5 Heroes of The Islamic Golden Age

The Islamic Golden Age refers to a period of enlightenment and innovation in the history of Islam, dated from the 8th to the 13th century when a significant portion of the Islamic world was ruled by various caliphates. It was the mainstage for developments in science, art, medicine, economics and cultural works to thrive and flourish.

This period of history has long since been a beacon of inspiration for us at Tarteel and we’re eager to reignite the Islamic Golden Age, not only with the work around the app itself but with our wider mission to innovate for the Muslim community and contribute towards moving the needle, paving the way for bigger and better developments to serve the ummah inshaAllah.

Read on to get to know just a few heroes of the Islamic Golden Age whose work has helped shaped the world as we know it!

But first, some context

This period is understood to have begun during the reign of Abbasid caliph Harun Al-Rashid with the establishment of The House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikmah), also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad; it was a major public academy and intellectual centre belonging to the Abbasid caliphs which scholars from far and wide flock to Baghdad, Iraq to translate the world’s classical knowledge into Arabic. This was a hub for learning and had reading material that a bookworm could only dream of!

The House of Wisdom was home to specialists of all kinds, from scientists and scribes to writers and researchers of various subjects. Translators also played a key role in a lot of work carried out there and it was a melting pot of languages, including Arabic, Aramaic, Farsi, Hebrew, Syriac, Greek and Latin.

Al-Khwarizmi

Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Kwarizmi was a Persian polymath and renowned mathematician and scholar during the Islamic Golden Age, and he produced influential works in the subjects of mathematics, astronomy and geography. His book Kitab al-Jabr wa al Muqabala (The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing) introduced systematic methods for solving equations and laid the groundwork for modern algebra. His work earned him the title of the ‘Father of Algebra’, and if you think his name sounds familiar, it’s because it gave rise to the terms algorism, and more commonly, algorithm. So if you’re not a fan of math, you can definitely appreciate the role of Al-Khwarizmi’s work in all the apps you use, including Tarteel!

Fun fact: Around 820 CE, he was appointed as the astronomer and head of the library of the House of Wisdom.

Ibn Sina

Also known as Avicenna, was a prominent philosopher, physician and polymath and his works on medicine, particularly The Canon of Medicine, were used as a standard medical textbook in Europe for centuries! He also wrote on philosophy, metaphysics, and mathematics, contributing significantly to the advancement of Islamic philosophy, and if that wasn’t enough, his corpus also includes writing on astronomy, alchemy, geography and geology, psychology, Islamic theology, logic AND works of poetry. Does anyone else suddenly feel like they could be doing more with their time?

Al-Farabi

Al-Farabi was an early Islamic philosopher, scientist and musician. He was best known for his contributions to philosophy, particularly in the field of political science. His works on political theory, such as The Virtuous City and The Political Regime were instrumental in shaping the political systems of his time. He also wrote on music, cosmology, and logic, further advancing the field of science during the Islamic Golden Age.

Fun fact: Al-Farabi is credited as the first Muslim who presented philosophy as a coherent system in the Islamic world.

Omar Khayyam

Omar Khayyam was a Persian poet, mathematician, and astronomer. His works, such as The Rubaiyat are renowned for their philosophical insights and beauty. He also made significant contributions to the development of mathematics and astronomy.  It was his work in which he calculated the duration of the solar year with remarkable precision and accuracy, then going on to design the Jalali calendar, a solar calendar with a precise 33-year intercalation cycle. This provided the basis for the Persian calendar that is still in use after nearly a millennium!

Al-Kindi

Al-Kindi was a philosopher, mathematician, and musician. He is considered among the first Islamic philosophers and is known for his works on metaphysics, ethics, and theology. He also contributed significantly to the field of mathematics, particularly on cryptography – a pioneer for those in tech – and music theory. His work On First Philosophy laid the foundation for the integration of Islamic philosophy with Aristotelianism.

There you have it – a handful of heroes from the Islamic Golden Age whose work we can trace a lot of our own interests and pursuits back to. We’d like to think we’re emulating their innovative work at Tarteel; we’re trying to create new and engaging ways to develop and support the way Muslims interact with the Quran and we want YOU to be a part of that story. Start a FREE 7-day trial of Tarteel and experience the Quran AI that millions of Muslims have already discovered worldwide.