated on the principle of position and discussed Indian numerals.

In the fields of geology and geography, al-Biruni contributed on geological eruptions and metallurgy, to the measurement of the longitudes and latitudes and methods of determining the relative position of one place to another.  He explained the working of natural springs and artesian wells by the hydrostatic principle of communicating vessels.  His book Al-Athar al-Baqiyah fi Qanun al-Khaliyah (The Chronology of Ancient Nations) deals with ancient history and geography.  Al-Biruni observed that flowers have 3, 4, 5, 6, or 18 petals, but never seven or nine. 

Al-Biruni is most commonly known by his association with Mahmud of Ghazna, a famous Muslim king who also ruled India, and his son Sultan Masud.  Impressed by his scholarship and fame, Mahmud took al-Biruni along with him on his journeys to India several times.   Al-Biruni traveled many places in India for about 20 years and studied Hindu philosophy, mathematics, geography and religion from various learned men.  In return, he taught them Greek and Muslim sciences and philosophy.

Al-Biruni’s book Kitab al-Hind (Ta’rikh al-Hind -- History of India), completed in 1030, provides a detailed account of Indian life, religions, languages, and cultures and includes many observations on geography.  He stated that the Indus Valley must be considered as an ancient sea basin filled with alluvials.  In this book, al-Biruni mentions two books Patanjal and Sakaya.  He translated these two Sanskrit books into Arabic.  The former book deals with after death accounts, and the latter with the creation of things and their types.  Abu-al-Fadal’s book Aein-i-Akbari, written six centuries later during the reign of Akbar, was influenced by al-Biruni’s book.

Al-Biruni wrote his famous book Al-Qanun al-Masudi Fi al-Hai‘a Wa al-Nujum (1030) after he returned from India.  The book was dedicated to Sultan Masud and it discusses several theorems of trigonometry, astronomy, solar, lunar and planetary motions, and contains a collection of twenty-three observations of equinoxes.  Another well-known books is Kitab al-Saidana.  This book is an extensive materia medicia that synthesizes Arab medicine with Indian medicine.  His investigations included a description of Siamese twins.  He also wrote on the astrolabe and a mechanical calendar.

Al-Biruni was a scientist who was always mindful of his faith, and who believed himself to be blessed in his scientific endeavors.  He said:  "My experience in the study of astronomy and geometry and experiments in physics revealed to me that there must be a Planning Mind of Unlimited Power.  My discoveries in astronomy showed that there are fantastic intricacies in the universe which prove that there is a creative system and a meticulous control that cannot be explained through sheer physical and material causes."

When Sultan Masud sent al-Biruni three camel loads of silver coins in appreciation of his encyclopedic work Al-Qanun al-Masudi (The Mas’udi Canon), al-Biruni politely returned the royal gift saying, "I serve knowledge for the sake of knowledge and not for money."

Some of al-Biruni's works which were well known in Medieval Europe were: The Chronology of Ancient Nations (Al-Athar al-Baqiya), in which al-Birunu treats the eras, traditions, and histories of the various religious and ethnic groups, known in medieval Islam; The Determination of Coordinates of Cities, the most extensive treatise on mathematical geography written in medieval times; and his Pharmacology, a detailed compilation of sources on drugs known in antiquity and medieval times. 

Without a doubt, al-Biruni was one of the greatest scientists of all times.  However, in spite of his prolific and diverse output, medieval biographers devoted only a few lines to him and the European Latin translators of Arabic manuscripts showed little interest in his works.  In comparison to the honored treatment rendered his contemporaries Ibn Sina and Ibn al-Haitham, al-Biruni was relatively ignored.  The reason for this disregard may lie in the fact that while obviously gifted in scientific and historical matters, al-Biruni was not particularly adept in the more esteemed philosophical matters and, as such, was not well regarded amongst his contemporaries.  Nevertheless, when al-Biruni died in 1048 in Ghazna (Afghanistan), his death brought to an end an illustrious and productive forty-year career.

Al-Biruni was one of the greatest scholars of medieval Islam.  He was both a singular compiler of the knowledge and scientific traditions of ancient cultures and a leading innovator in Islamic science.

Abu al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni was born in 973 in Khiva, Khwarizm (in modern day Uzbekistan).  He was of Iranian descent and spent most of his childhood and young adult years in his homeland of Khwarizm, south of the Aral Sea.  (His sobriquet derives from birun – “suburb” -- in reference to his birth in an outlying neighborhood of Khiva.)  Little is known of al-Biruni’s childhood except for the important matter of his education, which was directed by the best local mathematicians and other scholars.  His exceptional intellectual powers must have become apparent very early.  Al-Biruni’s religious background was Shi‘a, although in later years he professed agnostic leanings.  A precocious youth, while still a student in Khwarizm, al-Biruni entered into correspondence with Avicenna (Ibn Sina), one of the leading lights of Islamic medicine.  Some of Avicenna’s replies are preserved in the British Museum.

Although he published some material as a young student, the scope of al-Biruni’s intellectual powers only became apparent when he left Khwarizm to travel and learn abroad.  In al-Biruni’s age, the key to scholarly success lay in attaching oneself to a powerful and influential court society and obtaining noble patronage.  He found the first of many such benefactors in the Samanid sultan Mansur II, after whose demise he took up residence in the important intellectual center of Jurjan, southeast of the Caspian Sea.  From here, al-Biruni was able to travel throughout northeastern Iran.

While at Jurjan, al-Biruni produced his first major work, al-Athar al-baqiyah ‘an al-qurun al-khaliyah (The Chronology of Ancient Nations).  This work is an imposing compilation of calendars and eras from many cultures.  It also deals with numerous issues in mathematics, astronomy, geography, and meteorology.  The work is in Arabic -- the major scientific and cultural language of the time -- as are nearly all of al-Biruni’s later writings, although al-Biruni himself was a native speaker of an Iranian dialect.  As would have been common among Muslim scholars of his time, al-Biruni was also fluent in Hebrew and Syriac, the major cultural and administrative languages in the Semitic world prior to the Arab conquest. 
 
Around 1008, al-Biruni returned to his homeland of Khwarizm at the invitation of the local shah, who subsequently entrusted him with several important diplomatic missions.  In 1017, however, his tranquil life as a scholar-diplomat took a rude turn.  The shah lost his life in a military uprising, and shortly thereafter forces of the powerful Ghaznavid dynasty of neighboring Afghanistan invaded Khwarizm.  Together with many other scholars -- as part of the booty of war -- al-Biruni found himself led away to Ghazna, which was to become his home base for the remainder of his life.

Ironically, this deportation afforded al-Biruni his greatest intellectual opportunity.  The Ghaznavids appreciated scholarly talent, and the sultan, Mahmud, attached al-Biruni to his court as official astronomer/astrologer.  Mahmud was in the process of expanding his frontiers in every direction.   The most coveted lands were in India, and during the sultan’s campaigns there al-Biruni was able to steep himself in the world of Hindu learning.  In India, he taught eager scholars his store of Greek, Persian, and Islamic knowledge.  In return, he acquired fluency in Sanskrit, the doorway to what was, for al-Biruni, essentially a whole new intellectual universe. 

In 1030, al-Biruni completed his marvelous Tar’ikh al-Hind. This masterpiece remains, in the eyes of many scholars, the most important treatise on Indian history and culture produced by anyone prior to the twentieth century.  The degree of scholarly detachment and objectivity displayed in al-Biruni's history of India is almost without parallel for the time, and the work consequently is still of enormous value to contemporary scholars. 

Almost at the same time, al-Biruni produced another work dedicated to the sultan Mas‘ud ibn Mahmud, heir to the Ghaznavid throne.  Kitab al-qanun al-Mas‘udi fi ‘l-hay’a wa ‘l-nujum (Canon Masudicus -- c. 1030) is the largest and most important of al-Biruni’s mathematical and geographical studies.

During his long and productive life, al-Biruni authored many other treatises of varying length -- he himself claimed to have produced more than one hundred -- in addition to those mentioned above.  They include essays on arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and astrology, a pioneering effort in mineralogical classification, and, toward the end of his career, material on the medical sciences.  His compendia of Indian and Chinese minerals, drugs, potions, and other concoctions, still not systematically studied, may be of immense value to pharmacology.  Some of these works have been lost.  They are known only through references by other scholars.  Many survive but await translation into European languages.

In the golden age of medieval Islam, a small number of incredibly versatile and creative intellects stood at the interface of Semitic, Hellenistic, Persian, and Hindu culture and learning.  Their syntheses and insights often brought about quantum leaps in scientific and historical thought in Islam -- so vast, in fact, that in some cases their achievements were fully appreciated only by later ages better prepared to comprehend them.  Al-Biruni was one of these intellects and, for some historians, the most important of all.  The Chronology of Ancient Nations, for example, constitutes an unprecedented attempt to periodize the history of the known world by comparing and cross-referencing large numbers of chronologies and calendrical systems.  His work provides a basis for chronological studies which has yet to be fully exploited.

Al-Biruni’s immense store of astronomical and geographical knowledge led him to the verge of modern scientific ideas about the earth and the universe.  He was familiar with the concept that Earth rotates on its axis to produce the apparent movement of celestial bodies, rather than those bodies revolving around Earth (although he did not necessarily endorse the idea).  His insights with respect to geography were profound.  On the basis of reports of various flotsam found in the seas, al-Biruni reasoned that the continent of Africa must be surrounded by water, thus taking exception with the Ptolemaic cosmography popular in Christendom, which held that Africa extended indefinitely to the south.  Upon examining the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan, al-Biruni correctly guessed that it had once been a shallow sea filled in through the centuries by alluvial deposits from the river.  Al-Biruni also explained the operation of artesian springs and wells essentially in terms of modern hydrostatic principles.  He devised a system of geographical coordinates which is still a marvel to cartographers.

In medieval Islam, the significance of scholarship may often be determined by how frequently a scholar’s materials were copied by later generations of researchers (a practice for which modern scholars are grateful, since much otherwise would now be lost.  The thirteenth century geographer Yaqut, for example, cited al-Biruni extensively in his own work.  Yaqut’s material on oceanography and general cosmography is drawn almost verbatim from his illustrious predecessor. 

Like many scholars in Islam’s golden age, al-Biruni was a polymath, a Renaissance man before there was a Renaissance.  Some modern scholars have criticized him for writing extensively on astrology, usually at the behest of his noble patrons.  Astrology, however, was in a certain sense a means of popularizing the science of the time, and al-Biruni most likely used it to reach a lay audience, just as contemporary popular science writers often simplify and make use of analogy.  He seems to have regarded astrology as a gesture to simple people who wanted immediate, practical results from science.

Al-Biruni’s astounding versatility has prompted some to place him in a league with Leonardo da Vinci as one of the greatest geniuses of all time.  The most appropriate description, however, comes from his students, patrons, and other contemporaries.  To them, al-Biruni was simply “The Master.” 



al-Ustadh see Biruni
Abu Raihan Muhammad al-Biruni see Biruni
Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni see Biruni
“The Master” see Biruni
Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad Biruni see Biruni

Index C

Index D

 Dimashqi 

Shams al-Din al-Ansari al-Dimashqi or simply al-Dimashqi (Arabic: شمس الدين الأنصاري الدمشقي‎) (1256–1327) was a medieval Arab geographer, completing his main work in 1300. Born in Damascus — as his name "Dimashqi" implies—he mostly wrote of his native land, the Greater Syria (Bilad ash-Sham), upon the complete withdrawal of the Crusaders. He became a contemporary of the Mamluk sultan Baibars, the general who led the Muslims in war against the Crusaders. His work is of value in connection with the Crusader Chronicles. He died while in Safad, in 1327.

Al-Dimashqi (1325) gives very detailed accounts of each island in the Malay archipelago, its population, flora, fauna and customs. He mentions "the country of Champa ... is inhabited by Muslims and idolaters. The Islam came there during the time of Caliph Uthman ... and Ali, many Muslims who were expelled by the Umayyads and by Al-Hajjaj, fled there, and since then a majority of the Cham have embraced Islam."

Of their rivals the Khmer, Al-Dimashqi (1325) mentions they inhabit the island of Komor (Khmer), also called Malay Island, a land of many towns and cities, rich-dense forests with huge, tall trees, and white elephants; they supplemented their income from the trade routes not only by exporting ivory and aloe, but also by engaging in piracy and raiding on Muslim and Chinese shipping.