Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī

Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari
Died	796 or 806
Occupation	Philosopher, Mathematician, Astronomer
Era	Islamic Golden Age

Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari (died 796 or 806) was a Muslim philosopher, mathematician and astronomer.^[1][2] He is not to be confused with his father Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī, also an astronomer and mathematician.

Some sources refer to him as an Arab,^[3][4][5][6] other sources state that he was a Persian.^[7][8][9]

Al-Fazārī translated many scientific books into Arabic and Persian.^[10] He is credited to have built the first astrolabe in the Islamic world.^[8]

Along with Yaʿqūb ibn Ṭāriq and his father he helped translate the Indian astronomical text by Brahmagupta (fl. 7th century), the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta, into Arabic as Az-Zīj ‛alā Sinī al-‛Arab.,^[11] or the Sindhind. This translation was possibly the vehicle by means of which the Hindu numerals were transmitted from India to Islam.^[12]

See also

• Hindu and Buddhist contribution to science in medieval Islam
• List of Iranian scientists and scholars
• List of Arab scientists
• List of Iranian scientists
• zij

Notes

1. • H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (p. 4, 1900).
2. • Introduction to the History of Science
   by George Sarton – Page 524
3. Scott L. Montgomery. Science in Translation: movements of knowledge through cultures and time. p. 81.
4. Abramovich, Boris et al. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. pp. 177–178.
5. Pingree, David (1970). The Fragments of the Works of Al-Fazari. Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Vol. 29, No. 2. pp. 103–123.
6. Yaqut al-Hamawi. Irshad al-Arib Fi Ma'rifat al-Adib. Ed. D. S. Margoliouth. "E. J. W. Ser.," 6. Vol. 6. 2d ed. London, 1931.
7. • The Root of Europe: studies in the diffusion of Greek culture
   by Ralph Westwood Moore, Michael Huxley – 1952 – Page 48
8. • Richard N. Frye, The Golden Age of Persia, p. 163.
9. • From Freedom to Freedom: African roots in American soils : selected readings – by Ervin Lewis, Mildred Bain
10. • Glimpses of Islamic History and Culture by M. D. Zafar – 1987 – Page 331
11. E. S. Kennedy, A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables, (Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, 46, 2), Philadelphia, 1956, pp. 2, 7, 12 (zijes no. 2, 28, 71).
12. • D. E. Smith and L. C. Karpinski: The Hindu-Arabic Numerals (Boston, 1911), p.92.).

External links

• Plofker, Kim (2007). "Fazārī: Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al‐Fazārī". In Thomas Hockey; et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. pp. 362–3. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version)
• Pingree, David (2008) [1970–80]. "Al-Fazārī, Muḥammad Ibn Ibrāhīm". Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
• Cantor: Geschichte der Mathematik (I, 3rd ed., 698, 1907).