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Mercy not slaughter When Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah in the squadron of the Ansar passed by Abu Sufyan he called out, 'Today is a day of slaughter. Today there is no more sanctuary. Today Allah has humbled the Quraysh.' When the Messenger of Allah's squadron came near Abu Sufyan, he complained, 'Messenger of Allah, did you not hear what Sa'd said?' 'What was that?' said the Messenger of Allah, and Abu Sufyan repeated what Sa'd had called out. The Messenger of Allah disliked Sa'd's comments and replied, 'Today is a day of mercy and forgiveness when Allah will exalt the Quraysh and raise honour [...]

ABU AL-NASR AL-FARABI (Al-Pharabius) (870 - 950 C.E.) Al-Farabi, known as Al-Phrarabius in the West, contributed to philosophy, logic, sociology and science. He was best known as the "Second Teacher" (al-Mou'allim al-Thani), Aristotle being the First. Abu Nasr Mohammad Ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi was born near Farab in Turkistan in 870 C.E. 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. Here, he studied several languages, science and technology, and philosophy. Also, he traveled to Damascus and Egypt for further studies. Al-Farabi died a bachelor in Damascus in 950 C.E. Al-Frabi was a Qadi (Judge) in the [...]

YAQUB IBN ISHAQ AL-KINDI (ALKINDUS) (800 - 873 C.E.) Al-Kindi is known in the West as Alkindus. He was popularly known as the 'Philosopher of the Arabs' in the Middle Ages. Cardano considered Al-Kindi as one of the twelve greatest minds of the Middle Ages. He is among a small group of Muslim scientists who made original contributions in many fields. Al-Kindi was a philosopher, astronomer, physician, mathematician, physicist, and geographer. He also was an expert in music. Yaqub Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi was born at Kufa (present Iraq) in 800 C.E. His father worked for Khalifah (Caliph) Haroon al-Rashid. Al-Kindi spent his long career in Baghdad and was a contemporary of al-Mutawakkil, al-Mamun and al-Mu'tasim. He died in 873 C.E. during [...]

ABU BAKR MUHAMMAD BIN ZAKARIYA AR-RAZI (Rhazes) (864 - 930 C.E.) George Sarton in the Introduction to the History of Science says that "Rhazes was the greatest physician of Islam and the Medieval Ages." The Encyclopedia of Islam remarks that "Rhazes remained up to the 17th century the undisputable authority of medicine." The Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO), May 1970, pays tribute to him by stating that "His writings on smallpox and measles show originality and accuracy, and his essay on infectious diseases was the first scientific treatise on the subject." Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakariya Ar-Razi was born at Ray near [...]

ABU AL-QASIM AL-ZAHRAVI (Albucasis) (936 - 1013 C.E.) Abul Qasim Al-Zahravi, known in the West as Albucasis, was undoubtably the greatest surgeon of the Middle Ages. He is best known for several original breakthroughs in surgery, as an inventor of several surgical instruments, and for his famous Medical Encyclopedia. Al-Zahravi is considered as Father of Modern Surgery. His full name was Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahravi. He was born and brought up in Zahra, the royal suburb of Cordova (Arabic Qurtuba), the capital of Muslim Spain. As we know from the history, Zahra competed in grandeur and magnificence with Baghdad and Constantinople. Al-Zahravi served in the capacity of [...]

MUHAMMAD BIN MUSA AL-KHWARIZMI (Algorizm) (770 - 840 C.E.) Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was born at Khwarizm (Kheva), a town south of river Oxus in present Uzbekistan. (Uzbekistan, a Muslim country for over a thousand years, was taken over by the Russians in 1873.) His parents migrated to a place south of Baghdad when he was a child. The exact date of his birth is not known. It has been established from his contributions that he flourished under Khalifah (Calif) Al-Mamun at Baghdad during 813 to 833 C.E. and died around 840 C.E. He is best known for introducing the mathematical concept Algorithm, which is [...]

ABU ALI HASAN IBN AL-HAITHAM (ALHAZEN) (965 - 1040 C.E.) Al-Haitham, known in the West as Alhazen, is considered as the father of modern Optics. Abu Ali Hasan Ibn al-Haitham was one of the most eminent physicists, whose contributions to optics and the scientific methods are outstanding. Ibn al-Haitham was born in 965 C.E. in Basrah (present Iraq), and received his education in Basrah and Baghdad. He traveled to Egypt and Spain. He spent most of his life in Spain, where conducted research in optics, mathematics, physics, medicine and development of scientific methods. Al-Haitham conducted experiments on the propagation of light and colors, optic illusions and reflections. He examined the refraction [...]

THABIT IBN QURRAH (THEBIT) (836 - 901 C.E.) Thabit ibn Qurrah, known in the West as Thebit, is known for his work on mechanics, astronomy, pure mathematics and geometry. Thabit ibn Qurrah ibn Marwan al-Harrani was born in 836 C.E. at Harran (present Turkey) and died in Baghdad in 901 C.E. He joined the scientific team of the great Muslim mathematician Muhammad Ibn Musa Ibn Shakir at Baghdad, which was established by the Abbasid Caliphs. Thabit was a pioneer in extending the concept of traditional geometry to geometrical algebra and proposed theories that led to the development of non-Euclidean geometry, spherical trigonometry, integral calculus and real numbers. [...]