List of pre-modern Arab scientists and scholars

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A

• Ali (601, Mecca – 661, Kufa ), Arabic grammarian, rhetoric, theologian, exegesist.
• Aisha (613, Mecca – 678, Medina), Islamic scholar, hadith narrator, her intellect and knowledge in various subjects, including poetry and medicine.
• Abbas Ibn Firnas, astronomer, mathematician, physicist, inventor
• Sufi
  master and poet
• Avempace (1085, Zaragoza – 1138, Fez), philosopher, astronomer, physician
• Ammar al-Mawsili (10th century, b. Mosul), ophthalmologist and physician
• Ali al-Uraidhi
  (7th century, b. Medina), Muslim scholar
• Ali ibn Isa al-Kahhal (fl. 1010), physician and ophthalmologist
• Ali al-Hadi (829, Medina – 868, Samarra), Islamic scholar
• Ali ibn al-Madini (778, Basra – 849, Samarra), Islamic scholar and traditionalist
• Khalid Ben Abdulmelik
• Ali al-Ridha (765, Medina – 818, Tus
  ), Islamic scholar and theologian
• Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780, Baghdad – 855, Baghdad), theologian, ascetic, and hadith traditionist
• Ahmad al-Muhajir (873, Basra – 956, Al-Husaisa), scholar and teacher
• Ahmad ibn Yusuf (835, Baghdad – 912, Cairo), mathematician
• Maliki
  jurist
• Apollodorus of Damascus (50, Damascus – 130), architect, engineer, and designer
• Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish al-Alami (1140, Jabal Alam – 1227, Jabal Alam), religious scholar of Sufism
• Abdullah ibn Umar (610, Mecca – 693, Mecca), Islamic scholar and hadith narrator
• Abd Allah al-Qaysi (d. 885, b. Spain), Muslim jurist and theologian
• Abd-Allah ibn Ibadh
  (d. 708, b. Basra), hadith narrator and theologian
• Abd al-Hamid al-Katib (d. 756), founder of Arabic prose
• Ta'if
  ), jurist and theologian
• Abdullah ibn Alawi al-Haddad (1634, Tarim
  – 1720, Tarim), Sufi saint and jurist
• Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi (1146, Jamma'in – 1203), Islamic scholar and a prominent hadith master
• Abd al-Aziz Yemeni Tamimi (816, Yemen
  – 944, Yemen), Sufi saint and scholar
• Abu al-Fazal Yemeni Tamimi (842, Hejaz
  – 1034, Baghdad), Sufi saint and mystic
• Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali
  (603–689, Basra), grammarian
• Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari
  (874, Basra – 936, Baghdad), philosopher, Shafi'i scholar and theologian
• Arab
  botanist, pharmacologist, physician and scholar
• Maliki
  law
• Abū Kāmil Shujāʿ ibn Aslam
  (850–930), mathematician
• Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala'
  (689, Mecca – 770, Kufa) linguists and grammarian
• Abu Bakr al-Aydarus (1447, Tarim – 1508, Aden), religious scholar of Sufism
• Arab
  maker of astronomical instruments and an astrologer
• Al-Ashraf Umar II (1242, Yemen – 1296, Yemen), astronomer and ruler of Yemen
• Al-Akhfash al-Akbar (d. 793, b. Basra), Arab grammarian
• Al-Awza'i (707, Baalbek – 774, Beirut), jurist and theologian
• Al-Asma'i (739, Basra – 831, Basra), pioneer of zoology, botany and animal husbandry
• Ibn Abi Asim (821, Basra – 900, Isfahan), scholar, famous or his work in the hadith science
• Ibn al-'Awwam (12th century, b. Seville), agriculturist and botanist
• Ibn al-Adim (1192, Aleppo – 1262, Egypt), biographer and historian
• Ibn al-A'lam (d. 985, Baghdad), astronomer and astrologer
• Ibn al-Athir (1160, Cizre
  – 1233, Mosul), historian and biographer
• Ibn al-Abbar (1199, Valencia – 1260, Tunis), historian, poet, diplomat, theologian and scholar
• Ibn al-Akfani (1286, Sinjar – 1348, Cairo), Arab encyclopedist and physician
• Ibn 'Adlan
  (1187, Mosul – 1268, Cairo), cryptographer and poet
• Ibn Arabi (1165, Murcia – 1240, Damascus), Islamic scholar and philosopher
• Ibn Arabshah
  (1389, Damascus – 1450, Egypt), writer and traveller

B

• Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī (1547, Baalbek – 1621, Isfahan
  ), philosopher, architect, mathematician, astronomer
• Bahlool (d. 807, b. Baghdad), judge and scholar
• Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi (980, Baghdad – 1037, Esfarayen), mathematician
• Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (1162, Baghdad – 1231, Baghdad), physician, historian, Egyptologist and traveler
• Al-Baqillani (d. 1013, b. Basra), theologian, scholar, and Maliki lawyer
• Al-Battani (850, Harran – 929, Samarra), astronomer and mathematician
• Al-Baladhuri (820, Baghdad – 892, Baghdad), historian
• Al-Buni (d. 1225), writer and mathematician
• Al-Bakri (1014, Huelva – 1094, Cordoba), geographer and historian
• Al-Baji (1156, Beja – 1231, Sidi Bou Said), Sufi mystic and scholar
• Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi (1256, Marrakesh – 1321), mathematician, astronomer, Islamic scholar, Sufi, and astrologer
• Ibn al-Baitar (1197, Malaga – 1248, Damascus
  ), pharmacist, botanist, physician
• Ibn Bassal (b. 1085, Toledo), botanist and agronomist
• Ibn Bassam (1058, Santarem – 1147), poet and historian
• Ibn Butlan (1038, Baghdad – 1075), Arab Christian physician

C

• Cosmas (d. 287, Yumurtalik), Arab physician and saint
• Calid (d. 704, Homs
  ), Umayyad prince and alchemist
• sophist

• Damian (d. 287, Yumurtalik), Arab physician and saint
• Dawud al-Antaki (b. Idlib – d. 1599, Mecca), physician and pharmacist
• Sufi
  mystic
• Islamic scholar
• Al-Damiri (1344, Cairo – 1405, Cairo), zoologist
• Al-Dakhwar (1170, Damascus – 1230), physician
• Al-Darimi (797, Samarkand – 869, Muscat), Islamic scholar and muhaddith
• Al-Dimashqi (1256, Damascus – 1327, Safed), geographer
• Al-Dimashqi, Abu al-Fadl
  (12th-century), writer and economist
• Ibn al-Durayhim (1312–1359/62), cryptologist
• Arabic language and Islamic studies
• philologist
• Shafi'i
  legal school

• Al Quaraouiyine mosque
• Fatima bint Musa
  (790–816), theologian and saint
• Arabic language
  , the Kitab al-Ayn
• Al-Fasi, Abu al-Mahasin
  (1530–1604), Sufi saint
• Al-Farghani
  (d. 880), astronomer, known in Latin as Alfraganus
• Ibn al-Furat (1334–1405), historian
• Ibn al-Farid (c. 1181 – 1234), Arabic poet, writer, and philosopher
• Ibn Fadlan (10th century), writer, traveler, member of an embassy of the Caliph of Baghdad to the Volga Bulgars

G

• Genethlius (3rd century), sophist and rhetorician from Petra
• Al-Ghafiqi (d. 1165), 12th-century oculist
• Al-Ghassani (1548–1610), physician

H

• astrologer
  , best known for his Kitāb al-bāri' fi ahkām an-nujūm
• Harbi al-Himyari (8th century), alchemist
• Hasan al-Rammah (d. 1295), chemist and engineer
• Hamdallah Mustawfi (1281–1349), geographer
• Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809–873), Arab Christian scholar, physician, and scientist
• Heliodorus (3rd century), sophist of Arab origin
• Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (d. 819), historian
• Hafsa bint Sirin (651–719), scholar of Islam
• Arabic language and Islamic studies
  .
• Harith al-Muhasibi
  (781–857), philosopher, theologian and Sufi scholar
• Abu'l-Hasan al-Bayhaqi (1097–1169), astronomer and historian
• Abu'l Abbas al-Hijazi (12th century), traveler, merchant and sailor
• Abul Hasan Hankari (1018–1093), philosopher, theologian and jurist
• Al-Hamdani (893–945), geographer, historian and astronomer
• Al-Humaydī al-Azdi
  (1029–1095), historian
• Al-Harith ibn Kalada (d. 634–35), physician
• Al-Hilli
  (1250–1325), Twelver Shia theologian
• Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam
  (803–871), Egyptian historian
• Ibn al-Haj
  (1250–1336), scholar and theologian writer
• Ibn al-Haytham (965–1040), physicist and mathematician
• Ibn Hawqal (943–969), writer, geographer, and chronicler
• Ibn Hubal
  (1122–1213), physician, scientist and author of a medical compendium
• Ibn Hisham (d. 835), historian and biographer
• Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (1503–1566), jurist and theologian

I

• Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī
  (d. 777), mathematician and astronomer
• Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (670–717), theologian, Islamic scholar
• Mu'tazilite
  theologian and poet
• philosopher
  , mystic and philosopher
• Iamblichus (c. 165 – 180), novelist and rhetorician
• Ismail Qureshi al Hashmi (1260–1349), Sufi scholar
• Ismail al-Jazari (1136–1206), scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, artisan, artist
• Ismail ibn al-Ahmar (1324–1407), historian
• Ishaq ibn Hunayn (c. 830 – c. 910/1), physician and translator
• Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam (1181–1262), theologian and jurist
• cartographer
• Al-ʻIjliyyah, (10th-century), female maker of astrolabes
• Arabic language
• Ibn Ishaq (704–761), historian and hagiographer

J

• Ja'far al-Sadiq (702–765), theologian and alchemist
• Jabir ibn Aflah (1100–1150), astronomer and mathematician who invented torquetum
• alchemist and polymath, pioneer of organic chemistry
  ; may also have been Persian
• Jābir ibn Zayd
  (8th century), theologian and jurist
• Al-Jawaliqi (1074–1144), grammarian and philologist
• Al-Jahiz (776–869), historian, biologist and author
• Al-Jayyānī
  (989–1079), mathematician and author
• Al-Jawbari (fl. 1222), alchemist and writer
• Al-Jabali (d. 976), physician and mathematician from Al-Andalus
• Al-Jubba'i (d. 915), Mu'tazili theologian and philosopher
• Al-Jazari (1136–1206), inventor, engineer, artisan, mathematician
• Al-Jarmi (d. 840), grammarian of Arabic Language
• Ibn al-Jazzar (10th century), influential 10th-century physician and author
• Ibn al-Jawzi (1116–1201), heresiographer, historian, hagiographer and philologist
• Ibn Juzayy (d. 1357), historian, scholar and writer of poetry
• Ibn Juljul (c. 944–c. 994), physician and pharmacologist
• Ibn Jazla (11th century), physician and author of influential treatise on regimen
• Ibn Jubayr (1145–1217), geographer, traveller and poet, known for his detailed travel journals

K

• Khalifah ibn Khayyat (777–854), Arab historian
• Al-Khalili
  (1320–1380), astronomer who compiled extensive tables for astronomical use
• Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (1002–1071), Islamic scholar and historian
• Al-Khayyat (c. 770–c. 835), astrologer and a student of Mashallah
• geographer
• Ibn al-Khabbaza (d. 1239), historian and poet
• Ibn al-Kammad (d. 1195), astronomer
• Ibn al-Kattani (951–1029), scholar, philosopher, physician, astrologer, man of letters, and poet
• Ali ibn Khalaf (11th century), astronomer
• Ibn al-Khatib (1313–1374), polymath, poet, writer, historian, philosopher, physician
• Ibn Kathir (c. 1300–1373), influential Sunni scholar and historian
• Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406), historian, sociologist, and philosopher

L

• Ash'ari
  theology
• Maliki
  school

M

• Malik ibn Anas (711–795), theologian, and hadith traditionist
• Maslama al-Majriti (950–1007), astronomer, chemist, mathematician, economist
• Moulay Brahim (d. 1661 CE), Sufi saint
• Mujir al-Din (1456–1522), qadi and historian
• Mohammed al-Mahdi al-Fasi (1624–1698), mystic, biographer and historian
• Mohammed al-Arbi al-Fasi (1580–1642), author
• biographer
• Mohammed ibn Nasir (1603–1674), theologian, scholar and physician
• Makhdoom Ali Mahimi (1372–1431), Muslim scholar and saint
• Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (815–875), Islamic scholar, theologian and famous hadith compiler
• Mujahid ibn Jabr (645–722), Islamic scholar and jurist
• Mohammed ibn al-Tayyib (1698–1756), linguist, historian and scholar of fikh and hadith
• Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī (d. 796 or 806), Muslim philosopher, mathematician and astronomer
• Muhammad al-Baghdadi (d. 1037), mathematician
• Arab
  doctor, ophthalmologist and pharmacist
• Islamic scholar of hadith
  , judge and soldier
• Muhammad al-Shaybani (749/50 – 805), father of Muslim international law
• alchemist
• Abu al-Majd ibn Abi al-Hakam (d. 1174), physician, musician and astrologer
• Abu Mikhnaf (d. 774), historian
• Sufi
  master
• Al-Masudi (896–956), historian, geographer and philosopher, traveled to Spain, Russia, India, Sri Lanka and China, spent his last years in Syria and Egypt
• philosopher
  , poet and writer
• Al-Maqrizi (1364–1442), historian
• Al-Maqdisi (946–991), medieval Arab geographer
  , author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions)
• Maliki
  school
• Al-Mubarrad (826–898), grammarian and linguist
• Al-Mubashshir ibn Fatik (11th century), mathematician
• Al-Musabbihi (977–1030), Fatimid historian
• Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi (11th century) mechanical engineer and inventor
• Ibn al-Majdi (1359–1447), mathematician and astronomer
• Ibn Manzur (1233–1312), lexicographer and linguist
• Ibn Malik (1203/1204 or 1204/1025 – 21 February 1274) grammarian
• Ibn Mājid (1432–1500), navigator and poet
• Ibn Maḍāʾ
  (1116–1196), mathematician and grammarian

N

• Niftawayh (858–935), grammarian
• Alpetragius
  crater on the Moon is named after him
• Nadr ibn al-Harith (d. 624 CE), physician and practitioner
• Nafi ibn al-Harith (d. 13 AH/634–35), physician
• Abu Jaʿfar an-Nahhas (d. 338), grammarian
• Al-Nawawi (1234–1277), hadith scholar
• Al-Nuwayri (1279–1333), historian and encyclopedist
• physician and author, the first to describe pulmonary circulation
  , compiled a medical encyclopedia and wrote numerous works on other subjects
• bibliophile of Baghdad and compiler of the Arabic encyclopedic catalogue known as 'Kitāb al-Fihrist
  '

• Qadi Ayyad
  (1083–1149), biographer and historian
• Qatāda ibn Di'āma (d. 735/736), traditionalist, hadith, tafsir, Arabic poetry and genealogy
• Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr (660/62–728/30), Islamic scholar
• Abū al-Ḥasan al-Qalaṣādī
  (1412–1486), mathematician from Al-Andalus specializing in Islamic inheritance jurisprudence
• Al-Qabisi (d. 967), astrologer and mathematician
• Al-Qadi al-Nu'man (d. 974), official historian of the Fatimid caliphs
• Al-Qalqashandi
  (1355/56–1418), writer and mathematician
• Al-Qushayri (986–1074), theologian and philosopher
• Al-Qastallani (1448–1517), jurist and theologian
• Al-Qifti (1172–1248), historian
• Al-Qurtubi (1233–1286), muhaddith and faqih
• Ibn al-Qūṭiyya
  (d. 977), Andalusian historian
• Ibn al-Quff (1233–1286), physician
• Maliki
  school
• Ibn al-Qalanisi (c. 1071–1160), chronicler and historian
• Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (1292–1350), theologian, and spiritual writer
• Ibn Qudamah (1147–1223), theologian

R

• Rabia of Basra (714–801), philosopher and Sufi mystic
• Rashidun al-Suri
  (1177–1241), physician and botanist
• Raja ibn Haywah (7th century), architect, jurist and Arabic
  calligraphist
• Rufaida Al-Aslamia (b. 620), physician
• Al-Ruhawi (9th century), physician
• Ibn Abi Ramtha (7th century), physician
• Ibn al‐Raqqam
  (1250–1315), astronomer, mathematician and physician
• Ibn Rajab (1335–1392/93), Islamic scholar

S

• Maliki
  jurist
• Said al-Andalusi (1029–1070), astronomer, historian and philosopher
• Said ibn al-Musayyib (642–715 CE), jurist and theologian
• Sa'id ibn Aws al-Ansari (d. 830), linguist
• Shihab al-Umari
  (1300–1349), historian
• Sayf ibn Umar (1428–1497), historian
• Sufyan al-Thawri (716–778), Islamic scholar and jurist
• Sa'id ibn Jubayr (665–714), theologian and jurist
• Sufyan ibn `Uyaynah
  (725–814), religious scholar and theologian
• Sidi Mahrez (951–1022), scholar, jurist and Qadi
• Sibt al-Maridini (1423–1506), astronomer and mathematician
• Arab woman
  scholar
• Sulaiman al-Mahri (1480–1550), geographer
• Abu al-Salt
  (c. 1068–1134), astronomer, physician and alchemist
• Abu Amr al-Shaybani
  ((d. 821/28), lexicographer and collector of Arabic poetry
• Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi (1013–1119), theologian
• Al-Shafi‘i
  (767–820 CE), Islamic scholar
• Al-Sakhawi (1428–1497), hadith scholar and historian
• Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid
  (c. 948–1022 CE), Twelver Shia theologian
• Islamic
  legal scholar
• Al-Suwaydi (1204–1292), physician
• Al-Shifa' bint Abdullah (7th century), healer, wise woman and practiced folk-medicine
• Al-Sayyid al-Tanukhi (951–1022), Druze theologian and commentator
• Al-Suhayli (1114–1185), grammarian and scholar of law.
• Al-Ṣaidanānī (10th century), astronomer
• Ibn al-Shatir (1304–1375), astronomer, mathematician, engineer and inventor, worked at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, developed an original astronomical model
• Ibn al-Saffar
  (d. 1035), astronomer
• Ibn al-Samh (979–1035), mathematician and astronomer
• Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi (1213–1286), geographer
• Ibn Sab'in (d. 1271), last philosopher of the Andalus
• Ibn Sidah (c.1007–1066), grammarian and lexicographer
• Ibn Sirin (d. 729), mystic, psychologist and interpreter of dreams
• Ibn Sa'd (784–845), scholar and Arabian biographer
• Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri
  (670–741), historian
• Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, Abu Bakr (1200–1261), Medieval theologian
• Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, Fath al-Din
  (1272–1334), Medieval theologian

T

• Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf (1526–1585), physician, mathematician, clockmaker and astronomer
• Taqi al-Din al-Subki (1284 CE–1355 CE), scholar, jurist and judge
• Taj al-Din al-Subki (1327/28–1370), historian and jurist
• Maliki qadi
• Arab woman
  poet and scholar
• Theodore Abu Qurrah (750–825), theologian and bishop
• Thābit ibn Qurra (826–902), mathematician, physician, astronomer, and translator
• Al-Tabarani (873–970), Islamic scholar
• Al-Tughrai
  (c. 1061–1122), physician and alchemist
• Al-Tahawi (843–933), jurist and a hadith scholar
• Al-Tighnari (1073–1118), agronomist, botanist, biologist
• Al-Tamimi (10th-century), physician from Palestine
• Al-Tawhīdī
  (923–1023), philosopher and thinker
• Ibn Taymiyyah
  (d. 1328), theologian and logician
• Ibn al-Tiqtaqa (d. 1310), historian
• Ibn Tawus (1193–1266), astrologer
• Ibn Tufail
  (1105–1185), Andalusian writer, novelist, Islamic philosopher, Islamic theologian, physician, astronomer, vizier, and court official
• Ibn al-Thahabi (d. 1033), physician and author of the first known alphabetical encyclopedia of medicine

U

• Usama ibn Munqidh (1095–1188), Arab historian, politician, and diplomat
• Urwah ibn Zubayr
  (7th century), historian and jurist
• Umm al-Darda (7th century), jurist and theologian
• scholar of Islam
• Umm Farwah
  (8th century), hadith narrator and saint
• Al-Uqlidisi (920–980), wrote two works on arithmetic, may have anticipated the invention of decimals
• Al-Urḍī
  (d. 1266), astronomer
• Ibn Abi Usaibia (1203–1270), physician and historian
  , wrote Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba (Lives of the Physicians)
• Ibn Uthal (7th century), physician
• Ibn Umail
  , (10th century), alchemist and mystic

W

• Waddah al-Yaman (d. 709), poet, famous for his erotic and romantic poems
• Wasil ibn Ata (700–748), theologian and founder of the Mutazilite school of Islamic thought
• Al-Warraq (889–994), scholar and critic of religions
• Al-Wafa'i (1408–1471), astronomer
• Ibn al-Wafid (997–1074), pharmacologist and physician
• Ibn al-Wardi (1292–1342), historian
• Ibn Wahb (743–813 CE), jurist of Maliki school
• Ibn Wahshiyya (10th century), Arab alchemist and agriculturalist

Y

• Yahya ibn Aktham (d. 857), jurist
• Yaʿīsh al-Umawī
  (1400–1489), mathematician, wrote works on mensuration and arithmetic
• Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud (11th century), mathematician
• Abu Yusuf (735–798), Islamic scholar
• Ibn Yunus (c. 950–1009), mathematician and astronomer

Z

• Zayn al-Din al-Amidi (d. 1312 AD), Islamic scholar and inventor
• Arab woman
  scholar
• Zethos (3rd-century), neoplatonist and disciple of Plotinus
• Zakariya al-Qazwini (d. 1283), physician, astronomer, geographer, and proto-science fiction writer
• Zakariyya al-Ansari (c. 1420–1520), Islamic scholar and mystic
• Zayn al-Abidin
  (659–713), Muslim scholar and Twelver Imam
• medical practice
• Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar (788–870), historian and genealogist
• Tables of Toledo
• physician
  of the Medieval Islamic period
• Ibn Zafar al Siqilli
  (1104–1172), Arab-Sicilian philosopher and polymath

Notes

See also

• Science in the medieval Islamic world
• List of Christian scientists and scholars of the medieval Islamic world
• List of scientists in medieval Islamic world
• List of modern Arab scientists and engineers
• List of pre-modern Iranian scientists and scholars
• List of Arabs