Fihri
Fatima Muhammad Al-Fihri (? – 880) (فاطمة محمد الفهري, nicknamed Oum al Banine, meaning the mother of the kids) was a Muslim woman chiefly known as the founder of the world's first academic degree-granting institution of higher education, which is still in operation today as the University of Qarawiyyin in Fes, Morroco.
Fatima Al-Fihri was the child of Muhammad Al-Fihri, a wealthy businessman from the Fihrids family. She migrated along with her father from the city Kairouan located in present-day Tunisia to Fes located in current day Morocco. She also had a sister named Mariam.
After Fatima and Mariam inherited their deceased father's fortune, they decided to support the construction of mosques or educational institutions such as the Qarwiyyin mosque as a Waqf (a religious endowment) or Sadaqah Jariya (voluntary charity) for their deceased father. In 859, Fatima founded the world's first academic degree-granting institution of higher education, which is still in operation today as the University of Qarawiyyin in Fes, Morroco. The University of Qarawiyyin was regarded as being a major intellectual center in the Mediterranean and its excellent reputation even led Gerber of Auvergne to go there to study. Auvergne later went on to become Pope Sylvester II and has been given the credit of introducing Arabic numerals and the concept of "zero" to the rest of Europe.
Her sister Mariam is said to have been responsible for the construction of the Al-Andalus (Andalusian) Mosque in Fes .
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
A00007 - Abu'l 'Abbas Ahmad al-Farghani, Ninth Century Persian Astronomer
Farghani
Farghani (Abu’l-‘Abbas Ahmad al-Farghani) (Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī)(Alfraganus) (9th century C.C.). Persian astronomer from Farghana who is known in the West as Alfraganus.
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī was a Persian astronomer and one of the famous astronomers in the 9th century of the Christian calendar. He was involved in the measurement of the diameter of the Earth together with a team of scientists under the patronage of al-Ma'mūn in Baghdad. His textbook Elements of astronomy on the celestial motions, written about 833, was a competent descriptive summary of Ptolemy's Almagest. It was translated into Latin in the twelfth century and remained very popular in Europe until the time of Regiomontanus. Dante Alighieri's knowledge of Ptolemaic astronomy, which is evident in his Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy) as well as other works such as the Convivio, seems to have been drawn from his reading of Alfraganus. In the seventeenth century the Dutch orientalist Jacob Golius published the Arabic text on the basis of a manuscript he had acquired in the Near East, with a new Latin translation and extensive notes.
Later al-Farghani moved to Cairo, where he composed a treatise on the astrolabe around 856. There he also supervised the construction of the large Nilometer on the island of al-Rawda (in Old Cairo) in the year 861.
The crater Alfraganus on the Moon is named after him.
Abu’l-‘Abbas Ahmad al-Farghani see Farghani
Alfraganus see Farghani
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī see Farghani
Farghani (Abu’l-‘Abbas Ahmad al-Farghani) (Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī)(Alfraganus) (9th century C.C.). Persian astronomer from Farghana who is known in the West as Alfraganus.
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī was a Persian astronomer and one of the famous astronomers in the 9th century of the Christian calendar. He was involved in the measurement of the diameter of the Earth together with a team of scientists under the patronage of al-Ma'mūn in Baghdad. His textbook Elements of astronomy on the celestial motions, written about 833, was a competent descriptive summary of Ptolemy's Almagest. It was translated into Latin in the twelfth century and remained very popular in Europe until the time of Regiomontanus. Dante Alighieri's knowledge of Ptolemaic astronomy, which is evident in his Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy) as well as other works such as the Convivio, seems to have been drawn from his reading of Alfraganus. In the seventeenth century the Dutch orientalist Jacob Golius published the Arabic text on the basis of a manuscript he had acquired in the Near East, with a new Latin translation and extensive notes.
Later al-Farghani moved to Cairo, where he composed a treatise on the astrolabe around 856. There he also supervised the construction of the large Nilometer on the island of al-Rawda (in Old Cairo) in the year 861.
The crater Alfraganus on the Moon is named after him.
Abu’l-‘Abbas Ahmad al-Farghani see Farghani
Alfraganus see Farghani
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī see Farghani
A00006 - Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi, Tenth Century Muslim Polymath
Farabi
Farabi (Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi) (Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Uzalagh al-Farabi) (Abu Nasr ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Auzlagh al-Farabi) (Abu al-Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi) (al-Pharabius) (Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Tarḫān ibn Awzlaġ al-Fārābi) (Alpharabius) (b. c. 872 – d. between December 14, 950 and January 12, 951). Muslim polymath and one of the greatest scientists and philosophers of Persia and the Islamic world of his time. He was also a cosmologist, logician, musician, psychologist and sociologist. He became known in the West under the names of Alfarabius (Alpharabius) and Avennasar (Abunaser).
Al-Farabi was a major contributor to philosophy, logic, sociology and science. He was best known as the“Second Teacher” (al-Mou’allim al-Thani), Aristotle being the first. Al-Farabi was largely responsible for cementing the position of Peripatetic philosophy at the core of nearly all philosophic thought in the Islamic world (and also, derivatively, much of the Christian world) through such an extensive series of written commentaries on Aristotle’s works that philosophical studies thereafter were dominated by his commentaries. Al-Farabi’s other major achievement was the creation of a cogent theory of an Islamic political philosophy based on Plato’s notions of supreme ruler-philosopher. This theory allowed a rational explanation of prophecy and the relatively unique role of prophetic revelation in a particular time and place. It also provided a universal definition of the purpose and goal of human society and government in general.
Al-Farabi, whose Latin name is Alfarabius, was born in Farab, Transoxiana (now Uzbekistan), of Turkish parentage. 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, where his teachers were Christian Syrians expert in Greek philosophy. In Baghdad, al-Farabi studied several languages, science and technology, and philosophy. He also traveled to Damascus and Egypt for further studies. Eventually he came to live at the court of Sayf ad-Dawla (916-967), the ruler of Aleppo (now in Syria). Al-Farabi died a bachelor in Damascus in 950.
Al-Farabi was a qadi (a 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 to his exceptional talents in several branches of science and philosophy, he received the attention of King Saif al-Dawla at Halab (Aleppo). However, due to some unfortunate circumstances, he suffered great hardships and was once demoted to the position of caretaker of a garden.
Al-Farabi’s major contributions were in logic, philosophy and sociology. He also 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). Al-Farabi attempted to reconcile Platonism and Aristotelism with 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-Farabi 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.
Al-Farabi was also an expert in music. He contributed to musical notes and invented several musical instruments. Al-Farabi could play his instruments so well as to make people laugh or weep. His book on music, entitled Kitab al-Musiqa, was 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 these, 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.
Al-Farabi, like many other Muslim philosophers, traveled widely, visiting centers of learning and meeting with the learned masters of his time. He spent the last few years of his life in Aleppo, at the court of Sayf-ad-Dawlah.
Al-Farabi was one of the earliest Islamic thinkers to transmit to the Arab world the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle (which he considered essentially identical), thereby greatly influencing such later Islamic philosophers as Avicenna and Averroes.
Influenced in his metaphysical views by both Aristotle and the Neoplatonist Roman philosopher Plotinus, al-Farabi posited a Supreme Being who had created the world through the exercise of rational intelligence. He believed this same rational faculty to be the sole part of the human being that is immortal, and thus he set as the paramount human goal the development of the rational faculty. Al-Farabi gave considerably more attention to political theory than did any other Islamic philosopher, adapting the Platonic system (as developed in Plato’s Republic and Laws) to the contemporary Muslim political situation in The Perfect City.
Al-Farabi was the first Islamic philosopher to uphold the primacy of philosophical truth over revelation, claiming that, contrary to the beliefs of various other religions, philosophical truth is the same throughout the world. He formulated as an ideal a universal religion in which all other existing religions are considered symbolic expressions of the universal religion. Of about 100 works by al-Farabi, many have been lost, including his commentaries on Aristotle. Many others have been preserved in medieval Latin translations only. In addition to his philosophical writings, al-Farabi compiled a Catalogue of Sciences, the first Muslim work to attempt a systematization of human knowledge. He also made a contribution to musical theory in his Great Book of Music.
Al-Farabi’s philosophy represents the first serious attempt in Islamic philosophy to bring about a rapprochement between the teachings of Plato and Aristotle. It was toward this end that he wrote many commentaries and expositions on Plato’s and Aristotle’s treatises. Despite such commentaries, he came to be known for his works on logic and political philosophy. In logic, ethics, and metaphysics he followed Aristotle; in politics he preferred Plato.
Al-Farabi argues that all existing beings are divided into necessary and possible existents. Necessary beings exist by virtue of themselves and need no external cause of their existence. Possible beings are those that can exist or not exist, and their existence requires an external cause. Farabi then goes on to argue that if one were to strip all the accidental (unnecessary) attributes of a existent thing, what would be left is the essence of that thing. Therefore, all existent beings for Farabi consist of an essence to which existence is added. It is only God, Farabi tells us, for whom essence and existence are one and the same.
Farabi’s views on the origin of the world seem to have been influenced by the Neoplatonic doctrine of emanation. According to Farabi, God, in contemplating himself, emanates an intellect from himself and from this intellect, which contemplates itself, emanates the Second Intellect, and so forth until the Tenth Intellect, which Farabi calls the “Agent Intellect.” These intellects, for Farabi, provide the intermediary world between the incorporeal world and ours, the world of generation and corruption.
Al-Farabi, who interprets Aristotle’s account of the intellects in his own way, argues that Aristotle believes in four different intellects. These intellects are: Intellect in Potentiality, which he identifies with the human soul and its ability to think; Intellect in Actuality, which is their realization within the corporeal world of the intelligible; the Acquired Intellect, which to him is attained when the intellect in actuality reflects upon the intelligible; and finally there is the Agent Intellect, which is the cause of thinking.
Al-Farabi is perhaps the greatest logician of Islam. He undertook an extensive study and critique of the entire Aristotelian Organon. His principal contributions to logic were his analysis of principles of syllogistic reduction, his emphasis on hypothetical and disjunctive syllogisms (arguments involving “if ... then ...” and “either ... or ...” premises), his discussion of induction, and his account of the use of the categorical syllogism in arguments by analogy. In addition to these significant contributions, he also offered an in-depth treatment of the status of future contingencies and the determination of future events.
Post-Farabi Muslim logicians remained under his influence. Even those who modified or criticized his views often came to know of Aristotle through his eyes. The most notable example is Ibn Sina (Avicenna), who was highly influenced by Farabi’s view on logic.
Al-Farabi believed that there is but one fundamental religion and that the various religions were manifestations of it. Affirming the truth of all religions, al-Farabi maintained that each religion is applicable to its particular milieu. All religions, therefore, are like points on the circumference of a circle aiming at the center, which is God. What differentiates people is not the variety of religions they profess, but ignorance of the fact that all persons are manifestations of God on different planes of reality and at different stages of spiritual progress.
Expanding upon the oneness of truth, Farabi elaborates on the notion of prophecy. Farabi’s interpretation of prophecy, a view that brought condemnation from orthodox scholars, led him to consider a prophet as someone who has mastered philosophy as well as spirituality. A prophet in Farabi’s view is a perfect human being, one who has actualized all of that person’s intellectual and spiritual potentialities. According to Farabi, the traditional concept of prophecy, in which God chooses a prophet based on his own will, is incorrect.
Once human perfection is attained, the prophet assumes two responsibilities, being a philosopher and being a statesman. The acquired intellect of the philosopher through its contact with the Agent Intellect brings about illumination, which Farabi identifies as revelation (wahy). The prophet, in addition to being a perfect philosopher, is a perfect statesman whose primary responsibility is to govern the state justly. In order to govern, the prophet must use his illuminated intellect to make decisions that will insure the common good of the people.
For Farabi, the philosophical mind at the peak of its development becomes like matter to the Active Intellect. Prophets are those who have attained this state and go beyond the philosophical truth to imaginative truth, which is then transformed into symbols, figures, and actions, through which societies can be moved towards a greater degree of moral insight and ethical practice.
Since all things come into being from a single cause, Farabi declares, a good state follows the principle of having a prophet-philosopher as the ruler, and hence the cause of the good state. The prophetic aspect of the ruler enables him to communicate with the masses, who understand only the language of persuasion. The prophet’s philosophical side, on the other hand, allows the prophet as ruler to speak to the intellectual elite, who can understand reasoning and will accept only that which is rationally justifiable. This view of the prophet as ruler also implies that the principles of religion ultimately are consistent with philosophical principles and that the apparent inconsistency between religion and philosophy stems from the failure to realize that each one is designed for a different task.
According to Farabi, the human being has an innate yearning for community life, and as such attains happiness only within the state. Following Plato, Farabi believes that people are happy if and only if they fulfill the function for which they were created. Since human beings are unequal in that they have various capacities for service, it is therefore the responsibility of the state to insure that its citizens are placed where their true nature can best be utilized.
Like Plato in the Republic, Farabi models his ideal state after the human body. As a natural model in which there exists a hierarchy consisting of mind, spirit, and body. The highest level in this hierarchy -- the mind -- has a natural right to dominate and harmonize the lower levels. In government, accordingly, the prophet is the “unruled ruler,” who governs by virtue of his divine wisdom.
Some historians of philosophy contend that Farabi was likely a Shi‘ite since he was patronized by Sayf ad-Dawlah, a Shi‘ite king, and therefore his political philosophy should be viewed in that context. That is, the ruler of the Farabian state would resemble a Shi‘ite imam, who as possessor of divine wisdom, with access to esoteric truth, is therefore qualified to rule.
Since a good state is a natural state and it is only natural for human beings to want to be happy, it is the responsibility of the state to insure that its citizens be happy, according to Farabi. He treats the subject of happiness and its attainment extensively.
There are three alternative interpretations of the nature of happiness according to Farabi: happiness as a purely theoretical activity, happiness as a practical activity exclusively, and happiness as a harmonious combination of the theoretical and the practical.
Arguing that theoretical excellence brings about practical excellence, Farabi concludes that it is the task of philosophy to actualize the perfection of the theoretical. Accordingly, Farabi argues that human perfection as the ultimate goal is achieved by a rapprochement of theoretical and practical reason. Although Farabi contended that theoretical perfection is to be sought through metaphysical inquiry, there are indications that Farabi believed that, practically speaking, theoretical perfection could not be attained even in the best of cases.
Although the practical component of happiness is presented by Farabi as a private activity of a moral nature, true happiness, according to him, is possible only within the context of a society. Thus, Farabi emphasizes the necessity of a perfect political order and a supreme ruler whose virtuous character can bestow happiness upon the citizens. The purpose of life for Farabi is the full development of the rational faculty and the attainment of truth through philosophical contemplation. Such an end in life can be fulfilled only in well-organized societies wherein just rulers govern. However, to be just one needs the type of theoretical wisdom that makes it possible to devise practical laws. Farabi states that those societies that are governed by rulers who are the repositories of philosophical wisdom are “good societies," while others are "ignorant" or “misguided" societies.
Abu al-Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi see Farabi
Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi see Farabi
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Uzalagh al-Farabi see Farabi
Avennasar see Farabi
Alfarabius see Farabi
Second Teacher see Farabi
Farabi (Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi) (Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Uzalagh al-Farabi) (Abu Nasr ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Auzlagh al-Farabi) (Abu al-Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi) (al-Pharabius) (Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Tarḫān ibn Awzlaġ al-Fārābi) (Alpharabius) (b. c. 872 – d. between December 14, 950 and January 12, 951). Muslim polymath and one of the greatest scientists and philosophers of Persia and the Islamic world of his time. He was also a cosmologist, logician, musician, psychologist and sociologist. He became known in the West under the names of Alfarabius (Alpharabius) and Avennasar (Abunaser).
Al-Farabi was a major contributor to philosophy, logic, sociology and science. He was best known as the“Second Teacher” (al-Mou’allim al-Thani), Aristotle being the first. Al-Farabi was largely responsible for cementing the position of Peripatetic philosophy at the core of nearly all philosophic thought in the Islamic world (and also, derivatively, much of the Christian world) through such an extensive series of written commentaries on Aristotle’s works that philosophical studies thereafter were dominated by his commentaries. Al-Farabi’s other major achievement was the creation of a cogent theory of an Islamic political philosophy based on Plato’s notions of supreme ruler-philosopher. This theory allowed a rational explanation of prophecy and the relatively unique role of prophetic revelation in a particular time and place. It also provided a universal definition of the purpose and goal of human society and government in general.
Al-Farabi, whose Latin name is Alfarabius, was born in Farab, Transoxiana (now Uzbekistan), of Turkish parentage. 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, where his teachers were Christian Syrians expert in Greek philosophy. In Baghdad, al-Farabi studied several languages, science and technology, and philosophy. He also traveled to Damascus and Egypt for further studies. Eventually he came to live at the court of Sayf ad-Dawla (916-967), the ruler of Aleppo (now in Syria). Al-Farabi died a bachelor in Damascus in 950.
Al-Farabi was a qadi (a 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 to his exceptional talents in several branches of science and philosophy, he received the attention of King Saif al-Dawla at Halab (Aleppo). However, due to some unfortunate circumstances, he suffered great hardships and was once demoted to the position of caretaker of a garden.
Al-Farabi’s major contributions were in logic, philosophy and sociology. He also 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). Al-Farabi attempted to reconcile Platonism and Aristotelism with 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-Farabi 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.
Al-Farabi was also an expert in music. He contributed to musical notes and invented several musical instruments. Al-Farabi could play his instruments so well as to make people laugh or weep. His book on music, entitled Kitab al-Musiqa, was 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 these, 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.
Al-Farabi, like many other Muslim philosophers, traveled widely, visiting centers of learning and meeting with the learned masters of his time. He spent the last few years of his life in Aleppo, at the court of Sayf-ad-Dawlah.
Al-Farabi was one of the earliest Islamic thinkers to transmit to the Arab world the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle (which he considered essentially identical), thereby greatly influencing such later Islamic philosophers as Avicenna and Averroes.
Influenced in his metaphysical views by both Aristotle and the Neoplatonist Roman philosopher Plotinus, al-Farabi posited a Supreme Being who had created the world through the exercise of rational intelligence. He believed this same rational faculty to be the sole part of the human being that is immortal, and thus he set as the paramount human goal the development of the rational faculty. Al-Farabi gave considerably more attention to political theory than did any other Islamic philosopher, adapting the Platonic system (as developed in Plato’s Republic and Laws) to the contemporary Muslim political situation in The Perfect City.
Al-Farabi was the first Islamic philosopher to uphold the primacy of philosophical truth over revelation, claiming that, contrary to the beliefs of various other religions, philosophical truth is the same throughout the world. He formulated as an ideal a universal religion in which all other existing religions are considered symbolic expressions of the universal religion. Of about 100 works by al-Farabi, many have been lost, including his commentaries on Aristotle. Many others have been preserved in medieval Latin translations only. In addition to his philosophical writings, al-Farabi compiled a Catalogue of Sciences, the first Muslim work to attempt a systematization of human knowledge. He also made a contribution to musical theory in his Great Book of Music.
Al-Farabi’s philosophy represents the first serious attempt in Islamic philosophy to bring about a rapprochement between the teachings of Plato and Aristotle. It was toward this end that he wrote many commentaries and expositions on Plato’s and Aristotle’s treatises. Despite such commentaries, he came to be known for his works on logic and political philosophy. In logic, ethics, and metaphysics he followed Aristotle; in politics he preferred Plato.
Al-Farabi argues that all existing beings are divided into necessary and possible existents. Necessary beings exist by virtue of themselves and need no external cause of their existence. Possible beings are those that can exist or not exist, and their existence requires an external cause. Farabi then goes on to argue that if one were to strip all the accidental (unnecessary) attributes of a existent thing, what would be left is the essence of that thing. Therefore, all existent beings for Farabi consist of an essence to which existence is added. It is only God, Farabi tells us, for whom essence and existence are one and the same.
Farabi’s views on the origin of the world seem to have been influenced by the Neoplatonic doctrine of emanation. According to Farabi, God, in contemplating himself, emanates an intellect from himself and from this intellect, which contemplates itself, emanates the Second Intellect, and so forth until the Tenth Intellect, which Farabi calls the “Agent Intellect.” These intellects, for Farabi, provide the intermediary world between the incorporeal world and ours, the world of generation and corruption.
Al-Farabi, who interprets Aristotle’s account of the intellects in his own way, argues that Aristotle believes in four different intellects. These intellects are: Intellect in Potentiality, which he identifies with the human soul and its ability to think; Intellect in Actuality, which is their realization within the corporeal world of the intelligible; the Acquired Intellect, which to him is attained when the intellect in actuality reflects upon the intelligible; and finally there is the Agent Intellect, which is the cause of thinking.
Al-Farabi is perhaps the greatest logician of Islam. He undertook an extensive study and critique of the entire Aristotelian Organon. His principal contributions to logic were his analysis of principles of syllogistic reduction, his emphasis on hypothetical and disjunctive syllogisms (arguments involving “if ... then ...” and “either ... or ...” premises), his discussion of induction, and his account of the use of the categorical syllogism in arguments by analogy. In addition to these significant contributions, he also offered an in-depth treatment of the status of future contingencies and the determination of future events.
Post-Farabi Muslim logicians remained under his influence. Even those who modified or criticized his views often came to know of Aristotle through his eyes. The most notable example is Ibn Sina (Avicenna), who was highly influenced by Farabi’s view on logic.
Al-Farabi believed that there is but one fundamental religion and that the various religions were manifestations of it. Affirming the truth of all religions, al-Farabi maintained that each religion is applicable to its particular milieu. All religions, therefore, are like points on the circumference of a circle aiming at the center, which is God. What differentiates people is not the variety of religions they profess, but ignorance of the fact that all persons are manifestations of God on different planes of reality and at different stages of spiritual progress.
Expanding upon the oneness of truth, Farabi elaborates on the notion of prophecy. Farabi’s interpretation of prophecy, a view that brought condemnation from orthodox scholars, led him to consider a prophet as someone who has mastered philosophy as well as spirituality. A prophet in Farabi’s view is a perfect human being, one who has actualized all of that person’s intellectual and spiritual potentialities. According to Farabi, the traditional concept of prophecy, in which God chooses a prophet based on his own will, is incorrect.
Once human perfection is attained, the prophet assumes two responsibilities, being a philosopher and being a statesman. The acquired intellect of the philosopher through its contact with the Agent Intellect brings about illumination, which Farabi identifies as revelation (wahy). The prophet, in addition to being a perfect philosopher, is a perfect statesman whose primary responsibility is to govern the state justly. In order to govern, the prophet must use his illuminated intellect to make decisions that will insure the common good of the people.
For Farabi, the philosophical mind at the peak of its development becomes like matter to the Active Intellect. Prophets are those who have attained this state and go beyond the philosophical truth to imaginative truth, which is then transformed into symbols, figures, and actions, through which societies can be moved towards a greater degree of moral insight and ethical practice.
Since all things come into being from a single cause, Farabi declares, a good state follows the principle of having a prophet-philosopher as the ruler, and hence the cause of the good state. The prophetic aspect of the ruler enables him to communicate with the masses, who understand only the language of persuasion. The prophet’s philosophical side, on the other hand, allows the prophet as ruler to speak to the intellectual elite, who can understand reasoning and will accept only that which is rationally justifiable. This view of the prophet as ruler also implies that the principles of religion ultimately are consistent with philosophical principles and that the apparent inconsistency between religion and philosophy stems from the failure to realize that each one is designed for a different task.
According to Farabi, the human being has an innate yearning for community life, and as such attains happiness only within the state. Following Plato, Farabi believes that people are happy if and only if they fulfill the function for which they were created. Since human beings are unequal in that they have various capacities for service, it is therefore the responsibility of the state to insure that its citizens are placed where their true nature can best be utilized.
Like Plato in the Republic, Farabi models his ideal state after the human body. As a natural model in which there exists a hierarchy consisting of mind, spirit, and body. The highest level in this hierarchy -- the mind -- has a natural right to dominate and harmonize the lower levels. In government, accordingly, the prophet is the “unruled ruler,” who governs by virtue of his divine wisdom.
Some historians of philosophy contend that Farabi was likely a Shi‘ite since he was patronized by Sayf ad-Dawlah, a Shi‘ite king, and therefore his political philosophy should be viewed in that context. That is, the ruler of the Farabian state would resemble a Shi‘ite imam, who as possessor of divine wisdom, with access to esoteric truth, is therefore qualified to rule.
Since a good state is a natural state and it is only natural for human beings to want to be happy, it is the responsibility of the state to insure that its citizens be happy, according to Farabi. He treats the subject of happiness and its attainment extensively.
There are three alternative interpretations of the nature of happiness according to Farabi: happiness as a purely theoretical activity, happiness as a practical activity exclusively, and happiness as a harmonious combination of the theoretical and the practical.
Arguing that theoretical excellence brings about practical excellence, Farabi concludes that it is the task of philosophy to actualize the perfection of the theoretical. Accordingly, Farabi argues that human perfection as the ultimate goal is achieved by a rapprochement of theoretical and practical reason. Although Farabi contended that theoretical perfection is to be sought through metaphysical inquiry, there are indications that Farabi believed that, practically speaking, theoretical perfection could not be attained even in the best of cases.
Although the practical component of happiness is presented by Farabi as a private activity of a moral nature, true happiness, according to him, is possible only within the context of a society. Thus, Farabi emphasizes the necessity of a perfect political order and a supreme ruler whose virtuous character can bestow happiness upon the citizens. The purpose of life for Farabi is the full development of the rational faculty and the attainment of truth through philosophical contemplation. Such an end in life can be fulfilled only in well-organized societies wherein just rulers govern. However, to be just one needs the type of theoretical wisdom that makes it possible to devise practical laws. Farabi states that those societies that are governed by rulers who are the repositories of philosophical wisdom are “good societies," while others are "ignorant" or “misguided" societies.
Abu al-Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi see Farabi
Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi see Farabi
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Uzalagh al-Farabi see Farabi
Avennasar see Farabi
Alfarabius see Farabi
Second Teacher see Farabi
A00005 - Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari, Ninth Century Persian Polymath
Dinawari
Dinawari (Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari) (Abu Hanifah Ahmad ibn Dawud Dinawari) (828-896). Arab scholar of Iranian origin. Among other works, he wrote a well-known history [Akhbâr al-tiwâl ("General History")] from a Persian point of view.
Ābu Ḥanīfah Āḥmad ibn Dawūd Dīnawarī was a Persian polymath excelling as much in astronomy, agriculture, botany and metallurgy and as he did in geography, mathematics and history. He was born in Dinawar, (halfway between Hamadan and Kermanshah in western Iran). He studied astronomy, mathematics and mechanics in Isfahan and philology and poetry in Kufa and Basra. He died on July 24, 896 at Dinawar. His most renowned contribution is Book of Plants, for which he is considered the founder of Arabic botany. He is also considered among the very first writers to discuss the ancestry of the Kurds. He wrote a book about this subject called Ansâb al-Akrâd (Ancestry of the Kurds).
Dinawari's Akhbâr al-tiwâl ("General History") has been edited and published numerous times, but has not been translated into a Western language.
On the other hand, al-Dinawari is considered the founder of Arabic botany for his Kitab al-Nabat (Book of Plants), which consisted of six volumes. Only the third and fifth volumes have survived, though the sixth volume has partly been reconstructed based on citations from later works. In the surviving portions of his works, 637 plants are described. He also discusses plant evolution from its birth to its death, describing the phases of plant growth and the production of flowers and fruit.
Parts of al-Dinawari's Book of Plants deals with the applications of Islamic astronomy and meteorology to agriculture. It describes the astronomical and meteorological character of the sky, the planets and constellations, the sun and moon, the lunar phases indicating seasons and rain, the anwa (heavenly bodies of rain), and atmospheric phenomena such as winds, thunder, lightning, snow, floods, valleys, rivers, lakes, wells and other sources of water.
Parts of al-Dinawari's Book of Plants deals with the Earth sciences in the context of agriculture. He considers the Earth, stone and sands, and describes different types of ground, indicating which types are more convenient for plants and the qualities and properties of good ground.
The works al-Dinawari include:
In mathematics and the natural sciences:
1. Kitâb al-jabr wa'l-muqâbila ("Book of Algebra")
2. Kitâb al-nabât ("Book of Plants")
3. Kitâb al-kusuf ("Book of Solar Eclipses")
4. Kitâb al-radd alâ rasad al-Isfahâni ("Refutation of al-Isfahani's Astronomical Observations")
5. Kitâb al-hisâb ("Book of Arithmetics")
6. Bahth fi hisâb al-Hind ("Analysis of Indian Arithmetics")
7. Kitâb al-jam' wa'l-tafriq ("Book of Arithmetics")
8. Kitab al-qibla wa'l-ziwal ("Book of Astral Orientations")
9. Kitâb al-anwâ' ("Book of Weather")
10. Islâh al-mantiq ("Improvement upon Logic")
In the social sciences and humanities:
1. Akhbâr al-tiwâl ("General History")
2. Kitâb al-kabir ("Grand Book" in history of sciences)
3. Kitâb al-fisâha ("Book of Rhetorics")
4. Kitâb al-buldân ("Book of Geography")
5. Kitâb al-shi'r wa'l-shu'arâ ("Book of Poetry and Poets")
6. Ansâb al-Akrâd ("Ancestry of the Kurds").
Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari see Dinawari
Abu Hanifah Ahmad ibn Dawud Dinawarisee Dinawari
Dinawari (Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari) (Abu Hanifah Ahmad ibn Dawud Dinawari) (828-896). Arab scholar of Iranian origin. Among other works, he wrote a well-known history [Akhbâr al-tiwâl ("General History")] from a Persian point of view.
Ābu Ḥanīfah Āḥmad ibn Dawūd Dīnawarī was a Persian polymath excelling as much in astronomy, agriculture, botany and metallurgy and as he did in geography, mathematics and history. He was born in Dinawar, (halfway between Hamadan and Kermanshah in western Iran). He studied astronomy, mathematics and mechanics in Isfahan and philology and poetry in Kufa and Basra. He died on July 24, 896 at Dinawar. His most renowned contribution is Book of Plants, for which he is considered the founder of Arabic botany. He is also considered among the very first writers to discuss the ancestry of the Kurds. He wrote a book about this subject called Ansâb al-Akrâd (Ancestry of the Kurds).
Dinawari's Akhbâr al-tiwâl ("General History") has been edited and published numerous times, but has not been translated into a Western language.
On the other hand, al-Dinawari is considered the founder of Arabic botany for his Kitab al-Nabat (Book of Plants), which consisted of six volumes. Only the third and fifth volumes have survived, though the sixth volume has partly been reconstructed based on citations from later works. In the surviving portions of his works, 637 plants are described. He also discusses plant evolution from its birth to its death, describing the phases of plant growth and the production of flowers and fruit.
Parts of al-Dinawari's Book of Plants deals with the applications of Islamic astronomy and meteorology to agriculture. It describes the astronomical and meteorological character of the sky, the planets and constellations, the sun and moon, the lunar phases indicating seasons and rain, the anwa (heavenly bodies of rain), and atmospheric phenomena such as winds, thunder, lightning, snow, floods, valleys, rivers, lakes, wells and other sources of water.
Parts of al-Dinawari's Book of Plants deals with the Earth sciences in the context of agriculture. He considers the Earth, stone and sands, and describes different types of ground, indicating which types are more convenient for plants and the qualities and properties of good ground.
The works al-Dinawari include:
In mathematics and the natural sciences:
1. Kitâb al-jabr wa'l-muqâbila ("Book of Algebra")
2. Kitâb al-nabât ("Book of Plants")
3. Kitâb al-kusuf ("Book of Solar Eclipses")
4. Kitâb al-radd alâ rasad al-Isfahâni ("Refutation of al-Isfahani's Astronomical Observations")
5. Kitâb al-hisâb ("Book of Arithmetics")
6. Bahth fi hisâb al-Hind ("Analysis of Indian Arithmetics")
7. Kitâb al-jam' wa'l-tafriq ("Book of Arithmetics")
8. Kitab al-qibla wa'l-ziwal ("Book of Astral Orientations")
9. Kitâb al-anwâ' ("Book of Weather")
10. Islâh al-mantiq ("Improvement upon Logic")
In the social sciences and humanities:
1. Akhbâr al-tiwâl ("General History")
2. Kitâb al-kabir ("Grand Book" in history of sciences)
3. Kitâb al-fisâha ("Book of Rhetorics")
4. Kitâb al-buldân ("Book of Geography")
5. Kitâb al-shi'r wa'l-shu'arâ ("Book of Poetry and Poets")
6. Ansâb al-Akrâd ("Ancestry of the Kurds").
Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari see Dinawari
Abu Hanifah Ahmad ibn Dawud Dinawarisee Dinawari
Friday, June 14, 2013
A00004 - Nur al-Din ibn Ishaq al-Bitruji, Twelfth Century Moroccan Astronomer
Bitruji
Bitruji (Nur al-Din ibn Ishaq al-Bitruji) (Nur ad-Din al-Betrugi) (Abu Ishak ibn al-Bitrogi) (Alpetragius) (al-Bidrudschi) (d. 1204). Born in Morocco, he later migrated to Spain and lived in Seville (in Arabic, Isbiliah). He died at the beginning of the thirteenth century around 1204.
Al-Bitruji was a leading astronomer of his time. His Kitab al-Hay’ah was popular in Europe in the thirteenth century. It was first translated into Hebrew and then from Hebrew into Latin. The Latin edition of his book was printed in Vienna in 1531. He attempted to modify Ptolemy’s system of planetary motions, but was unsuccessful primarily because he followed Aristotle’s notion of perfect (circular) motion. However, other Spanish Arab astronomers have suggested an elliptical orbit for planetary motion. Beer and Madler in their famous work Der Mond named a surface feature of the Moon after al-Bitruji (Alpetragius). It is a crater twenty-six miles in diameter. It has a small conical peak at its center and its terraced perpendicular walls and surrounding plain shine with noticeable brightness.
Nur al-Din ibn Ishaq Al-Bitruji and Abu Ishâk ibn al-Bitrogi; another spelling is al Bidrudschi) (known in the West by the Latinized name of Alpetragius) (died ca. 1204 AD) was an Arab astronomer and philosopher of the Islamic Golden Age (Middle Ages). Born in Morocco, he settled in Seville, in Andalusia. He became a disciple of Ibn Tufail (Abubacer) and was a contemporary of Averroës (Ibn Rushd).
Al Bitrugi wrote the Kitab-al-Hay’ah, in which he advanced a theory on planetary motion that avoided both epicycles and eccentrics, and attempted to account for the phenomena peculiar to the wandering stars, by compounding rotations of homocentric spheres. This was a modification of the system of planetary motion proposed by his predecessors, Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) and Ibn Tufail (Abubacer). His efforts were unsuccessful in replacing Ptolemy's planetary model, due to the numerical predictions of the planetary positions in his configuration being less accurate than that of the Ptolemaic model, mainly because he followed Aristotle's notion of perfect circular motion.
Nur al-Din ibn Ishaq al-Bitruji see Bitruji
Alpetragius see Bitruji
Nur ad-Din al-Betrugi see Bitruji
Abu Ishak ibn al-Bitrogi see Bitruji
al-Bidrudschi see Bitruji
Bitruji (Nur al-Din ibn Ishaq al-Bitruji) (Nur ad-Din al-Betrugi) (Abu Ishak ibn al-Bitrogi) (Alpetragius) (al-Bidrudschi) (d. 1204). Born in Morocco, he later migrated to Spain and lived in Seville (in Arabic, Isbiliah). He died at the beginning of the thirteenth century around 1204.
Al-Bitruji was a leading astronomer of his time. His Kitab al-Hay’ah was popular in Europe in the thirteenth century. It was first translated into Hebrew and then from Hebrew into Latin. The Latin edition of his book was printed in Vienna in 1531. He attempted to modify Ptolemy’s system of planetary motions, but was unsuccessful primarily because he followed Aristotle’s notion of perfect (circular) motion. However, other Spanish Arab astronomers have suggested an elliptical orbit for planetary motion. Beer and Madler in their famous work Der Mond named a surface feature of the Moon after al-Bitruji (Alpetragius). It is a crater twenty-six miles in diameter. It has a small conical peak at its center and its terraced perpendicular walls and surrounding plain shine with noticeable brightness.
Nur al-Din ibn Ishaq Al-Bitruji and Abu Ishâk ibn al-Bitrogi; another spelling is al Bidrudschi) (known in the West by the Latinized name of Alpetragius) (died ca. 1204 AD) was an Arab astronomer and philosopher of the Islamic Golden Age (Middle Ages). Born in Morocco, he settled in Seville, in Andalusia. He became a disciple of Ibn Tufail (Abubacer) and was a contemporary of Averroës (Ibn Rushd).
Al Bitrugi wrote the Kitab-al-Hay’ah, in which he advanced a theory on planetary motion that avoided both epicycles and eccentrics, and attempted to account for the phenomena peculiar to the wandering stars, by compounding rotations of homocentric spheres. This was a modification of the system of planetary motion proposed by his predecessors, Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) and Ibn Tufail (Abubacer). His efforts were unsuccessful in replacing Ptolemy's planetary model, due to the numerical predictions of the planetary positions in his configuration being less accurate than that of the Ptolemaic model, mainly because he followed Aristotle's notion of perfect circular motion.
Nur al-Din ibn Ishaq al-Bitruji see Bitruji
Alpetragius see Bitruji
Nur ad-Din al-Betrugi see Bitruji
Abu Ishak ibn al-Bitrogi see Bitruji
al-Bidrudschi see Bitruji
A00003 - Abu Raihan Muhammad al-Biruni, Eleventh Century Persian Mathematician and Astronomer
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.
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 Birunisee Biruni
Alberuni see Biruni
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 Birunisee Biruni
Alberuni see Biruni
A00002 - Abu-Abdallah Muhammad ibn Jabir al-Battani, Late Ninth Century and Early Tenth Century Arab Astronomer
Battani
Battani (Abu-Abdullah Muhammad ibn Jabir al-Battani) (Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-Battani (al-Battani) (Albategnius) (Albatenius) (c.858-929). Astronomer who examined and corrected, through application of trigonometry, astronomical theories first put forward by the second century Alexandrian Ptolemy.
Born near Haran in north-central Syria in 858, the young Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Sinan al-Battani al-Harrani al-Sabi’ moved with his and several other families to Rakka on the Euphrates River midway on the caravan route between Aleppo and the Upper Mesopotamian city of Mosul. This migration may be explained in part by the nisba, or nickname, retained by the future Islamic astronomer. “Al-Sabi” may refer to his family’s earlier adherence to the so-called Sabian sect, which was reputed to follow a mixture of Christian and Islamic principles. Whatever the family’s original religious orientation, Abu ‘Abd Allah’s later fame was won under the banner of Islam, the faith he ultimately followed. After his move to Rakka as a youth, al-Battani spent the remainder of his life in the same geographical and cultural environment.
No specific information is available on al-Battani’s formal education. It is not known, for example, whether his original training was obtained in a fully secular “scientific” or in a religious setting. It was as a youth in Rakka, however, that al-Battani decided to devote himself to careful study of ancient texts, especially those of Ptolemy, which provided him with the knowledge needed to carry out the series of astronomical observations which would make him famous, not only in the Islamic world but in the medieval European West as well.
Al-Battani, known to the West as Albatenius, contributed greatly to advances in the field of trignometry. To carry out key calculations, he relied on algebraic rather than geometric methods. Like his somewhat lesser known follower Abul Wefa (940-998), al-Battani focused much of his attention on the theories of the second century Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy. Several Islamic scholars before him had been intrigued by Ptolemy’s approach to the phenomenon of the oscillatory motion of the equinoxes. Al-Battani’s contemporary Thabit ibn Qurrah tried to account for this by supplementing Ptolemy’s theory, merely adding a ninth sphere to the Greek scientist’s assumption of eight spheres. Al-Battani, however, remained doubtful. He was convinced that trigonometry should be developed more effectively for the purpose of achieving greater precision in already known methods of making these and other astronomical calculations. This goal led him to explore and expand the relevance of sines. His use of the Indian sines, or half chords, enabled him to criticize Ptolemy’s conclusions in several areas.
For example, Ptolemy had insisted that the solar apogee was a fully immobile phenomenon. Al-Battani, however, was able to observe that in the seven centuries since Ptolemy’s time there had been a notable increase in the sun’s apogee. His further observations suggested that the apogee was affected by the precession of the equinoxes. To explore this theory required a substantial revision of methods of proposing equations to represent the passage of time in accurate astronomical terms. Room had to be made for accommodating slow secular variations. As part of this process, al-Battani set out to correct Ptolemy’s theory of the precession of the equinoxes.
The phenomenon of eclipses was also a field incompletely pioneered by Ptolemy. Interest in this subject motivated al-Battani to make a variety of studies that aided subsequent astronomers in their calculations to determine the time of the visibility of the new moon. His treatment of the phenomena of lunar and solar eclipses provided the basic information that would be used by European astronomers as late as the eighteenth century.
In a somewhat more practical vein easily appreciated by the layman, al-Battani’s observations allowed him to determine the length of the tropic year and, significantly, the precise duration of the four seasons of the year.
One of the most original areas of al-Battani’s work involved the use of horizontal and vertical sundials. Through their use, he was able to denote the characteristics of a so-called “horizontal shadow” (umbra extensa). These he used to reveal cotangents, for which he prepared the first known systematic tables. Similarly, his study of “vertical shadows” (umbra versa) provided pioneer data for calculating tangents.
Most of al-Battani’s important findings in the field of astronomy were contained in his major work, Kitab al-zij (De scientia stellarum or De motu stellarum -- c.900-901). As the Latin titles suggest, this magnum opus was first circulated widely among scholars of the early period of the European Renaissance.
Unfortunately, modern scholars’ familiarity with other important writings by al-Battani is limited to what can be gleaned from references to them in other Islamic authors’ works. A “Book of the Science of Ascensions of the Signs of the Zodiac,” a commentary on Ptolemy’s Apotelesmatika tetrabiblos, and a third work on trigonometry, for example, are all lost in their original versions.
The scholarly career of al-Battani provides an example of the diversity of pre-Islamic sources that contributed to the rise of Islamic science. It also illustrates the importance of such scientists’ work in saving traces of pre-Islamic contributions to knowledge during the Dark Ages of European history, when much of the classical heritage of Western civilization was lost. To speak of al-Battani’s role as that of an interim transmitter of knowledge, however, would be to miss the essential importance of scientific endeavors in his era. It is clear, for example, that al-Battani was dissatisified with interpretations offered by his classical and Indian forerunners. By the time his work of reinterpretation was translated for transmission to the European world, it reflected numerous original contributions. Thus, in regard to the re-emergence of Western science during the classical revival period of the Renaissance, it can be said that many of the principles upon which it was based came from Islamic sources.
The fact that such advances in several fields of “pure” science were actively sponsored by the early Islamic caliphs -- themselves assumed to be primary guardians of the religious interests of their realm -- is of major significance. In al-Battani’s age, knowledge was still recognized as something necessarily derived from syncretic sources. Tolerance for the exploration of different secular scientific traditions did not, however, survive too many successive generations. Narrowness of views in the eastern Islamic world a mere century and a half after al-Battani’s contributions would make the role of Western translators of Arabic scientific works just as vital to the conservation of cumulative knowledge in world culture as the work of Islamic translators and commentators had been after the end of the classical era. Outstanding figures such as al-Battani, therefore, definitely span world civilizations and reflect values that are universal. These are easily recognized as such beyond the borders of their chronological time or geographic zone.
Al-Battani was the leading Arab astronomer and mathematician of his time. His astronomical observations at ar-Raqqah, Syria, extended for a period of more than forty years.
Al-Battani has been recognized as the greatest astronomer of his time and one of the greatest of the Middle Ages. Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Sin'an al-Battani was born around 858 in or near Battan, a state of Harran. He belonged to the princely Sa’bi family of Harran and he was a Muslim. Al-Battani was first educated by his father Jabir ibn Sin’an al-Battani, who was also a well-known scientist. He then moved to Raqqa, situated on the bank of the Euphrates, where he received advanced education in sciences. At the end of the ninth century, he migrated to Samarra, where he worked until his death in 929.
Al-Battani made his observations and studies in al-Raqqah from 877 to 929 and made many important discoveries in astronomy. He made several corrections to Ptolemy’s work and rectified the calculations for the orbits of the moon and certain planets. He proved the possibility of annular eclipses of the sun and determined with greater accuracy the obliquity of the seasons and the true and mean orbit of the ecliptic, the length of the tropical year and the seasons and the true and mean orbit of the sun. Al-Battani’s remarkably accurate calculation of the solar year as 365 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 24 seconds is very close to the latest estimates. He found that the longitude of the Sun’s apogee had increased by sixteen degrees since Ptolemy. If inferred the important discovery of the motion of solar apsides and of a slow variation in the equation of time. He did not believe in the trepidation of the equinoxes, although Copernicus, several centuries later, held that erroneous notion.
In a sharp contrast to Ptolemy, al-Battani proved the variation of the apparent angular diameter of the sun and the possibility of annular eclipses. He revised orbits of the Moon and the planets and proposed a new and very ingenious theory to determine the conditions of visibility of the new moon. Eighteenth century scientists used al-Battani’s excellent observations of the lunar and solar eclipses to determine the acceleration of motion of the moon. He determine many astronomical coefficients with great accuracy. Al-Battani also provided very ingenious solutions for some problems of spherical trigonometry using the methods of orthographic projection. It was from a perusal of al-Battani’s work on apparent motion of fixed stars that Hevilius discovered the circular variation of the moon.
Al-Battani’s greatest fame came in mathematics with the use of trigonometric ratios as we used them today. He was the first to replace the use of Greek chords by Sines, with a clear understanding of their superiority. He also developed the concept of cotangent and furnished their tables in degrees.
Al-Battani wrote many books on astronomy and trigonometry. His most famous book was an astronomical treatise with tables, which was translated into Latin in the twelfth century and is known by the title De Scienta Stellarum - De Numeris Stellarum et motibus. The third chapter of al-Battani’s book on astronomy is devoted to trigonometry. His treatise on astronomy was extremely influential in Europe until the Renaissance and was translated in several languages.
The work of such Muslim scholars as al-Battani paved the way for the great advances in science that we enjoy today. It is no overstatement to say that in the domain of trigonometry the theory of sine, cosine and tangent is directly attributable to the mathematical genius of al-Battani. Al-Battani’s original discoveries both in astronomy and trigonometry were of great consequence to the development of the sciences, particularly during the Renaissance. Copernicus in his trailblazing (and revolutionary) book De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium pays tribute to al-Battani and acknowledges his indebtedness to al-Battani.
Indeed, from a more global perspective, the brilliant advances of not only Copernicus, but also Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes and Newton cannot be, and should not be, recalled without paying tribute to the fundamental and preparatory labor of such Arab mathematicians as al-Khwarizmi, Thabit ibn Qurrah, al-Biruni, Ulugh Beg and al-Battani.
In small recognition of al-Battani’s contributions to the advancement of mankind, one of the surface features of the moon (a plain eighty miles in diameter) was named after al- Battani, or as he is known in the West --Albategnius.
Abu-Abdullah Muhammad ibn Jabir al-Battani see Battani
Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-Battanisee Battani
Albategnius see Battani
Albatenius see Battani
Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Sinan al-Battani al-Harrani al-Sabi’ see Battani
Battani (Abu-Abdullah Muhammad ibn Jabir al-Battani) (Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-Battani (al-Battani) (Albategnius) (Albatenius) (c.858-929). Astronomer who examined and corrected, through application of trigonometry, astronomical theories first put forward by the second century Alexandrian Ptolemy.
Born near Haran in north-central Syria in 858, the young Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Sinan al-Battani al-Harrani al-Sabi’ moved with his and several other families to Rakka on the Euphrates River midway on the caravan route between Aleppo and the Upper Mesopotamian city of Mosul. This migration may be explained in part by the nisba, or nickname, retained by the future Islamic astronomer. “Al-Sabi” may refer to his family’s earlier adherence to the so-called Sabian sect, which was reputed to follow a mixture of Christian and Islamic principles. Whatever the family’s original religious orientation, Abu ‘Abd Allah’s later fame was won under the banner of Islam, the faith he ultimately followed. After his move to Rakka as a youth, al-Battani spent the remainder of his life in the same geographical and cultural environment.
No specific information is available on al-Battani’s formal education. It is not known, for example, whether his original training was obtained in a fully secular “scientific” or in a religious setting. It was as a youth in Rakka, however, that al-Battani decided to devote himself to careful study of ancient texts, especially those of Ptolemy, which provided him with the knowledge needed to carry out the series of astronomical observations which would make him famous, not only in the Islamic world but in the medieval European West as well.
Al-Battani, known to the West as Albatenius, contributed greatly to advances in the field of trignometry. To carry out key calculations, he relied on algebraic rather than geometric methods. Like his somewhat lesser known follower Abul Wefa (940-998), al-Battani focused much of his attention on the theories of the second century Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy. Several Islamic scholars before him had been intrigued by Ptolemy’s approach to the phenomenon of the oscillatory motion of the equinoxes. Al-Battani’s contemporary Thabit ibn Qurrah tried to account for this by supplementing Ptolemy’s theory, merely adding a ninth sphere to the Greek scientist’s assumption of eight spheres. Al-Battani, however, remained doubtful. He was convinced that trigonometry should be developed more effectively for the purpose of achieving greater precision in already known methods of making these and other astronomical calculations. This goal led him to explore and expand the relevance of sines. His use of the Indian sines, or half chords, enabled him to criticize Ptolemy’s conclusions in several areas.
For example, Ptolemy had insisted that the solar apogee was a fully immobile phenomenon. Al-Battani, however, was able to observe that in the seven centuries since Ptolemy’s time there had been a notable increase in the sun’s apogee. His further observations suggested that the apogee was affected by the precession of the equinoxes. To explore this theory required a substantial revision of methods of proposing equations to represent the passage of time in accurate astronomical terms. Room had to be made for accommodating slow secular variations. As part of this process, al-Battani set out to correct Ptolemy’s theory of the precession of the equinoxes.
The phenomenon of eclipses was also a field incompletely pioneered by Ptolemy. Interest in this subject motivated al-Battani to make a variety of studies that aided subsequent astronomers in their calculations to determine the time of the visibility of the new moon. His treatment of the phenomena of lunar and solar eclipses provided the basic information that would be used by European astronomers as late as the eighteenth century.
In a somewhat more practical vein easily appreciated by the layman, al-Battani’s observations allowed him to determine the length of the tropic year and, significantly, the precise duration of the four seasons of the year.
One of the most original areas of al-Battani’s work involved the use of horizontal and vertical sundials. Through their use, he was able to denote the characteristics of a so-called “horizontal shadow” (umbra extensa). These he used to reveal cotangents, for which he prepared the first known systematic tables. Similarly, his study of “vertical shadows” (umbra versa) provided pioneer data for calculating tangents.
Most of al-Battani’s important findings in the field of astronomy were contained in his major work, Kitab al-zij (De scientia stellarum or De motu stellarum -- c.900-901). As the Latin titles suggest, this magnum opus was first circulated widely among scholars of the early period of the European Renaissance.
Unfortunately, modern scholars’ familiarity with other important writings by al-Battani is limited to what can be gleaned from references to them in other Islamic authors’ works. A “Book of the Science of Ascensions of the Signs of the Zodiac,” a commentary on Ptolemy’s Apotelesmatika tetrabiblos, and a third work on trigonometry, for example, are all lost in their original versions.
The scholarly career of al-Battani provides an example of the diversity of pre-Islamic sources that contributed to the rise of Islamic science. It also illustrates the importance of such scientists’ work in saving traces of pre-Islamic contributions to knowledge during the Dark Ages of European history, when much of the classical heritage of Western civilization was lost. To speak of al-Battani’s role as that of an interim transmitter of knowledge, however, would be to miss the essential importance of scientific endeavors in his era. It is clear, for example, that al-Battani was dissatisified with interpretations offered by his classical and Indian forerunners. By the time his work of reinterpretation was translated for transmission to the European world, it reflected numerous original contributions. Thus, in regard to the re-emergence of Western science during the classical revival period of the Renaissance, it can be said that many of the principles upon which it was based came from Islamic sources.
The fact that such advances in several fields of “pure” science were actively sponsored by the early Islamic caliphs -- themselves assumed to be primary guardians of the religious interests of their realm -- is of major significance. In al-Battani’s age, knowledge was still recognized as something necessarily derived from syncretic sources. Tolerance for the exploration of different secular scientific traditions did not, however, survive too many successive generations. Narrowness of views in the eastern Islamic world a mere century and a half after al-Battani’s contributions would make the role of Western translators of Arabic scientific works just as vital to the conservation of cumulative knowledge in world culture as the work of Islamic translators and commentators had been after the end of the classical era. Outstanding figures such as al-Battani, therefore, definitely span world civilizations and reflect values that are universal. These are easily recognized as such beyond the borders of their chronological time or geographic zone.
Al-Battani was the leading Arab astronomer and mathematician of his time. His astronomical observations at ar-Raqqah, Syria, extended for a period of more than forty years.
Al-Battani has been recognized as the greatest astronomer of his time and one of the greatest of the Middle Ages. Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Sin'an al-Battani was born around 858 in or near Battan, a state of Harran. He belonged to the princely Sa’bi family of Harran and he was a Muslim. Al-Battani was first educated by his father Jabir ibn Sin’an al-Battani, who was also a well-known scientist. He then moved to Raqqa, situated on the bank of the Euphrates, where he received advanced education in sciences. At the end of the ninth century, he migrated to Samarra, where he worked until his death in 929.
Al-Battani made his observations and studies in al-Raqqah from 877 to 929 and made many important discoveries in astronomy. He made several corrections to Ptolemy’s work and rectified the calculations for the orbits of the moon and certain planets. He proved the possibility of annular eclipses of the sun and determined with greater accuracy the obliquity of the seasons and the true and mean orbit of the ecliptic, the length of the tropical year and the seasons and the true and mean orbit of the sun. Al-Battani’s remarkably accurate calculation of the solar year as 365 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 24 seconds is very close to the latest estimates. He found that the longitude of the Sun’s apogee had increased by sixteen degrees since Ptolemy. If inferred the important discovery of the motion of solar apsides and of a slow variation in the equation of time. He did not believe in the trepidation of the equinoxes, although Copernicus, several centuries later, held that erroneous notion.
In a sharp contrast to Ptolemy, al-Battani proved the variation of the apparent angular diameter of the sun and the possibility of annular eclipses. He revised orbits of the Moon and the planets and proposed a new and very ingenious theory to determine the conditions of visibility of the new moon. Eighteenth century scientists used al-Battani’s excellent observations of the lunar and solar eclipses to determine the acceleration of motion of the moon. He determine many astronomical coefficients with great accuracy. Al-Battani also provided very ingenious solutions for some problems of spherical trigonometry using the methods of orthographic projection. It was from a perusal of al-Battani’s work on apparent motion of fixed stars that Hevilius discovered the circular variation of the moon.
Al-Battani’s greatest fame came in mathematics with the use of trigonometric ratios as we used them today. He was the first to replace the use of Greek chords by Sines, with a clear understanding of their superiority. He also developed the concept of cotangent and furnished their tables in degrees.
Al-Battani wrote many books on astronomy and trigonometry. His most famous book was an astronomical treatise with tables, which was translated into Latin in the twelfth century and is known by the title De Scienta Stellarum - De Numeris Stellarum et motibus. The third chapter of al-Battani’s book on astronomy is devoted to trigonometry. His treatise on astronomy was extremely influential in Europe until the Renaissance and was translated in several languages.
The work of such Muslim scholars as al-Battani paved the way for the great advances in science that we enjoy today. It is no overstatement to say that in the domain of trigonometry the theory of sine, cosine and tangent is directly attributable to the mathematical genius of al-Battani. Al-Battani’s original discoveries both in astronomy and trigonometry were of great consequence to the development of the sciences, particularly during the Renaissance. Copernicus in his trailblazing (and revolutionary) book De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium pays tribute to al-Battani and acknowledges his indebtedness to al-Battani.
Indeed, from a more global perspective, the brilliant advances of not only Copernicus, but also Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes and Newton cannot be, and should not be, recalled without paying tribute to the fundamental and preparatory labor of such Arab mathematicians as al-Khwarizmi, Thabit ibn Qurrah, al-Biruni, Ulugh Beg and al-Battani.
In small recognition of al-Battani’s contributions to the advancement of mankind, one of the surface features of the moon (a plain eighty miles in diameter) was named after al- Battani, or as he is known in the West --Albategnius.
Abu-Abdullah Muhammad ibn Jabir al-Battani see Battani
Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-Battanisee Battani
Albategnius see Battani
Albatenius see Battani
Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Sinan al-Battani al-Harrani al-Sabi’ see Battani
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