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Muslim inventions that shaped the modern world
London, England (CNN) — Think of the origins of that staple of modern life, the cup of coffee, and Italy often springs to mind. But in fact, Yemen is where the ubiquitous brew has its true origins. Along with the first university, and even the toothbrush, it is among surprising Muslim inventions that have shaped the world we live in today. The origins of these fundamental ideas and objects — the basis of everything from the bicycle to musical scales — are the focus of “1001 Inventions,” a book celebrating “the forgotten” history of 1,000 years of Muslim heritage.
“There’s a hole in our knowledge, we leap frog from the Renaissance to the Greeks,” professor Salim al-Hassani, Chairman of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, and editor of the book told CNN. “1001 Inventions” is now an exhibition at London’s Science Museum. Hassani hopes the exhibition will highlight the contributions of non-Western cultures — like the Muslim empire that once covered Spain and Portugal, Southern Italy and stretched as far as parts of China — to present day civilization. Hospitals as we know them today, with wards and teaching centres, come from 9th century Egypt.
Here Hassani shares his top 10 outstanding Muslim inventions
1. Surgery
Around the year 1,000, the celebrated doctor Al Zahrawi published a 1,500 page illustrated encyclopaedia of surgery that was used in Europe as a medical reference for the next 500 years. Among his many inventions, Zahrawi discovered the use of dissolving cat gut to stitch wounds — beforehand a second surgery had to be performed to remove sutures. He also reportedly performed the first caesarean operation and created the first pair of forceps.
2. Coffee
Now the Western world’s drink du jour, coffee was first brewed in Yemen around the 9th century. In its earliest days, coffee helped Sufis stay up during late nights of devotion. Later brought to Cairo by a group of students, the coffee buzz soon caught on around the empire. 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.
3. Flying machine
“Abbas ibn Firnas was the first person to make a real attempt to construct a flying machine and fly,” said Hassani. In the 9th century he designed a winged apparatus, roughly resembling a bird costume. In his most famous trial near Cordoba in Spain, Firnas flew upward for a few moments, before falling to the ground and partially breaking his back. His designs would undoubtedly have been an inspiration for famed Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci’s hundreds of years later, said Hassani.
4. University
In 859 a young princess named 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. Still operating almost 1,200 years later, Hassani says he hopes the centre will remind people that learning is at the core of the Islamic tradition and that the story of the al-Firhi sisters will inspire young Muslim women around the world today.
5. Algebra
The word algebra comes from the title of a Persian mathematician’s famous 9th century treatise “Kitab al-Jabr Wa l-Mugabala” which translates roughly as “The Book of Reasoning and Balancing.” Built on the roots of Greek and Hindu systems, the new algebraic order was a unifying system for rational numbers, irrational numbers and geometrical magnitudes. The same mathematician, Al-Khwarizmi, was also the first to introduce the concept of raising a number to a power.
6. Optics
“Many of the most important advances in the study of optics come from the Muslim world,” says Hassani. Around the year 1000 Ibn al-Haitham proved that humans see objects by light reflecting off of them and entering the eye, dismissing Euclid and Ptolemy’s theories that light was emitted from the eye itself. This great Muslim physicist also discovered the camera obscure phenomenon, which explains how the eye sees images upright due to the connection between the optic nerve and the brain.
7. Music
Muslim musicians have had a profound impact on Europe, dating back to Charlemagne tried to compete with the music of Baghdad and Cordoba, according to Hassani. Among many instruments that arrived in Europe through the Middle East are the lute and the rahab, an ancestor of the violin. Modern musical scales are also said to derive from the Arabic alphabet.
8. Toothbrush
According to Hassani, the Prophet Mohammed popularized the use of the first toothbrush in around 600. Using a twig from the Meswak tree, he cleaned his teeth and freshened his breath. Substances similar to Meswak are used in modern toothpaste.
9. The crank
Many of the basics of modern automatics were first put to use in the Muslim world, including the revolutionary crank-connecting rod system. By converting rotary motion to linear motion, the crank enables the lifting of heavy objects with relative ease. This technology, discovered by Al-Jazari in the 12th century, exploded across the globe, leading to everything from the bicycle to the internal combustion engine.
10. Hospitals
“Hospitals as we know them today, with wards and teaching centers, come from 9th century Egypt,” explained Hassani. The first such medical centre was the Ahmad ibn Tulun Hospital, founded in 872 in Cairo. Tulun hospital provided free care for anyone who needed it — a policy based on the Muslim tradition of caring for all who are sick. From Cairo, such hospitals spread around the Muslim world.
For more information on Muslim inventions go to: muslimheritage.com. For more information about the exhibition at London’s Science Museum go to: science museum.org.uk
Prophet Khizr's Dua
Kumayl Ibn Ziyad was a prominent companion of Amir al Muminin, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (as.) and this sublime Dua was first heard from the beautiful, though anguished, voice of Imam Ali. According to Allama Majlisi, Kumayl had attended an assembly in the Mosque at Basra which was addressed by Imam Ali in which the night of the 15th of Shaban was mentioned. Imam Ali said-“Whosoever keeps awake in devoutness on this night (15th Shaban) and recites the Dua of Prophet Khizr, undoubtedly that person’s supplication will be responded to and granted.” When the assembly at the Mosque had dispersed, Kumayl called at the house where Imam Ali was staying, and requested him to inform him of Prophet Khizr’s Dua. Imam Ali asked Kumayl to sit down, record and memorise the Dua which Imam Ali dictated to Kumayl.
Imam Ali then advised Kumayl to recite this Dua on the eve of (i.e. evening preceding) every Friday, or once a month or at least once in every year so that, added Imam Ali, “Allah may protect thee from the evils of the enemies and the plots contrived by impostors. O’ Kumayl! in consideration of thy companionship and understanding, I grant thee this honour of entrusting this Dua to thee.”
Updated list of Brother Khalil Jaffer's lectures
http://www.al-masumeen.com/lectures/khalil-jaffer
Prophecy of the Grand daughter of our Beloved Prophet (saw)
“..My Husayn has been killed and the partisans of Satan are taking us to the fools so that they may get their reward for insulting Allah. Our blood is dripping from their hands and our flesh is falling down from their mouths. The sacred bodies of the martyrs have been placed at the disposal of the wolves and other carnivorous animals of the jungle. If you have gained something today by shedding blood, you will certainly be a loser on the Day of Judgment. On that day nothing but your deeds will count.
On that day you will curse Ibn Marja-na and he will curse you. On that day you and your followers will quarrel with one another by the side of the Divine scale of Justice. On that day you will see that the best provision, which your father made for you, was that he enabled you to kill the children of the Prophet of Allah. I swear by Allah that I do not fear anyone except Him and do not complain to anyone else. You may employ your deceit and cunning efforts, but I swear by Allah that the shame and disgrace which you have earned by the treatment meted out to us cannot be eradicated..”
-The Grand-Daughter of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.), Bibi Zainab (A.S.)
This is part of the speech that she delivered in the court of Yezid
Obstacles To Knowing God – Br. Khalil Jaffer
Series of 4 lectures which Khalil Jaffer talks about the ‘Obstacles to Knowing God’
The Basis of these lectures is the verse 111 of Sura Tawba:
إِنَّ اللّهَ اشْتَرَى مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُم بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ الجَنَّةَ يُقَاتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ فَيَقْتُلُونَ وَيُقْتَلُونَ وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالإِنجِيلِ وَالْقُرْآنِ وَمَنْ أَوْفَى بِعَهْدِهِ مِنَ اللّهِ فَاسْتَبْشِرُواْ بِبَيْعِكُمُ الَّذِي بَايَعْتُم بِهِ وَذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ
Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah’s way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement.
Day before Hajj by Sheikh Khalil Jaffer
Overview of Hajj by Sheikh Khalil Jaffer – (2 of 3). Sprititual uplifting lecture and covers and explains points regarding Hajj. A Must watch for All Hujjaaj (people who are going Hajj this year – Inshallah) For more lectures on Hajj please visit: http://www.hajtours.net … Hajj by Sheikh Khalil Jaffer haj hijab ihram shia sunni tawaf kaba kaaba mina meena arafat muzdalifah muzdalifa miqat
Sheikh Khalil Jaffer
Effective Leadership Skills
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Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
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Give honest and sincere appreciation.
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Arouse in the other person an eager want.
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Become genuinely interested in other people.
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Smile.
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Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
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Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
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Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
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Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.
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The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
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Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”
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If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
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Begin in a friendly way.
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Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately.
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Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
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Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
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Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view.
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Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires.
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Appeal to the nobler motives.
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Dramatize your ideas.
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Throw down a challenge.
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Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
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Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
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Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
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Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
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Let the other person save face.
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Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”
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Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
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Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
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Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.
When your hut is on fire…
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.
He prayed feverishly for Allah to rescue him.
Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky.
He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger.
He cried out, ‘God! How could you do this to me?’
Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him!
‘How did you know I was here?’ asked the weary man of his rescuers. ‘We saw your smoke signal,’ they replied.
The Moral of This Story:
It’s easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn’t lose heart, because Allah is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.
Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of Allah.
P.S. You may want to consider passing this on, because you never know who feels as if their hut is on fire today.
This is great advice…..:)
A woman goes to the doctor, beaten black and blue. . . . ..
Doctor: “What happened?
“Woman:” Doctor, I don’t know what to do. Every time my husband comes home drunk he beats me to a pulp…
“Doctor:”I have a real good medicine against that: When your husband comes home drunk, just take a glass of chamomile tea and start gargling with it. Just gargle and gargle”
2 weeks later she comes back to the doctor and looks reborn and fresh again.
Woman:” Doc, that was a brilliant idea! Every time my husband came home drunk I gargled repeatedly with chamomile tea and he never touched me.
Doctor:” you see how keeping your mouth shut helps!!!”
Trial, Patience, and Reward
We were talking about the trial in the life of the person, and we said that the trial is not considered a Divine punishment, but rather it is an experience that the person goes through, throughout his life. When God creates life, He does not make one that is full of flowers without any thorns or thorns without flowers; on the contrary, life is full of thorns surrounded by flowers, happiness accompanied with sadness, and poverty accompanied with richness.
Life includes all of these conditions. Man does not attain pleasure without pain, happiness without sadness, and success without hard work. It is obvious that each of us, no matter how old or young he is, has experienced all these feelings. No one succeeds in school without exerting lots of efforts. Whoever wants to secure his sustenance would face and encounter lots of hardships; similarly, this happens in the general cases, political cases, cases of freedom and independence, and cases of struggle for power, for which a person exerts huge efforts and hardships. Therefore, God says to man that he must live all these problems if he wants to succeed in this life, simply because there is no enjoyment, unless it is mixed with troubles, and there is no success that is not a result of effort, and there is no profit if there is no loss.
Then, how would you go about in this life? Do you fail and lament your luck, or do you leave school if it is exhausting, and costs you nights of studying? Do you quit asking for sustenance, if it is very exhausting and costs you lots of hardships and travels, or would you be resilient and persevere to taste the good consequences of your efforts, later on? The Holy Quran emphasizes this point, when it mentions the trial identifying it with strife; a strife that shakes man’s life and puts him at the edge of either failure or success: “Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, We believe, and not be tried?” (29:02)
Do you think that God accepts pronouncing your faith verbally, without proving it through deeds?! God aims at testing you in your faith. So, He exposes you to many troubles and ups and downs that might challenge your faith. You might encounter some challenges, some losses, and some temptations. Furthermore, many people may encounter the society’s negligence as a kind of trial. For example, some merchants or businessmen might not prefer a committed person, simply because they are looking for an uncommitted one, or they might not like a woman with a scarf, because they are looking for someone without a scarf, who might please and seduce the customers by her outer appearance. This is considered a kind of a test by which God likes to test man. So, would a person stand up for his faith, or would he fail preferring the worldly life to the other life? Then, God comments saying: “And certainly We tried those before them – which means that we pushed them to a difficult trial – so Allah will certainly know those who are true and He will certainly know the liars.” (29:03). We have another verse saying: “And We will most certainly try you with somewhat of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient.” (02:155).
God tells us about what we would face in this life; He tells us about a lot of insecurities as in the case where a person sleeps and wakes up afraid of an aggression of a neighbouring enemy; or a person facing extreme poverty that he can find nothing to sustain himself. Also, a person might face losses in money and in souls; he might lose dear relatives, beloved ones, or he might be tried in the loss of the crops, if he was a farmer or a farm owner. God says that the person might face such disasters in his life. When some people are hit by either failure or fear, they might not be able to endure, so they lose balance. Such things might drive them to commit suicide; whether a physical suicide or a social suicide where they become mentally or socially ill. Here, God calls for patience: “and give good news to the patient”. Such patience would open the road for the person to examine life and its history; this person would realize, then, that lots of people had previously lived the same experiences. This person would realize that lots of people, who were living in fear, had later on lived in safety; lots of poor people became rich later on; and lots of hungry people became satisfied. Therefore, when they face losses in money, souls, or crops, they would be compensated with lots of things as a reward for their endurance: “And We will most certainly try you with somewhat of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient, Who, when a misfortune befalls them, say: Surely we are Allah’s and to Him we shall surely return.” (02:155-156).
We have to admit that God possesses us, and we do not possess ourselves, because He created us and He is the one Who watches our existence and provides what sustains us. God created this life in two colours, not just one colour, for the person to manage his life. There is no sadness without happiness, no fear without safety, and no poverty without richness. In this way, life continues. This world we are living in is the limited world; man does not gain one thing without losing another. If he wants success, he must spend nights studying and working.
In this sense, the poet says:
The harder you work,
The higher your positions become.
And whoever asks for the best spends his nights working.
Another verse says: “You love Laila, and you sleep!
By your life, is this a reasonable request?
Here, Laila means knowledge and success. Some poets say: If it were not for hard work, people would have spent their lives in poverty.
God wants us to know that we are his property and that He is our God Who created us and Who possesses us. We cannot possess ourselves; and to Him we eventually return. “Who, when a misfortune befalls them, say: Surely we are Allah’s and to Him we shall surely return.” Most importantly, there is no immortal problem in this mortal life and man is going back to his Creator to be judged and rewarded for his patience. “Who, when a misfortune befalls them, say: Surely we are Allah’s and to Him we shall surely return.” What is their reward? “Those are they on whom are blessings and mercy from their Lord, and those are the followers of the right course.” (02:157).
It means that God prays for man in the same way He prays for the Prophet, but God’s prayer is not bowing or prostrating; it is mercy, forgiveness, and raising the levels of this person. Just as God prays for you, His angels do too. What could be more rewarding for the patient person than gaining from God what Prophet Muhammad (p.) had gained before?! “Surely Allah and His angels bless (pray for) the Prophet. O you who believe! Call for (Divine) blessings on him and salute him with a (becoming) salutation.” (33:56). Just as God prays for the Prophet (p.), He also prays for the patient people, meaning that He raises their levels in the after life and forgives them: “Those are they on whom are blessings and mercy from their Lord, and those are the followers of the right course,” (02:175). They also attain His mercy that covers all aspects of man’s existence; it includes his sustenance, his health, his safety, and every goodness he gets. “And those are the followers of the right course.”
This is the road to the right, meaning that man controls himself and that challenges and turmoil do not easily defeat him.
Provoking Thoughts 