Map of Major Contributions in Mus lim Civilization

Dar al-l slam, or the Muslim world, stretched over three vast continents, from Toledo in Spain, th!:_ough Arabia
and Indonesia to China, and as far south as East Africa. It reached its peak in the 12th century,_ nder the
Abbasids. Cities in the Middle East and Spain became global centers of culture, trade, and learning. Their
�
atmosphere of tolerance and creativity stimulated groundbreaking advances in medicine, engi eering, philoso­
phy, mathematics, astronomy, and architecture. Explore the map below to see what happened, where-and when. .._

World Map
Al-ldrisi (1099-1166)
Moscow.
Al-ldrisi was wmmissioned by the
Norman king of Sicily, Roger II, to
make a map. He produced an atlas
Gothic Rib Vaulting
of]o maps called the Book of Roger,
(1000)
London. showing that the Earth was round,
The gothic ribs of the Toledo and C6rdoba Mosque which was a common notion held by
vaults inspired European architects and their patrons to Muslim scholars.
adopt them in the Romanesque and Gothic movements. Paris. [page 236]
[page 199)

Surgical Instruments
AI-Zahrawi (936-1013)
Cutting-edge surgeon AI-Zahrawi introduced more
than 200 surgical tools that revolutionized medical
Istanbul .
science. These instruments would not look out of
place in today's 21st-century hospitals. Toledo
[page 158]
C6rdoba Diyarbakir ..
• Granada
Tunis
- ---------------------------------------------.Tangier
�� �
Exploration
.Fez
Ibn Battuta (1304-1368/70)
Ibn Battuta traveled more than
Foundation of Sociology and Economics
75,000 miles in 29 years
through more than 40 modern Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)
Horseshoe Arch
countries, compiling one of the This man traced the rise and fall of human
(715)
best eyewitness accounts of the societies in a science of civilization,
customs and practices of the recording it all in his famous Resembling a horseshoe, this arch was
medieval world. AI-Muqaddimah, or Introduction to a History
first used in the Umayyad Great
[page 250] of the World, which forms the basis of
Mosque of Damascus. In Britain, it is
sociology and economic theory. known as the Moorish arch and was
[page 262] popular in Victorian times; it was often Mecca.
used in railway station entrances.
[page 195]

AI-Nuri Hospital
(1156)
Hospitals provided free health care to
all. AI-Nuri was an immense and
sophisticated hospital where druggists,
barbers, orthopedists, oculists, and
physicians were all examined by
"market inspectors" to make sure they
met the highest standards.
[page 154]

Blood Circulation Pointed Arch

Ibn ai-Nafis (1210-1288) (ninth century) Ibn a-Haytham (965-1039)
Ibn ai-Nafis of Egypt first described The pointed arch concept, on which In a darkened room (qamara in Castles
pulmonary circulation of venous Gothic architecture is based, came to Arabic), Ibn ai-Haytham observed
(12th century)
blood passing into the heart and Europe from Egypt's beautiful Ibn light coming through a small hole in
lungs via the ventricles, thus Tulun Mosque of Cairo via Sicily with the window shutters producing an The invincible design of the castles of Syria
becoming oxygenated and arterial Amalfitan merchants. It enabled upside-down image on the opposite and Jerusalem were i itated in Western
blood. He was finally accredited European architects to overcome wall. This early pinhole camera has lands with key features like rou�d towers,
with this discovery in 1957. problems in Romanesque vaulting. led to the cameras of today. arrow slits, barbicans, machicolations,
[page 166] [page 196] [page 56] parapets, and battlements.
[page 210]
 Chemistry
(722-815)
This was a period when chemical instruments
and processes that form the basis of today's

J
chemistry were created and developed. jabir
ibn Hayyan discovered vitally important acids

)
like sulfuric, nitric, and nitromuriatic acid,
while AI-Razi set up a modern laboratory,
designing and using more than 20 instruments Cryptology
like the crucible and still. AI-Kindi (801-873)
[page go] Second World War problem solvers carried on
Water-Raising Machine
the code-breaking tradition first written about
Al-jazari (early 13th century) Trick Devices by polymath AI-Kindi from Baghdad when he
AI-Jazari's greatest legacy is the application (ninth century) described tequency analysis and laid the
of the crank and connecting-rod system, Three brothers, the Banu Musa brothers, were foundatio of cryptography.
which transmits rotary motion into linear great mathematicians who funded the [page :L58]
motion. His machines were able to raise translation of Greek scientific treatises; they
huge amounts of water without anyone also invented fabulous trick devices that, some Distillation (

l
lifting a finger. say, are precursors to executive toys. jabir ibn Hayyan (722-815)
[page 121]
(page 52] Jabir ibn Hayyan perfected the distillation
process using the alembic still, which is still
J

r
House of Wisdom used today. The Muslim world produced rose
(eighth-fourteenth century) water, essential oils, and pure alcohol for
medical use. Today, distillation has given us
This immense scientific academy was the
products ranging from plastics to gasoline. I
I
brainchild of four generations of caliphs who
drew together the cream of Muslim scholars. It [page 92]
Khwarizm
was an unrivaled center for the study of
humanities and for sciences, where the
greatest collection of worldly knowledge was !
accumulated and developed.
[page 72]

Baghdad

Kufa

)
Canton.

Algebra
)
AI-Khwarizmi (78o-85o)
Shampooing
AI-Khwarizmi introduced the beginnings of
Sake Dean Mohamed (18th century)
algebra; it then developed into a form still
used today by many who lived after him. Shampooing was introduced to Britain at .I
.
Mocha
[page 84] Brighton by Sake Dean Mohamed, from
Patna, India, who became the "Shampoo­
ing Surgeon" to King George IV and King
William IV.
[page 51]

Coffee
(eighth century)
Khalid the goat herder noticed his excitable I
animals had eaten red berries, which led to
the early Arabic drink al-qahwa. Coffee 1
drinking flourished across the Muslim
world in the 1500s and spread to Europe
through trade in 1637.
[page 36]

Lands encompassed by Muslim

civilization at various times from
the seventh century onward.
 • M U S L I M EVENTS
• E U ROPEAN EVENTS
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..

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Gold Mancus
787
11!1
Building begins of the G reat
Mosque of Cordoba.

Distillation 786
Caliph Harun al-Rashid
�
l
establishes the House of
Wisdom in Baghdad.

785 . .... . ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . . . .. �

. . .. . .

King Offa mints a Gold

Mancus coin, imitating the
gold dinar of Caliph
Astrolabe al-Mansur. 813
ca 722 Caliph Al-Ma'mun expands
Jabir ibn Hayyan is born. ca 777 the House of Wisdom;
He is considered the Astrolabe maker and the translation movement
"father of chemistry." astronomer Al-Fazari dies. intensif:tes.

1 1.1 1.1.1 T.l l l lli iJi li.I.I.LI.I.LI I I I I J IITI I I I II

750 795 828

Abbasids overthrow the First mention of a paper Abu Mansur opens
Umayyads and in 762 build a mill in Baghdad. Al-Shammasiyah
new capital in Baghdad. Spain
Boo Observatory, near Baghdad.
is ruled by an Umayyad
780 Caliph Harun al-Rashid
family descendant. Mathematician Al­ presents Charlemagne
Khwarizmi is born. His with a clock that strikes
book Algebr wal Muqabala the hour.
developed modern algebra.
801 ··· ...................................... .
Al-Kindi is born. He
was a mathematician,
philosopher, physicist,
chemist, and musician.

alf he {the teacher] is i ndeed

w ise he does not bid you ente r
the house o f h i s wisdo m, b u t
ra the r leads y o u t o the threshold
o fyour own mind.n
KHALIL GIBRAN I N HIS BOOK THE PROPHET

Al-Kindi
 Al-Razi, known as "Hippocrates of the Arabs"
•

Abbas ibn Firnas's flight

•

88 7 ................ :
Abbas ibn Firnas, pioneer
.................... 864 of unpowered flight, dies in
9 13
Cordoba.
Al-Razi (Rhazes) is born. Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtader issues
A physician, chemist, and 880 the nrst licensing regulation for
medical teacher, he is Physician and inspector of medical practice. He established
850 considered the "father of Baghdad hospitals Sinan ibn the hospital of Al-Muqtadiri in Bab
Banu Musa brothers clinical and experimental Thabit ibn Qurra is born. He al-Sham in Baghdad; his mother
publish their Book of medicine." His writings were started mobile hospital services established Al-Sayyida Hospital in
Ingenious Devices. later translated into Latin. for rural and Bedouin areas. Souq Yehia in Baghdad.

858 895 936

Astronomer Al-Battani Ibn al-Jazzar al-Qayrawani Surgeon Al-Zahrawi (Albucasis)
is born. He determined (Aljizar) is born. He wrote the is born in Cordoba. He renned
astronomical measurements nrst independent book on the science of surgery, invented
with accuracy. 8 72 pediatrics and social pediatrics: dozens of surgical instruments,
Ahmad ibn Toloun, Abbasid Risalah fi Siyasat as-Sibyan wa and wrote the nrst illustrated
859 governor of Egypt, establishes a Tadbirihim (A Treatise on Infant surgical book.
Al-Qarawiyin University hospital in Cairo known to be the and Child Care and Treatment).
in Fez is completed nrst to include a department for
900
by Fatima al-Fihri. mental diseases.
Fatimids rule Egypt and
North Africa, then, nine
years later, Sicily.

.. . . ... . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . .

Al-Zahrawi
 '" ,":"""' .� V

����.... �.:;_i.J) C{/j�

1..::.,fu • .lt.��.. ::..'e. ��;��;,
1
uThe World is a
book, and those
who do not travel
read only a page.''
ST. AUGUSTINE,

Al-Azhar University CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER

973
Al-Biruni is born. The
polymath, astronomer,
mathematician, and
geographer measured the
circumference of Earth 1009
Astronomer Ibn ......... ..... .
.......... ........ ....... .
972 Yunus dies in Cairo,
\ Al-Azhar University is leaving thousands
A mbabah, ancestor of the violin founded by the Fatimids of accurate records,
in Cairo. including 40 planetary
970 conjunctions and 30
950 Labna, a mathematician and lunar eclipses. Mapping the sun's position
Al-Farabi from Baghdad dies. A scientist, is appointed private
philosopher and musician, he secretary to the Umayyad
invented the ancestor of the violin. caliph Al-Hakim in Cordoba.

957 .. . . . . .. ................ 980 1050

Cartographer and writer Al­ Prince of physicians Constantine the African
Masudi describes his visit Ibn Sina (Avicenna) moves from Tunisia to
to the oil fields of Baku. is born. He wrote the Salerno, initiating the transfer
965 influential Canon of Islamic medicine to Europe.
Physicist Ibn al-Haytham of Medicine. ((Seek knowledge
is born. His discoveries and 987
theories revolutionized optics. Sutaita al-Mahamli, a from the cradle
mathematician and expert
to the grave." D E CO N S E R V A N D A
witness in courts, dies in B O N A V A L E T V D l N E,
Baghdad. Libcr Schob: Salcrnita no:.
MUSLIM PROVERB
999 ... .......... ........... ,
Building begins of Bab
Mardum Mosque in Toledo,
which uses a unique form
of rib vaulting.
.. .

DE ..t N JrN,,...., ,.+ T RE .U A T , .i T '' •

mtud;J quibufd.mJ gtntt4lib•.

C A P Y T /.
\·A a\orn�i fcribit fchola
.
tO•
�s�_;. ,
1 �in,olumcm , 1iri
srqeddctc{a- ,
QIIJI' . . .
�

3 �r�_,ir�I!I2f.a {
. .... � ·..

Ibn Sina's Canon Constantine the African

 Al-Khwarizmi

The Story of Hayy ibn Yaqzan �

1143
1085 1110 Robert of Chester translates
Christians take Toledo. A center at Ibn Tufa!, author the Quran and works of
Toledo is established, translating of Hayy ibn Yaqzan, Al-Khwarizmi.

1066 Arabic books into Latin. is born. 1140

The Norman Conquest of Daniel of Morley travels to
England begins a flow of Ibn Bassal's Book ofAgriculture Cordoba to learn mathematics
Muslim motifs and ideas revolutionizes farming. He is from and astronomy, returning to
into that country. Toledo, Spain. lecture at Oxford.

1065 1091 1126

The Nizamiyya madrasa, Abu Marwan ibn Zuhr Ibn Rushd (Averroes) is born.
the nrst school in Baghdad, (Avenzoar) is born. He is He wrote an extensive corpus
is established by Nizam a pioneer of experimental of philosophy in which he
al-Mulk, the Seljuk surgery and co-author, with stated signifi.cant theories 1145
minister who appointed Ibn Rushd (Averroes), of in epistemology, natural Jabir ibn Aflah invents an
distinguished philosopher an original encyclopedic philosophy, and metaphysics. observational instrument
and theologian Al-Ghazali medical text. His two An accomplished physician, known as the torquetum, a
as a professor. daughters became doctors. he wrote the famous treatise mechanical device to convert
Al-Kulliyat fi al-tib, known in between spherical
1096
Latin as the Colliget. coordinate systems.
The nrst Crusades begin.

1099 ......................................................... , 1154

Al-Idrisi is born. He il Nur al-Din Zangi establishes
produced a world map Al-Nuri Hospital in
for Norman king Roger Damascus, a large
II of Sicily. teaching hospital.

uwho so ever treats people (

�-

without knowledge of medicine)

becomes liable."
PROPHET MUHAMMAD, NARRATED
BY AL ·BUKHARI AND MUSLIM
 . .. . .. .. . . . . . . . .

1197
Botanist Ibn a!-Baytar
is born in Malaga.
He wrote a famous Botanical species
pharmacopeia. by Ibn al-Baytar
1187
Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi
(Saladin) regains Jerusalem. Traditional carpets
He established AI-Nasiri
�
Hospital in Cairo.

11 8 6
Queen Dhaifa Khatoon 1233 1255
is born in Aleppo, Syria. Ibn al-Quff is born. A Queen Eleanor, Castilian
She was the daughter-in- Christian surgeon and bride of King Edward I,
law to Saladin, author, he continued Al- brings Andalusian carpets
and a supporter of Zahrawi's efforts to develop to England in her dowry.
science and learning. surgery as a science and
1254
independent medical
11 8 5 specialty. He wrote Kitab
King Alfonso el Sabio 1260
Temple Church is built in establishes Latin and Roger Bacon publishes
al-Umda fi al-Jirahah (The
London by the Templars, Arabic colleges in Seville Secrets of Art and Nature
Main Pillars of Surgery).
imitating the Dome of and commissions the praising influences of
the Rock in Jerusalem. translation of Arabic texts. Muslim scholars.

1202 1256
Leonardo of Pisa, known Ibn abi al-Mahasin
as Fibonacci, introduces al-Halabi writes his
Arabic numerals and comprehensive scholarly
mathematics to Europe ...... .............................. 1250 and illustrated work on
in his book Liber Abaci. Mamluk dynasty rules Egypt eye diseases, Al-Kafi
after the Ayyubids and later fi al-Kuhl (The Book of
1206
defeats the Mongols. Sufficient Knowledge in
Al-Jazari completes
Ophthalmology).
his Book of Ingenious
Mechanical Devices. 125 8
1210 Mongols devastate
Ibn al-Naf:ts is born. He was and rule Baghdad and
a scholar of jurisprudence conquer Syria.
and doctor who was f:trst
to discover pulmonary
circulation. He wrote Al-
Seerah al-Kamiliyah refuting
the ideas of Ibn Tufayl's
novel Hayy ibn Yaqzan on
the oneness of existence.
((A nd the leaves o f the tree
1229 were for the healing and the
Robert Grosseteste, who
studied in Cordoba, restora tion of the nations.n
becomes f:trst chancellor
Mamluk lusterware
of Oxford University. He THE BIBLE, REVELATION 22:2
was elected bishop of
Lincoln in 1253-
 ({Beauty of style and
harmony and grace and
good rhythm depend on
simplici ty.n
PLATO, GREEK PHILOSOPHER

13 8 5
Serafeddin Sabuncuoglu is
born. An Ottoman surgeon,
he continued the work of
Al-Zahrawi and Ibn al-Quff
by writing an independent
Ibn Battuta surgical textbook.

13 83
Chemist Maryam
The Muqaddimah al-Zanatiyeh dies in
1293 ................... 1325 by Ibn Khaldun Qarawiyin, Tunisia.
The first paper mill Ibn Battuta leaves Tangier
outside Islamic Spain in on his 29-year journey. 1332
Europe is established Ibn Khaldun, the "father
in Bologna. of sociology," is born.

1267 1311 1330 134 7 .......... . -....... 1405

Marco Polo starts his 24- The Ecumenical Council Giotto's painting "Madonna The Black Death reaches Zheng He starts his seven
year journey of Vienne decides to and Child" uses tiraz, bands Alexandria and Cairo epic sea voyages from China.
establish schools of of Arabic inscriptions, from Europe. In the largest wooden boats
12 8 4
Arabic and Islamic studies which mark royal garments the world had seen, he
Al-Mansuri Hospital in 1354
at universities in Paris, and other textiles from the established China as a leading
Cairo is completed after 11 Emir Mohammed V builds
Oxford, Bologna, and Muslim world. power in the Indian Ocean,
months of construction. the Lion Fountain, a water­
Salamanca. brought back exotic species
powered clock, in the
like the giraffe, and drew
Alhambra.
tribute from many nations.

Lion Fountain
 Detail of Piri Reis's map
1!1

1437 1492
Ulugh Beg publishes his Christopher Columbus lands
star catalog. in the New World.

1432 14 8 9
Ibn Majid is born in Arabia. Koca Mimar Sinan is born.
He was a master navigator A renowned architect, he 1513
and is said to have guided built Turkey's Selimiye and Piri Reis constructs the
Vasco da Gama from South Suleymaniye mosques, as earliest known map
Africa to India. well as many others. showing America.

1452 ......................... . 1497 ...................... 1543

,
Leonardo da Vinci is born. Venice publishes a � Nicolaus Copernicus
'
He was a major contributor translation of Al-Tasrifby publishes De Revolutionibus,
to the foundation of Al-Zahrawi. Basel and drawing on the work of
the Renaissance. Oxford follow suit. Nasir al·Din al-Tusi and
Ibn al-Shatir.

((The earth is like

a beautifu l
bride who needs no
man-made
jewels to he ighten
her loveliness."
KHALIL GIBRAN, LEBANESE WRITER

Leonardo da Vinci
 ((If anyone trave ls
on a road in search
of knowledge) Allah w i ll
cause him to travel on one
of the roads of Paradise.))
PROPHET MUHAMMAD,
NARRATED BY ABU AL-DARDAH

1611
Polish astronomer
Latin translation of Canon
1571 Johannes Hevelius is born.
Johannes Kepler is born. He In the frontispiece of his
drew on the work of 1593 Selenographia (Gdansk,
Ibn al-Haytham in his work The Canon of Ibn Sina is 1647), he depicted Ibn al­
on optics. printed in Rome and, along Haytham as symbolizing
with Al-Hawi by Al-Razi, knowledge through reason,
becomes a standard text and Galilee Galilei as
1564 in the European medical symbolizing knowledge
Galilee Galilei is born. curriculum. through the senses.

155 8 1577 1604

The first German, and Istanbul observatory of Taqi Edward Pococke is born.
probably European, al-Din is founded. It will close He spent five years in
observatory is built in Kassel. a few years later, in 1580. Aleppo learning Arabic;
he also translated Hayy ibn 1616
Yaqzan, a precursor to John Wallis is born.
Robinson Crusoe. A renowned mathematician
1606 and member of the Royal
Edmund Castell is born. Society in London, he
He lectured on the use of translated and lectured
Avicenna's medical work. on the work of Arabic
For more than 18 years, he mathematicians. He included
compiled a dictionary of Al-Tusi's work in his Opera
seven Asian languages. Mathematica.
1627
Robert Boyle, England's
most famous chemist, is
born. He sought Arabic
manuscripts and had
them translated.
 Lagari Hasan Celebi's rocket flight "The Cow-Pock" by James Gillray
• •
1664 1729
At the request of Hevelius, Tripoli ambassador
the Royal Society agrees to in England Cassem
translate the astronomical Aga writes about the
1634 manuscript of Ulugh Beg widespread practice of
King C harles I requests from Persian to Latin smallpox inoculation
that the Levant Company in its entirety. in North Africa and
send home Arabic is elected a fellow
1656
manuscripts on every ship of Royal Society in
Scientist and astronomer
returning to England. 1682 London.
Edmund Halley is born. He
1633 ..................: translated Arabic editions Moroccan ambassador to
Lagari Hasan Celebi flies of G reek mathematics and London Muhammed Ibn 1796
the fust manned rocket researched observations Haddu is elected a fellow of Edward Jenner tests
over the Bosporus. of Al-Battani. the Royal Society in London. inoculation with cowpox.

1642 1678
Isaac Newton is born. He John G reeves publishes
kept a copy of the Latin a paper in the Royal
translation of Ibn al­ Society Philosophical
Haytham's Book of Optics Transactions on 1721 ··························· •
in his library Egyptians' use of Lady Mary Montagu tests
large ovens to hatch smallpox inoculation in
- ···· ···· . . . .
Turkis��� �����
e c : thousands of chicken
eggs at a time.
Britain, having witnessed the
practice in Turkey.
bring coffee to the
United Kingdom. 1725
Moroccan ambassador to
London Mohammed Ben Ali
Abgali is elected a fellow of
• the Royal Society in London.

''Anyone who wants to

Lady Mary
be a good docto r must Wortley Montagu
be an Avicennist.n
OLD EUROPEAN COMMON SAYING