Thread by @dtoun_

6 inventions from the Islamic world thread:

Surgical instruments:

The 10th century Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi designed many of our modern surgical instruments still in use today: scalpels, bone saws, forceps, and fine scissors for eye surgery.

I would like to add that we have Muslim doctors also to thank for inventing anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and hollow needles to extract from the eye cataracts, which is a technique still in use today.

Universities:

In 859, Fatima al-Firhi founded the first degree-granting university in Fez, Morocco. Her sister Miriam founded an adjacent mosque and together the complex became the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University.

Coffee:

Coffee was first brewed in Yemen around the 9th century. By the 13th century it reached Turkey, but not until the 16th century did the beans start boiling in Europe, brought to Italy by a Venetian trader.

Toothbrush:

the Prophet Mohammed pbuh popularized the use of the first toothbrush in around 600. Using a twig from the Miswak tree, he cleaned his teeth and freshened his breath. Substances similar to Meswak are used in modern toothpaste. Hygiene is indeed apart of the faith.

Clocks:

An ingenious man called al-Jazari from Diyarbakir in South-East Turkey was a pious Muslim and a highly skilled engineer who gave birth to the concept of automatic machines. By 1206, al-Jazari had made numerous clocks of all shapes and sizes.

Numerical numbering:

Al-Khwarizmi who recognized the zero as a number and included it in the Hindu system to create the Arabic numeral system.Introducing the Hindu numeral system and placing the zero at the center of his mathematical universe was a revolutionary concept that 1/4

That allowed more abstract and complex computation that was not possible previously. This by itself would have placed Al-Khwarizmi in the pantheon of mathematicians, but he had another major contribution to make. 2/4

When Al-Khawizimi introduced Algebra (Al-Jabr), it was a revolutionary move away from the Greek concept which was essentially geometry. It was no different than when the Greeks introduced logic into their concept of mathematics. The introduction of Algebra allowed 3/4

future Muslim mathematicians to turn their intellect to solving equations just for the sake of solving equations. 4/4

And Of course many many many more.
:)

“but but Muslims conquered Persia”

people are messaging me telling me that the first university wasn’t the University of Karueein and that it was the university of bologna. This is just false.

Bologna is the oldest university in Europe which was founded in 1088, Karueein was founded in 859 AD.