Ahmad ibn Munim al-Abdari

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ali ibn Munim al-Abdari (died 1228) was a mathematician, originally from Dénia in Andalusia. He lived and taught in Marrakesh where he was known as one of the best scholars in geometry and number theory.^[1][2] He is often confused with Muhammad ibn 'Abd al Mun'im, a different mathematician who worked in the court of Roger II of Sicily.^[2]

Only three of his many mathematical texts are known today; one on magic squares, one on geometry and one on the science of calculation. Only the last, Fiqh al-hisab is extant. It is the first book in the history of mathematics to devote a whole chapter to combinatorial problems.^[2]

References

1. Helaine Selin, Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures, p. 427 (retrieved 28-8-2010)
2. Djebbar, Ahmed (2013), "Islamic combinatorics", in Wilson, Robin; Watkins, John J., Combinatorics: Ancient & Modern, Oxford University Press, pp. 82–107. See in particular the section "Combinatorics in the Maghreb: Ibn Mun'im", pp. 94–99.