Famous Scientists

Einstein, Newton, Flemming … these names are well known, and with good reason, as influential and innovative scientists. However, what is less well know, is that they owe a lot to their predecessors.

 

​Who are those early scientists that paved the way? Well, many of them were Muslim scholars who reached amazing heights of knowledge while Europe was in its Dark Ages. Here are just a few of them…

Ibn Sina · (Avicenne) · 980-1036

Ibn Sina Known as Avicenna in the West, was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age. He has been described as the father of early modern medicine. Of the 450 works he is known to have written, around 240 have survived, including 150 on philosophy and 40 on medicine.
Avicenne, or Abul Hussayn lbn Abdallah lbn Al Hassan lbn Ali lbn Sina, is known by several honorary titles: the Proof of Truth, the Honour of the Kingdom, the Master and Leader, the Wise Minister, the Constitution and the Prince of Doctors. He was born in Afchana, a small village near Boukhara. Before the age of ten, he knew the Koran by heart and had already read many literary works. He had an extraordinary memory. Initially, he studied philosophy and then he studied medicine on his own, at the age of 16. Day and night, he read any book that fell into his hands. When Prince Nuh became ill, he was invited to treat him. In this way, he discovered all of the books in the famous library of this prince.
He read almost all of them with great avidity. Princess ~ubaya of Ray summoned him, one day, to treat her son who suffered from a disease which none of the court physicians were able to diagnose. The young prince had fallen hopelessly in love with a very beautiful girl. Avicenne discovered his secret by taking his pulse while naming all of the quarters of the town and then all of the names of the families in this quarter and finally, the names of the young girls in this family. When Avicenne named the young prince’s beloved, his pulse accelerated.
Avicenne led a very agitated life. He left Ray for Quazwin, then for Hamadhane. Prince Chams-Ad-Dawla suffered from colic and asked Avicenne to treat him. To reward him for his useful advice, the prince named him High Vizier. However, the prince did not follow Avicenne’s prescriptions and died. His sister immediately suspected Avicenne of having poisoned the prince and she ordered his arrest. Avicenne disguised himself as a Soufi (a muslim monk) and escaped. He arrived in Ispahan where he was warmly received by Prince Adid-Ad-Dawla.

Avicenne was proud, or even arrogant, which gained him a lot of enemies. He loved life and lived it to the full. He fell ill (with colic!) and treated and cured himself. However, he had a relapse and his treatment was no longer effective. Feeling that he was close to death, he sold his belongings, distributed them to the poor and read the Koran until his last breath. Avicenne was undoubtedly one of the greatest geniuses that the world has ever known. He was the author of many books. His most important medical text was certainly the Canon, an encyclopedia of medicine, surgery and pharmaceutics, consisting of about one million words. It contains all of the medical knowledge of his time, set out in a logical system in very brief, condensed chapters. This book was translated several times into Latin and has been edited and commentated by many Eastern and Western scholars.

He composed a long poem (about 1032 AD) in which he summarized the medical knowledge of his canon. This is The Poem of Medicine or Avicennae Cantica . It has also been translated into French and has been edited on several occasions, most recently in Paris, in 1956. Avicenne also wrote Cardiac Drugs, The Pulse and an impressive number of treatises and epistles. His best known philosophical work is entitled The Healing (of the Soul). The best known of his poems is Al Ayni-Ya in which he defines the soul. Picture: Avicenne teaching the method of performing blood-letting. Beside him his disciple and friend AI-Jozjani, taking down notes from the Master.

Ar Razi · (Rhazes) · 865-925

​Rhazes, or Abu Bakr Muhammed lbn Zakarya Ar-Razi, was born in Ray (hence his name), a small village to the south of Teheran, of which only a few ruins remain. He spent his life travelling between Ray and Baghdad. At a young age, he was interested in chemistry. It is said that he had a disease of the eyes and that he went to see a doctor who charged very high fees. He is supposed to have said: Here is profession which produces gold, not alchemy . So, he started to study medicine at the age of 30. In our opinion, this anecdote was made up by his enemies and envious competitors who wanted to make him out to be a materia- list. In reality, his attitudes were quite the opposite: he was a well-balanced, serious, hard working man. He spent his days with his students and his patients and his nights reading and writing. He fought against charlatans and charlatanism. He tried to reach the highest levels of medicine and science. He was also interested in music, when he was young, then in philosophy, literature and poetry. It is even said that he used to sing.

His teacher in medicine was Tabaripur and his teacher in philosophy was Balakhi. This is denied by certain historians. His fame as a doctor gained him the post of head doctor of the AI-Adudi hospital in Baghdad. The construction of this hospital was ordered by Prince Adud Ad-Dawla (hence its name), who asked Rhazes to choose the most appropriate site. Rhazes hung fresh mutton in the four corners of Baghdad and examined them several days later. The piece of meat which was in the best condition indicated the best site for building of the hospital. Rhazes was undoubtedly one of the greatest doctors of mankind. There is a saying : Medicine did not exist, Hippocrates created it : it was dead and Galien revived it: it was dispersed and Rhazes re-united it: it was incomplete and Avicenne completed it.
Rhazes is therefore considered to be one of the best doctors of the Middle Age : he is called the Arabic Galien. He served Prince Abu Salih Al Mansur, Prince of Kirman and Khurasan. It was to him that he dedicated his book Al Mansuri (Mansorom). Towards the end of his life, he developed a cataract. An ophtaimo- logist was called to operate. Rhazes questioned this specialist on the anatomy of the eye, but the specialist could not reply. Rhazes refused to let himself be operated by a doctor who did not know anatomy. Some say that he refused the operation, saying that he had seen enough of life. Other chroniclers invented a different story: prince Nuh lbn Mansur asked him to perform the chemical experiments described in his books. As the prince did not obtain the expected result, he ordered that the author be hit on the head with his own books. The order was carried out and the blows led to a loss of vision. However, there is a century’s difference between this prince and Rhazes. In any case. he was very likely to have had a cataract, like many people of his age, as he died very old. H started his medical studies as an adult. He wrote several encyclopedias. Amongst his books, we can mention the Hawi (Continens) consisting of 30 volumes, the Mansuri, The Division and the Branches

Hunayn ibn ishaq

Hunayn Ibn Ishaq· 809-870

The Period of Translation
In general, the historians divide the History of Arab Medicine into 3 periods:

1. That of Translation
2. That of Creation (10th Century)
3. That of Decadence: beginning with the Mongol invasion in the 13th century.

In fact, the first scientific translations were made under the reign of Prince Omeyyade Khaled lbn Yazid, the grandson of the founder of the Muawiyya dynasty. He brought scholars from Alexandria and ordered them to translate western books. There were also centres of translation in Antioch, Damascus and Baghdad. The higpoint of translation was in Baghdad itself, in the House of Wisdom (analogous to the French Academy of Science and Literature), created by AI-Mamun in 215 after the Hegira. Hunayn, a Nestorian Christian with Syrian as his mother tongue, was the chief translator. His master, the eccentric Mosue, found him to be a poor student and dismissed him from the class. But Hunayn continued to work. He went to Greece and Byzantium and returned with precious manuscripts to become a master in Greek, Syrian and Arabic. His former teacher presented his apologies and dedicaced his book the Axioms to him. Hunayn became President of the House of Wisdom and gathered a group of translators who set to work with the encouragement of the Caliph who paid the translators by the weight in gold of their work. Amongst Hunayn’s colleagues, we can mention Hubeish (his nephew), Ishaq (his son), Astaphane lbn Basil, Mussa lbn Khaled and Yahya lbn Harun.

Hunayn initially translated Greek into Syrian and then into Arabic. Later, he translated directly into Arabic. His method consisted in collecting a large number of manuscripts, comparing them and then translating the text in a clear, simple, precise style, according to the meaning of the sentence and not word for word. He also reviewed the translations of his youth and of his predecessors such as Sergius, Ayub Ar-Rahawi and those of his students. He is particularly remembered for his translations and commentaries of the works of Galien. He was a man of great moral character which provoked the jealousy of his colleagues and his religious brethren and caused him serious problems. The Caliph, Al Mutawakkel, was afraid of being poisoned and asked Hunayn to show him a poison. Hunayn refused on two grounds: a religious reason and an ethical reason.

The Caliph immediately ordered his imprisonment, but later released him when he saw that Hunayn obstinately refused. Hunayn was imprisoned again after being accused of heresy by two of his colleagues. This accusation was confirmed by the Djathliq (bishop) of the Christians. However, after the death of the Caliph, Hunayn was able to lead a calm and fruitful life until his death. He translated 50 books into Syrian, 12 books directly into Arabic and 22 books into Syrian and then into Arabic: that is, a total of 92 books. He also edited commentated versions of 15 other books of Hippocrates and all of the books of Galien. His best known works, which have already been published, are Questions for Students and Ten Lectures.

Hasan Ibn al-Haytham

Known as Al-Hazen, he was an Arab mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age. Sometimes called “the father of modern optics”, he made significant contributions to the principles of optics and visual perception in particular, his most influential work being his Kitāb al-Manāẓir (كتاب المناظر, “Book of Optics”), written during 1011–1021, which survived in the Latin edition. A polymath, he also wrote on philosophy, theology and medicine.

Ibn al-Haytham was the first to explain that vision occurs when light bounces on an object and then is directed to one’s eyes. He was also an early proponent of the concept that a hypothesis must be proved by experiments based on confirmable procedures or mathematical evidence—hence understanding the scientific method five centuries before Renaissance scientists. 

Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi

Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, formerly Latinized as Algorithmi, was a Persian scholar who produced works in mathematics, astronomy, and geography under the patronage of the Caliph Al-Ma’mun of the Abbasid Caliphate. Around 820 AD he was appointed as the astronomer and head of the library of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.

Al-Khwarizmi’s popularizing treatise on algebra (The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, ca. 813–833 CE) presented the first systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations. One of his principal achievements in algebra was his demonstration of how to solve quadratic equations by completing the square, for which he provided geometric justifications. Because he was the first to treat algebra as an independent discipline and introduced the methods of “reduction” and “balancing” (the transposition of subtracted terms to the other side of an equation, that is, the cancellation of like terms on opposite sides of the equation),[9] he has been described as the father or founder of algebra. The term algebra itself comes from the title of his book (specifically the word al-jabr meaning “completion” or “rejoining”). His name gave rise to the terms Algorism and algorithm. His name is also the origin of (Spanish) guarismo and of (Portuguese) algarismo, both meaning digit.

The image is a stamp issued September 6, 1983 in the Soviet Union, commemorating al-Khwārizmī’s (approximate) 1200th birthday.

Ibn Ruchd· (Averroes) · 1210-1288

​The American historian Georges Sarton divided Arab scholars into doctor philo-sophers and philosopher doctors. In fact, the majority of doctors at this time were interested simultaneously in medicine and philosophy. Some philosophers were very involved in medicine. Such was the case of Rhazes. However, Avicenne and Averroes were more interested in philosophy. Some authors claim that there were two schools, a western school (Andalousia) with Avenzoar at its head, who was never interested in philosophy and an eastern school, according to which one had to be both doctor and philosopher. Averroes was the disciple of Avenzoar, but was, nevertheless, a philosopher! For muslims, in fact, there is no barrier between science and morality.
lbn Ruchd, also known as Abu Walid Muhammad lbn Ahmad lbn Ruchd, was born in Cordoba (where there is still a statue of him) at the height of this city’s civilisation. His father and his grandfather were Cadis (judges). He received an education destined for the same profession. His life had its ups and downs, like Avicenne’s. He served two sultans; the second, Ya’qub lbn Mansur initially showered him with gifts and titles and then ordered his exile to Morocco and had all his books burned in the public square.

lhn Ruchd was courageous and defended his ideas strongly. He tried to reconcile the spirit with religion. His writings influenced Maimonides and St Thomas Aquinas. His doctrine is known by the name of Averroism. The famous Italian Renaissance painter, Raphael, represented him in his painting The School of Athens .
He was a poet and was interested in astronomy. He commentated The Poem of Medicine , which is considered to be the best commentary of the many which have been written on the subject. His best known medical book is the Colligete , consisting of 7 volumes. It was translated into Latin. He described the retina and he stated that one could not catch smallpox twice. This book was published on two occasions, in 1482 and in 1552.
He was a clever doctor who had a thorough knowledge of medical science. He died at the age of 72 in Marrakech in Morocco. His remains were later transferred In Cordoba.

Abdul Kassem Zahrawi · (Zahravuns or Belcassis) · 936-1036

​Arab scholars made spectacular advances in surgery. In fact, the Arabs already used a number ofstupefiants as a form of anaesthesia : opium poppy, mandrake, Indian hemp, belladonna, hyosciamine, etc… They invented the anaesthesic sponge: a sponge was dipped into a mixture of all of these substances and was allowed to dry in the sun. To anaesthetize a patient, the sponge was dipped in water and placed over the patient’s nose and the patient fell asleep immediately. Bellows or a so-called Irish shower (warm water then cold water) were used to waken the patient. According to the books on Arab Medicine, such as the Continens of Razes, each hospital had its own surgeon. Amongst the scholars interested in surgery, Ali Abbas described, for the first time, the capillaries, in his book Regis Liber . Abn Al Qoff also wrote a book on surgery entitled The Column of Surgery . Belcassis is the most famous and best known surgeon in the West.

He was born in Zahra, a small town near Cordoba, which was built in 936 by the Caliph Abdul Rahmane III to which he gave the name of his beloved. Zahraoui lived in Cordoba, a very flourishing town, with a population of one million Arabs. In this town, there were 59 hospitals and 70 libraries, including that of the Caliph which alone contained 225.000 volumes. The school of Cordoue enjoyed a great scientific reputation which even exceeded that of Baghdad, Toledo and Seville. We know very little about the life of this surgeon, except that he was the personal physician of Abdul Rhamane. His book At-Tasrif was distributed throughout the world. It was an encyclopedia of 30 books treating all of the diseases, from head to foot, as well as a pharmacopoeia.
The 30th book is the most well known, as it is devoted entirely to surgery. It describes the many instruments and techniques invented by its author. It was translated into Latin, Hebrew and even Occitan. A Latin version appearead in 1519 and in 1530. It was re-translated and reprinted on several occasions. It is first book in the History of Medicine which includes very detailed drawings (which vary in number from 175 to 200, in the different manuscripts). Belcassis completed the work of his predecessors by his numerous experiments, operations and inventions. He was no doubt the greatest surgeon of the Middle Ages.
His book was the basis for the books written by Roger of Palermo, Guillaume or Salictioliand by the great French surgeon, Guy de Chauliac who quoted it more than 200 times in his book entitled Great surgery which is the basis for the whole of Western surgery. Belcassis described haemophilia, pitting oedema, the technique of detecting ascites by percussion, measurement of the cervix of the uterus, the vaginal examination, the differential diagnosis between normal and pathological pregnancy, etc… In the Green Amphitheatre of the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, there is a picture of him, together with Avicenne and Rhazes.

Ibn An Nafis · 1219-1288

Ala’ Id-Dine Abul-Hassan Ali lbn Abi AI-Hazm AI-Qaraschi was born in a village near Damascus. He lived during the reign ofAdel Seif Ed-Dine. He was guided in his studies by Ad-Dakwar. He was brought up in a sophisticated scientific environment. His fame spread as far as Egypt, where King Kamel invited him. Very great doctors like Ali lbn Radwane, lbn Hadjij, Maimonides and lbn Al Bitar were practicing in Cairo at this time. Because of his abilities, lbn An-Nafis reached a high level in the medical hierarchy of the time. He was extremely modest and courteous. He remained unmarried. He studied and taught medical and religious sciences.
He was a very prolific writer. When he was in the mood, he wrote without stopping. His students sharpened his pencils (or rather his rushes) so that he did not have to stop. It is even said that he once got out of his bath to write a text. At his death, he left all of his belongings to the Al Mansuri hospital in Cairo.
He had a bold and open approach when he criticized Galien an Avicenne, based on scientific logic and his own experience. Thus, he said : We would like (in this book) to arrange the findings and to discuss them in terms of our experience, by putting truth above all else, in order to reject the false and to remove its traces .
He also wrote: To understand the physiology, we depend on experience and precise research, without worrying about wether that corresponds to the ideas of those who have gone before or not and this is false as we have clearly explained and This is a lie and impossible and Dissection denies that etc… These sentences suggest that he dissected huma cadavers. In fact, his book Commen-taries on the Anatomy of Avicenne presents many new facts which were unknown before him, such as the discovery of the small circulation, which was recognized all over the world, dissection of the bile ducts, the optic nerve chiasma, etc…
We have the honour to publish a critical edition of this important work. We should also mention the 300 volumes of his book Ash-Shamel ; he died before being able to revise it.

Below is a list of well known scientists throughout history:

Astronomers

  • Sind ibn Ali (?-864)
  • Ali Qushji (1403-1474)
  • Ahmad Khani (1650-1707)
  • Ibrahim al-Fazari (?-777)
  • Muhammad al-Fazari (?-796 or 806)
  • Al-Khwarizmi, Mathematician (c. 780-c. 850)
  • Abu Ma’shar al-Balkhi (Albumasar) (787-886 CE)
  • Al-Farghani (800/805-870)
  • Banū Mūsā (Ben Mousa) (9th century)
  • Dīnawarī (815-896)
  • Al-Majriti (d. 1008 or 1007 CE)
  • Al-Battani (c. 858-929) (Albatenius)
  • Al-Farabi (c. 872-c. 950) (Abunaser)
  • Abd Al-Rahman Al Sufi (903-986)
  • Abu Sa’id Gorgani (9th century)
  • Kushyar ibn Labban (971-1029)
  • Abū Ja’far al-Khāzin (900-971)
  • Al-Mahani (8th century)
  • Al-Marwazi (9th century)
  • Al-Nayrizi (865-922)
  • Al-Saghani (d. 990)
  • Al-Farghani (9th century)
  • Abu Nasr Mansur (970-1036)
  • Abū Sahl al-Qūhī (10th century) (Kuhi)
  • Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi (940-1000)
  • Abū al-Wafā’ al-Būzjānī (940-998)
  • Ibn Yunus (950-1009)
  • Ibn al-Haytham (965-1040) (Alhacen)
  • Bīrūnī (973-1048)
  • Avicenna (980-1037) (Ibn Sīnā)
  • Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (1029-1087) (Arzachel)
  • Omar Khayyám (1048-1131)
  • Al-Khazini (fl. 1115-1130)
  • Ibn Bajjah (1095-1138) (Avempace)
  • Ibn Tufail (1105-1185) (Abubacer)
  • Nur Ed-Din Al Betrugi (12th century-1204) (Alpetragius)
  • Averroes (1126-1198)
  • Al-Jazari (1136-1206)
  • Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tūsī (died 1213/4)
  • Anvari (1126-1189)
  • Mo’ayyeduddin Urdi (died 1566)
  • Nasir al-Din Tusi (1201-1274)
  • Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (1236-1311)
  • Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī (1250-1310)
  • Ibn al-Shatir (1304-1375)
  • Shams al-Dīn Abū Abd Allāh al-Khalīlī (1320-80)
  • Jamshīd al-Kāshī (1380-1429)
  • Ulugh Beg (1394-1449)
  • Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma’ruf (1526-1585)
  • Ahmad Nahavandi (8th and 9th centuries)
  • Haly Abenragel (10th and 11th century)
  • Abolfadl Harawi (10th century)
  • Mu’ayyad al-Din al-‘Urdi (1200-1266)

Mathematicians

  • Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda (1926 Tokyo–2003 Ankara)
  • Cahit Arf (1910 Selanik (Thessaloniki)–1997 Istanbul)
  • Ali Qushji
  • Al-Hajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Matar
  • Khalid ibn Yazid (Calid)
  • Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (Algorismi), father of algebra[35] and algorithms[36]
  • ‘Abd al-Hamīd ibn Turk
  • Abū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī (1412–1482), pioneer of symbolic algebra[37]
  • Abū Kāmil Shujā ibn Aslam
  • Al-Abbās ibn Said al-Jawharī
  • Al-Kindi (Alkindus)
  • Banū Mūsā (Ben Mousa)
  • Al-Khwarizmi
  • Al-Mahani
  • Ahmed ibn Yusuf
  • Al-Majriti
  • Al-Battani (Albatenius)
  • Al-Farabi (Abunaser)
  • Al-Nayrizi
  • Abū Ja’far al-Khāzin
  • Brethren of Purity
  • Abu’l-Hasan al-Uqlidisi
  • Al-Saghani
  • Abū Sahl al-Qūhī
  • Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi
  • Abū al-Wafā’ al-Būzjānī
  • Ibn Sahl
  • Al-Sijzi
  • Ibn Yunus
  • Abu Nasr Mansur
  • Kushyar ibn Labban
  • Al-Karaji
  • Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen/Alhazen)
  • Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī
  • Ibn Tahir al-Baghdadi
  • Al-Nasawi
  • Al-Jayyani
  • Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Arzachel)
  • Al-Mu’taman ibn Hud
  • Omar Khayyám
  • Al-Khazini
  • Ibn Bajjah (Avempace)
  • Al-Ghazali (Algazel)
  • Al-Marrakushi
  • Al-Samawal
  • Ibn Rushd (Averroes)
  • Ibn Seena (Avicenna)
  • Hunayn ibn Ishaq
  • Ibn al-Banna’
  • Ibn al-Shatir
  • Ja’far ibn Muhammad Abu Ma’shar al-Balkhi (Albumasar)
  • Jamshīd al-Kāshī
  • Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī
  • Muḥyi al-Dīn al-Maghribī
  • Mo’ayyeduddin Urdi
  • Muhammad Baqir Yazdi
  • Nasir al-Din al-Tusi – 13th century Persian mathematician and philosopher
  • Qāḍī Zāda al-Rūmī
  • Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi
  • Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī
  • Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tūsī
  • Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma’ruf
  • Ulugh Beg
  • Al-Samawal al-Maghribi (1130–1180)

Biologist, Neuroscientists, and Psychologists

  • Aziz Sancar, Turkish biochemist, the first Muslim biologist awarded the Nobel Prize
  • Ahmad-Reza Dehpour (1948- ), Iranian pharmacologist
  • Ibn Sirin (654-728), author of work on dreams and dream interpretation[1]
  • Al-Kindi (Alkindus), pioneer of psychotherapy and music therapy[2]
  • Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari, pioneer of psychiatry, clinical psychiatry and clinical psychology[3]
  • Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi, pioneer of mental health,[4] medical psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive therapy, psychophysiology and psychosomatic medicine[5]
  • Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), pioneer of social psychology and consciousness studies[6]
    Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi (Haly Abbas), pioneer of neuroanatomy, neurobiology and neurophysiology[6]
  • Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis), pioneer of neurosurgery[7]
  • Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), founder of experimental psychology, psychophysics, phenomenology and visual perception[8]
  • Al-Biruni, pioneer of reaction time[9]
    Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā), pioneer of neuropsychiatry,[10] thought experiment, self-awareness and self-consciousness[11]
  • Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), pioneer of neurology and neuropharmacology[7]
    Syed Ziaur Rahman, pioneer of Environmental Pharmacovigilance
    Averroes, pioneer of Parkinson’s disease[7]
  • Ibn Tufail, pioneer of tabula rasa and nature versus nurture[12]
  • Mohammad Samir Hossain, theorist,[13] author and one of the few Muslim scientists[14] in the field of death anxiety research[15][16]

Economists and Social Scientists

  • Aziz Sancar, Turkish biochemist, the first Muslim biologist awarded the Nobel Prize
  • Ahmad-Reza Dehpour (1948- ), Iranian pharmacologist
  • Ibn Sirin (654-728), author of work on dreams and dream interpretation[1]
  • Al-Kindi (Alkindus), pioneer of psychotherapy and music therapy[2]
  • Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari, pioneer of psychiatry, clinical psychiatry and clinical psychology[3]
  • Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi, pioneer of mental health,[4] medical psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive therapy, psychophysiology and psychosomatic medicine[5]
  • Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), pioneer of social psychology and consciousness studies[6]
  • Ali ibAbu Hanifa an-Nu‘man (699–767), Islamic jurisprudence scholar
  • Abu Yusuf (731–798), Islamic jurisprudence scholar
  • Al-Saghani (d. 990), one of the earliest historians of science[21]
  • Shams al-Mo’ali Abol-hasan Ghaboos ibn Wushmgir (Qabus) (d. 1012), economist
  • Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973–1048), considered the “first anthropologist”[22] and father of Indology[23]
  • Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) (980–1037), economist
  • Ibn Miskawayh (b. 1030), economist
  • Al-Ghazali (Algazel) (1058–1111), economist
  • Al-Mawardi (1075–1158), economist
  • Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī (Tusi) (1201–1274), economist
  • Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288), sociologist
  • Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328), economist
  • Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406), forerunner of social sciences[24] such as demography,[25] cultural history,[26] historiography,[27] philosophy of history,[28] sociology[25][28] and economics[29][30]
  • Al-Maqrizi (1364–1442), economist
  • Akhtar Hameed Khan, Pakistani social scientist; pioneer of microcredit
  • Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize winner Bangladeshi economist; pioneer of microfinance
  • Shah Abdul Hannan, pioneer of Islamic banking in South Asia
  • Mahbub ul Haq, Pakistani economist; developer of Human Development Index and founder of Human Development Report[31][32]

Philosophers

  • Al-Kindi
  • Averroes
  • Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi
  • Al-Farabi
  • Avicenna
  • Ibn Arabi
  • Rumi
  • Jami
  • Ibn Khaldun
  • Mir Damad
  • Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
  • Muhammad Iqbal
  • Quassim Cassam
  • Allama Muhammad Iqbal

Political Scientists

  • Shah Waliullah Dehlawi
  • Taqiuddin al-Nabhani
  • Syed Qutb
  • Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr
  • Abul Ala Maududi
  • Hasan al-Turabi
  • Hassan al-Banna
  • Mohamed Hassanein Heikal
  • M. A. Muqtedar Khan
  • Rashid al-Ghannushi
  • Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb
  • Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
  • Mohammad Ali Jinnah
  • Allama Muhammad Iqbal

Chemists and Alchemists

  • Aziz Sancar, Turkish biochemist, the first Muslim biologist awarded the Nobel Prize
  • Ahmad-Reza Dehpour (1948- ), Iranian pharmacologist
  • Ibn Sirin (654-728), author of work on dreams and dream interpretation[1]
  • Al-Kindi (Alkindus), pioneer of psychotherapy and music therapy[2]
  • Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari, pioneer of psychiatry, clinical psychiatry and clinical psychology[3]
  • Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi, pioneer of mental health,[4] medical psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive therapy, psychophysiology and psychosomatic medicine[5]
  • Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), pioneer of social psyc Khalid ibn Yazid (died 704) (Calid)
  • Jafar al-Sadiq (702-765)
  • Jābir ibn Hayyān (721-815) (Geber), father of chemistry[17][18][19]
  • Abbas Ibn Firnas (810-887) (Armen Firman)
  • Al-Kindi (801-873) (Alkindus)
  • Al-Majriti (fl. 1007-1008)
  • Ibn Miskawayh (932-1030)
  • Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973-1048)
  • Avicenna (980-1037)
  • Al-Khazini (fl. 1115-1130)
  • Nasir al-Din Tusi (1201-1274)
  • Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)
  • Salimuzzaman Siddiqui (1897-1994)
  • Al-Khwārizmī (780-850), algebra, mathematics
  • Ahmed H. Zewail (1946-2016), Egyptian Chemist and 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry[20]
  • Abbas Shafiee (1937-2016)
  • Mostafa El-Sayed (1933- )
  • Abdul Qadeer Khan (1936- )
  • Atta ur Rahman
  • Omar M. Yaghi (1965- )
  • Sara Akbar

Geographers and Earth Scientists

  • Al-Masudi, the “Herodotus of the Arabs”, and pioneer of historical geography[33]
  • Al-Kindi, pioneer of environmental science[34]
  • Ibn Al-Jazzar
  • Al-Tamimi
  • Al-Masihi
  • Ali ibn Ridwan
  • Muhammad al-Idrisi, also a cartographer
  • Ahmad ibn Fadlan
  • Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, father of geodesy,[22][25] considered the first geologist and “first anthropologist”[22]
  • Avicenna
  • Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi
  • Averroes
  • Ibn al-Nafis
  • Ibn Jubayr
  • Ibn Battuta
  • Ibn Khaldun
  • Piri Reis
  • Evliya Çelebi

Physicians and Surgeons

  • Mimar Sinan (1489-1588), also known as Koca Mi’mâr Sinân Âğâ
  • Jafar al-Sadiq, 8th century
  • Banū Mūsā (Ben Mousa), 9th century
  • Ja’far Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir
  • Ahmad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir
  • Al-Hasan ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir
  • Abbas Ibn Firnas (Armen Firman), 9th century
  • Al-Saghani (d. 990)
  • Abū Sahl al-Qūhī (Kuhi), 10th century
  • Ibn Sahl, 10th century
  • Ibn Yunus, 10th century
  • Al-Karaji, 10th century
  • Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen), 11th century Iraqi scientist, father of optics,[38] and experimental physics,[39] considered the “first scientist”[40]
  • Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, 11th century, pioneer of experimental mechanics[41]
  • Ibn Sīnā/Seena (Avicenna), 11th century
  • Al-Khazini, 12th century
  • Ibn Bajjah (Avempace), 12th century
  • Hibat Allah Abu’l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi (Nathanel), 12th century
  • Ibn Rushd/Rooshd (Averroes), 12th century Andalusian mathematician, philosopher and medical expert
  • Al-Jazari, 13th century civil engineer,
  • Nasir al-Din Tusi, 13th century
  • Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi, 13th century
  • Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī, 13th century
  • Ibn al-Shatir, 14th century
  • Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma’ruf, 16th century
  • Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi, 17th century
  • Lagari Hasan Çelebi, 17th century
  • Sake Dean Mahomet, 18th century
  • Abdus Salam, 20th century Pakistani physicist, winner of Nobel Prize in 1979
  • Fazlur Khan, 20th century Bangladeshi Structural Engineer
  • Mahmoud Hessaby, 20th century Iranian physicist
  • Ali Javan, 20th century Iranian physicist
  • B. J. Habibie, 20th century Indonesian aerospace engineer and president
  • Abdul Kalam, Indian aeronautical engineer, nuclear scientist and the 11th President of India
  • Mehran Kardar, Iranian theoretical physicist
  • Munir Nayfeh Palestinian-American particle physicist
  • Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistani metallurgist and nuclear scientist
  • Riazuddin, Pakistani theoretical physicist
  • Samar Mubarakmand, Pakistani nuclear scientist known for his research in gamma spectroscopy and experimental development of the linear accelerator
  • Shahid Hussain Bokhari, Pakistani researcher in the field of parallel and distributed computing
  • Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, Pakistani nuclear engineer and nuclear physicist
  • Ali Musharafa, Egyptian nuclear physicist
  • Sameera Moussa, Egyptian nuclear physicist
  • Munir Ahmed Khan, Pakistani nuclear scientist
  • Kerim Kerimov, founder of Soviet space program, a lead architect behind first human spaceflight (Vostok 1), and the lead architect of the first space stations (Salyut and Mir)[42][43]
  • Farouk El-Baz, NASA scientist involved in the first Moon landings with the Apollo program[44]
  • Cumrun Vafa, Iranian theoretical physicist and string theorist
  • Jamal Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi mathematical physicist and cosmologist

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