Niashan-e Rah

Nishan-e-Rah is dedicated to the Teachings and Mission of

Prof. M.Ubaid Ullah Durrani (Baba Jan), Ex-Principal, Engineering College, Peshawar.

Contents

In charge Publication Najmus Saqib-e-Ummat….2 Malik Abdur Rahim BabaJan’s Pamphlet (Urdu) English Translation

Hasan Akhtar (Alig) Editor English Section Inam Ahmed The Glory of Islam from

Nile to kashghar……….….7 Parvez Hashmi (1983) Editor Urdu Section Muhammad Saeed What is missing in our

Education…..……………..40 Justice(R) K.M.A.Samdani Cover Page The Choice…...…………...42 Babar Sheikh Justice(R) K.M.A.Samdani

Address, Email & Web Madina Photo State Service,opp: GPO,Peshawar Cantt.

Email: ner786@hotmail.com/ ner786@gmail.com Web: www.blissmedia.net

Translator note BabaJan’s pamphlet “Najmus Saqib-e-Ummat” was published in 1973. Dr. Bilgrami had compiled an extract of this pamphlet a few years back, which was in the safe custody with wasim bhai. On the earnest desire of Dr. Salmi Durrani, this extract has been translated in to English by me. Additional copies may be produced as required. Two “Bachas” of Baba assisted me in typing the matter.

. Regards 15th January, 2002 Hasan Akhtar

The Shining Star of the Ummat

نجم الثاقب ٲّمت ٲّمت آا درخشاں ستاره

Each individual is the star of the Ummat.

The twilight of the evening in the life of Ummat has finished. The calm night has set in and that “Bright Star” has risen on the horizon. In this alluring night its beauty is like a spell cast on the entire surrounding. This star has the reflection of that “Sun” behind the veil. This star is the witness of the presence of Sun. The beauty of this star is reflecting the beauty of Ummat Muhammadia.The beauty of the Ummat and the beauty of this star is all but one and the same. The radiance of this eternal beauty owes its glow to the “Sun of the reality”(Sal Allah O Alehe Wa Sallam) who sheds light all over from the hidden depth of his presence. In the inner depths of the existence of every Muslim-Momin His light shines. You have the honour of being an Ummati.Search and find the light of the rising star in your own Batin (your own hidden depth). Reassure yourself that behind this light shines the (eternal) Noor-e-Muhammadi, the light of the Holy Prophet “(Sal Allah O Alehe Wa Sallam)”. The Dawn of Islam must and will appear on the dark horizon. (LA RAIBA FIH- ال ريب فيه). No doubt therein. The beauty of the rising star in itself has its own eminence. The rising star of Ummat are you, yourself. Just look deep in the mirror of your hidden self for reassurance. Look at the beauty of your own faith. How concentratedly it is drenched in the light of Prophet hood. It is the shadow of Munificence with full faith in ( حيمّر .sura tuba 128 (حريص عليكم بالمومنين رٶُف

With full and abiding faith in the word of Allah that the Holy Prophet is

“Ardently anxious is he Over you; to the Believers

Is he most kind and merciful.” It is the 15th century of hijra. Islam has now to expend. Forget your own self. Look deep inside of yourself and behold the glow and glamour of the Kalima ( ال اله االاهللا There is no got but Allah and Muhammad (محمدالرسول اهللاis His Prophet) ”(Sal Allah O Alehe Wa Sallam). You will find the beauty of Ummat in your inner self. Keep focused on this inner light. The light is Radiate by itself. Then give way to the radiation of inner light and give up your own will. This surrender of one’s own will is the custom of Love (عشق). The way of custom of love is to throw all of its own at the feet of the beloved. At that, anyway, belonged to the beloved and this love is also His. Then you, the rising star whether you look outside or inwardly it is all the same. This manifest bears witness to the hidden inner core. This is the servant hood (عبديت) that the manifest prostrates before the Hidden. In this century for the growth of Ummat the way opened is through the Batin-through the inner self. One must seek that path. The path of Batin is single-minded pursuit, Endeavour and journey towards the light of Muhammad (نورنبوت) (Sal Allah O Alehe Wa Sallam) and to find it in the inner core of one’s self. This is a permanent bond or bondage without conscious effort, which has permeated in the blood of Ummat and flows in its veins generation after generation. This also is a bounty from the other side. The more the living reality of Hazoor (Sal Allah O Alehe Wa Sallam) becomes the unflinching faith the more will be the spread of munificence. The concept of (رحمت اللعالمين) the mercy for the Universe is not to be just an emotional matter but has to become a rock-like unshakeable reality, which has been bestowed on the Ummat through the center of center. When the

faith is anchored to this rock of reality then there is no way for decline. To make the past the focus of vision was (and is) wrong. The focus of vision should be the present and the future on which the Islamic world has started no march. For the name of the beloved, for the honour of Prophet (Sal Allah O Alehe Wa Sallam), for the grandeur of Islam to lay the life has once again been learnt. The Ummat has faith in its own success and in the growth of Islam. Now the Musalman has entered the battlefield for the sake of the honour of Allah and His Prophet and if it is so the Help of Allah is with us, Allah and His Rasool are with us. On the brow of darkness the bright star is shining like a jewel. On the Ummat a new criterion of life has been bestowed. Look and search for the Will of Allah. In this world the will of Allah prevails. The MERCY is bent on giving you rewards. Behold ! A small effort from you brings ten-fold reward-nay more than that. You are the addresses of ( ذآرآم١فاذآرونى ) You remember Me, I will remember you). We (human being) are nearer to (نحن اقرب اليه من حبل الوريد)him (Allah) than his jugular vein. AND .He (Allah) is with you (هَومعكم)He is with you now and always and you confirm it by saying (بسم اهللا) In the name of Allah) before beginning anything. One hand is yours and one hand is His-your in the “Obvious” and His in the “hidden”. The desire destination of the Ummat is (اناهللا وانااليه راجعون) To Allah we belong and to Him we return) This is the focal point for this Ummat. It was never the desired end of Islam to raise the standard of living. The rise and fall of nation is the law of nature. If the decline is delayed it is only because of the loftiness of the desired destination. For the life of nation the objective is more important than the life of an individual. When the “MERCY” descends on a nation only then it is set on the path of achievement of its objective. Those on

whom Mercy descends join group of Aulia (the friends of Allah). It is Mercy, which conquers even the destiny. When one transcends beyond “ fear and hope” only then the “Way” is opened for him. The descend of Mercy is an experience. (Translators Note: The meaning is that it cannot be explained: it can only be experienced.) From the “Universe of hidden” the waves of the elevation of Islam have started. Many have received the glad tidings. The delay is only because the nation is not yet ready-or is it ? Only those nations live who know how to die. This spirit is such that there is no distinction between a Pious Muslim and a Sinner. All Muslims have this light in them hidden somewhere deep. This is a great blessing that you were born a Muslim. It is just a small matter that whosoever accept this blessing and endeavours to propagate it will succeed. Muslims are just at this moment implored to think “POSITIVE”. Have a firm belief that the final victory will be ours. When the Community inculcates the unshakeable faith in then there (The living and The Self-Subsisting- حّي وقيوم)remains no doubt the final victory. When the nation has a firm belief in the Mercy it will shine in glory in no time. My (Babajan’s) belief in our final victory is more solid than the mountain of Himalaya even though our bones and flesh are shredded. I am not saying it on the strength of belief (ايمان). I am looking at it. It is visible to me. It has been shown to me. This is a stage beyond the belief after seeing (عين اليقين). From my side there is a humble entreaty: let us all together, jointly, have complete faith in final victory. Just think not negative. Look at the Positive. Allah bestowed on us Pakistan. This Pakistan will raise the flag of Islam. Here will be the Renaissance of Islam.

Allah is Living and Perpetual then why should we not look at the Positive side. Attach yourself with intensity to the Beloved and make this attachment your guiding light. When that Merciful Hand is extended to you then why not you rush forward in purity chanting (سبحان سبحان) Glory to Thee O Lord Glory to Thee. Just try death. (موتوقبل ان تموتو) Just die before death. Just annihilate yourself in Him-be this annihilation existential or spiritual. The Truth will Himself guide you on the Path. This belief that Islam will ultimately prevail is part of the faith (ايمان). One wins half the battle when one inculcates the “ faith unshakeable”. This is faith in the unseen (ايمان بالغيب). Belief in the victory before the victory itself is the faith in the unseen. The visions that have been bestowed say that not all only in India or Pakistan but in the world a great change is imminent. Muslims! Reach for the hand of the Truth. When certain higher values such as service, sacrifice, and martyrdom are acquired then the Hand of The Truth reaches for you definitely. By the Allah I swear that from all corners of Pakistan there will be signs of awakening like the breeze of springtime. The Secret of the Glory of Islam has always been this unshakeable faith (ايمان) that the ultimate victory will be theirs. Muslim carries out in this world the Will of Allah. Praise to Allah (ِلّلِه الحمد) that the “ Shining Star” of this nation has risen above the horizon. On this Mercy of Allah the Heart, the soul and the spirit (روح) declare their submission. The echo is ringing in the heart of each individual of Ummat: “The vision of Universal freedom that Islam had shown: O’ Muslim now see that vision taking a shape in the reality”

The Glory of Islam from Nile to Kashghar Muslim

Geniuses Parvez Hashmi

Islam brought scientific and intellectual glory to the world of knowledge when Europe, not to speak of several other regions, was passing through dark ages. Enlightened with the spirit of research and scholarship under the influence of Islamic teachings. Muslim scientists and scholars brought to the world hitherto unknown dimensions to the human society. During the golden age of Islam, from the seventh to thirteenth century, Muslims not only revised the knowledge of medicine, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and much forgotten sciences but also made researches and new discoveries in every branch of knowledge. It is widely admitted that European Renaissance and, consequently, the modern world of today owes much gratitude to Muslim scientists and philosophers. The concept of zero in mathematics, diagnosis of and remedies for some fatal diseases like tuberculosis and smallpox, development of surgical instruments and forceps. Scientific explanation of the movement of earth and other planets are but a few examples of Muslim contribution towards the art of human knowledge. The Muslim philosophers, architects, writers, poets and musicians have provided new dimensions to the cultural pattern of the world which previously stood on unsubstantial paradigms. MUHAMMAD BIN QASIM The youngest among the great conquerors. Born in 695 A.D., he was a cousin of Walid-I and son-in-law of Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. He laid the foundation of Muslim

Empire in the sub-continent in 712 A.D. He lost his life due to the court intrigue in 715 A.D. During the early years of the 8th century A.D. men of Sind’s Brahmin tyrant Raja Dahir ad intercepted some Arab navigation from Ceylon (Colombo) They had confiscated the merchandise and enslaved Arab families. In 711 A.D. during the reign of Caliph Walid I, Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf, the governor of Iraq, ordered an expedition against Dahir under Muhammad Bin Qasim, who defeated Dahir’s army and was welcomed by the Budhist monks and people of Sind. From present day Sind. Muhammad Bin Qasim continued his advance northward to Multan, ultimately reaching the foot of Himalayas. TARIQ IBN ZIYAD The General who led first Muslim invasion of Spain. He was a lieutenant of Musa Ibn Nusayr, the Muslim Viceroy of Africa. Tariq Ibn Ziyad and his soldiers routed one of the most formidable armies of the West and carried the banner of Islam even beyond the high walls of the Pyrenees. He died in 720 A.D. The year 712 is a landmark in the history of Islam. In this year, three young Muslim generals won distinction through their conquests, which took the Muslim Caliphate to its farthest limits. In the west, Tariq Ibn Ziyad conquered Spain, in the north, Qutaiba, another general of Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf, conquered Central Asia from Kashgar to Khwarizm, and in the south, the young Muhammad Bin Qasim conquered Sind and West Punjab upto the Kashmir foothills. In 711 Tariq Ibn Ziyad landed with an army of 7,000 at the base of a huge rock, which took the name of Jabal Tariq, now called Gibraltar. He defeated King Roderick’s Visgoths near Rio Barbate and conquered Cordoba. Toledo and other parts of Iberian Peninsula.

JABIR BIN HAYYAN Father of modern chemistry, known as Geber in the West, he was the son of an Arabic druggist. He flourished in Kufa around 776A.D. He practiced medicine, and was closely attached to the house of Bermakides during the reign of Haroon ar-Rashid. He died at Kufa around the end of the 2nd Hijra century at Kufa. The fame of Jabir rests on his alchemical writing preserved in Arabic. From his 500 books we know only 80 in philosophy, logic and alchemy. His books ‘Al Zibak Al-Sharki’ – The Oriental Quicksilver-‘Al Kitab Al Khalis’ The Book of the Pure ‘Kitab Al Tadjammu’- The Assembly Book. Ibn Hayyan is considered one of the first modern chemists for his discoveries of acids, success in distilling sulphuric acid, extraction sodium carbons, potassium, arsenic and silver nitrates. His famous laboratory was found in ruins about two centuries later. MUHAMMAD BIN MUSA AL-KHAWARIZMI A versatile genius, who made lasting contributions to the field of mathematics, astronomy, geography and history. Born in Khawarizm in 780 A.D., visited Baghdad and rose to be one of the well-known scholars and scientists. He became chief of ‘Baytal Hikma’ The House of Wisdom, founded by the Abbaside Caliph Al-Mamun. He left ineffaceable marks in the mathematical history of the world. Al-Khawarizmi died in 850 A.D. Al-Khawarizmi, the founder of analytical algebra. His famous treatise ‘Hisab Al-Jabar Wa al-Moqablah’, first Muslim work on the subject, which gave its name to the new science of algebra. He invented the term logarithm in relation of numbers. He classified numbers into three types and operations into six. He found also the solution to the operation of 2nd and 3rd degree. He discovered the numerical system, which was adopted in Europe at the end of the 16th century. Hs astronomical zij

(table) and trigonometric tables (with sine and tangent) became the basis for further researches by his successors. His books were translated into Latin and English and exercised a powerful influence on the development of mediaeval thought. ABU YUSUF YAQUB IBN ISHAQ AL-KINDI The first outstanding Islamic Philosopher, he was also known as the philosopher of the Arabs. He was born at Kufa and educated at Basra and Baghdad in Iraq, in the early years of the 9th century. Throughout most of his career Al-Kindi held a position as court scholar in Badhdad. He was tutor to the son of Al-Mutasim (833-842). He lived mostly in Basra, and later at Baghdad, where he died in 873 A.D. Al-Kindi was the first sufficient Muslim philosopher to utilize and develop the philosophical concepts of Greek thought. His works are extensive in both number and subjects. He composed in Arabic well over 300 treatises and translations on various topics. Mediaeval Europe was familiar with his writing, the most important ones being “On the Intellect and What is Understood”, and the Theory of the Magical Arts”, Al-kindi was also one of the first Muslim authors to write on the relation between astronomy-astrology and medicine, a branch of the subject which became known later as Al-Tibb Al-Nujumi. ABBAS IBN FIRNAS Andalusi scholar and poet belonged to the entourage of the Hispano-Umayad Amirs Al-Hakim-I Abd Al-Rahman-II and Muhammad-I. He was born in the district of Ronda, Spain in the 9th century. No biographical data about him are available. He was of Berber origin and died in 887 A.D. He was the first to teach the science of music in Al-Andalus. He was the only one in Cordova to be able to

explain the contents of Al-Khalil Ibn Ahmad’s treatise on metrics. He had made known the tables of Sind Hind, which later had great influence on the development of astronomy in Europe. He constructed a planetarium, a clock and an armillary spheres, and is credited with the invention of the fabrication of crystals. He also attempted to fly in the year 861 A.D. He jumped from the top of the minaret at the city of Cordova, and managed to glide for a distance, before falling escaping death by miracle. ABU AL-QASIM IBN MUHAMMAD AL-JUNAYD (ca 830-910). One of the great early mystics, or Sufis, of Islam. He laid the groundwork for ‘sober’ mysticism. He lived and died in Baghdad, although his family came originally from western Persia. He studied law and the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), after having learned the Quran by heart. Later he studied mysticism under the guidance of his uncle, a famous Sufi. Al-Junayd’s sound training in the orthodox Muslim science greatly influenced his mystical career and restrained him from the excesses which many other Sufis indulged in and which gave Sufism a bad name among the more orthodox. He was always prudent in his teaching, and maintained that mystic knowledge was not intended for the average person. With regard to the idea of God, Al-Junayed is as orthodox a Muslim as could be conceived: God is the creator, active, omnipresent nearer to man than his own neck vein. This contrasts sharply with the remote, inactive ‘One’ of Plotinus of Alexandria with whose doctrines some orientalists have drawn parallels in Al-Junayd’s mysticism MUHAMMAD IBN KATHIR AL-FARGHANI One of the astronomer-astrologers employed by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mamun, who reigned in Baghdad from 813-833, was born in Farghana, Trans-oxania in

832 A.D. He supervised construction of Nilometer at Fustat. It was completed in 861 A.D. when his patron Caliph Al-Mutawakkil died. Al-Fargani died in Egypt in 903 AD. His principal works, which still survive in Arabic at Oxford, Paris, Cairo and the library of Princeton University are, ‘Jawami Ilm Al-Nujum Wal Harakat Al-Samaywyys’, ‘Usul Ilm Al-Nujum’, ‘Ilal Al-Aflak’ and ‘Kitab Al-Fusul AlThalathin’. Two latin translations of his works were made in the 12th century, one by John of Seville in 1135 and other by Gerrard of Cremona before 1175. Printer edition of the translation appeared at Farrana in 1493, Nuremberg in 1537, Paris in 1546, and Berkeley in 1943. Gerrard’s translation was not published until 1910. Al-Farghani also wrote two books on the astrolabe ‘Al-Kamil Fil Asturlab’ and ‘Fi Sanat Al-Asturlab’. The Arabic text is extant in Berlin and Paris. AL SABI AL-HARRANI THABIT IBN QURRA Muslim mathematician, astronomer, physician and philosopher, representative of the flourishing Arab-Islamic culture of the 9th century. Born in Syria in 836 A.D. scion of a prominent family settled in Harran. He studied mathematics, philosophy and astronomy in Baghdad. Later secured appointment as a court astronomer to the Abbasid Caliph Mutadid, where he spent remainder of his life writing mathematical, philosophical and medical works. He died in 901 A.D. His mathematical writing, the most studied of his works, played an important role in preparing the way for important mathematical discoveries: the extension of the concept of number to (positive) real numbers. Introduced the science of calculus and the idea of center of gravity of geometric form. Preceded Descrates in Analytical Geometry. In astronomy he was one of the first reformer

of Ptolemaic system; in mechanics he was a founder of statics. MUHAMMAD IBN JARIR AL-TABARI Muslim scholar, author of enormous compendiums of early Islamic history and Quranic compendiums. Born in 839 A.D. at Amol, Tabaristan, now in Iran. After studying religious sciences at Amol, he continued his advanced studies in Ray and Baghdad. He made extensive tours of Persia, Iraq, Egypt and Syria in quest of knowledge. The major portion of his life was spent in teaching and writing in Baghdad, where he died in 923 A.D. His chief contribution was to condense the vast treasure of exegetical and historical erudition of the preceding generations of Muslim scholars and lay the foundations for both Quranic and historical sciences. Tabari’s most important work is his history of the world ‘Tarikh Al-Rasul Wa Al-Muluk’ compiled in 915 A.D. The well known Leyden edition gives only an abbreviated text of the huge work which is said to have been ten times as long but even so it fills 12½ volumes. Even this synopsis is not complete but had to be supplemented in various passages from later writers who had used Tabari’s history of the world. His other works are lost except for some fragments and minor treatises. JABIR IBN SINAN AL-BATTANI Astronomer and mathematician was born in 858 A.D., in Haran, near Urfa, Turkey. He worked in the observatories erected by Al-Mamun in Baghdad, at the Dar-ul-Hikma called Shammasiyah, and the other at Ar-Raqqah in Syria. From 887 A.D. he carried out for many years remarkably accurate observations. He died near Samarra, Iraq in 929 A.D. He was the best known of Arab astronomers and mathematicians in Europe during the middle Ages, who

offered solution to the operations of triangular equations. He made mathematical tables of tangents parallel nadir and discovered the law of sines and cosines, what we know today as Trigonometry. He found more accurate values for the length of the year and of the seasons, the annual precession of the equinoxes and the inclination of the ecliptic. His principal written work, a book of astronomical tables, was translated in Latin in 1116 and into Spanish in the 13th century. A printed edition titled De Motu Stellarum (‘On Stellar Motion’), was published in 1537. ABU BAKAR MUHAMMAD IBN ZAKARIYA AL-RAZI Renowned physician and the most eminent thinker of 9th century, known as Rhazes in the western world, born in 865 A.D. in ray,Persia. Studied mathematics, philosophy, astronomy and alchemy under a disciple of hamayun Ibn Ishaq. His reputation as a physician took him from one court to another. He was head of Mughtadari Hospital in Baghdad and later in ray,where he died in 925 A.D. Al-Razi fame mainly rests on his medical works. His outstanding work ‘Al Judari wal Hasbah’, treatise on the smallpox and Measles etc., is the earliest and one of the most authentic books upto the present times. It was translated into Latin, Byzantine, Greek and various modern languages and was reprinted more than 40 times between 1498-1866A.D. The foundation of the first modern medical encyclopedia was laid by Al-Razi in a voluminous work called ‘Kitab Al Hawi’(comprehensive book),concerning various medical problems and accounts of Razi’s personal experience and conclusions. His spirit of enquiry in medicine was responsible for challenging the old, discovering the new, and giving medical knowledge a boost whose momentum has still not faded.

MUHAMMAD IBN YARKAN ABU NASR AL-FARABI One of the most out-standing and renowned of Muslim philosophers, known as ‘The Second Teacher’, the first being Aristotle. Born in Turkestan at Wasij in 878 A.D. Received his early education in Farab and Bukhara. Later he settled in Baghdad. In 942. he accepted an invitation from the Prince Sayf-ad-Daulah and lived in his entourage mainly in Aleppo, until his death in Damascus in 950 A.D. His great service to Islam was to preserve the Greek heritage; His system of philosophy is eclectic and a fusion of the system of Plato and Aristotle, with a strong element of Muslim mysticism. He drew an ideal state after Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politicia, called ‘Al Siyasat-al-Madaniyah’ (Political Economy). In his opinion the object of human social existence should be the happiness of the people. His most outstanding book on music, “Mausiqi Al-Kabir’ (Grand Book of Music), is regarded an authority on the subject. He invented the musical instruments called ‘Rabab’ and ‘Qanun’ He wrote many philosophical and metaphysical treatises, as well as books on medicine, mathematics and music. FIRDAUSI A Persian poet of the first rank in the long history of the Persian civilization. Born in Tus (Meshhed) in 934 A.D. his personal name, according to his father Al-Bundari, was Mansur Ben Hasan. He studied philosophy, astronomy, poetry and astrology. His growing fame led him to the court of Ghazni. Firdausi spent his last years in Tus in relative quietude and died in 1020 A.D. He was a poet of extraordinary ability. He combined harmoniously what he drew from historical sources with his personal inspiration. His masterpiece ‘Shahnama’ (Book of Kings) is an epic of nearly 60,000 couplets. It chronicles the story of Iran for a period reckoned traditionally as more than 4 millennia. The

work is divided into several parts covering four dynasties, the Pishdadian, the Kayanian, the Ashkanian and the Sassanian. It was the Shahnameh of Firdausi that recongealed the Person language into a coherent force that soon was to be the court language for most of the Eastern Islamic worlds. ABUL QASIM KHALEF IBN AL-ZAHRAWI Known in Europe as Albucasis, was one of those Muslim scientists who laid the foundation of modern surgery. Born in 936 A.D. In Cordova, he spent his life working as a practicing physician and pharmacist-surgeon. He also contributed to theology and natural sciences. He was the personal physician of the Spanish Caliph Al-Hakam-II. Al-Zahrawi was widely respected as the best physician-surgeon of his time. He died in 1013 A.D. Al-Zahrawi was the first to recommend surgical removal of a broken patella (kneecap) and devised new obstetrical forceps. He gave original descriptions for manufacturing and using probes, surgical knives, scalpels and hooks of various shapes and designs. He invented several types of surgical scissors and grasping forceps. He also recommended several types of threads and catguts as sutures. After 50 years of dedicated work in the fields of medicine and surgery, he wrote his book “Tasrif Li-Man Aijaza Anal Talif” competed in 1000 A.D. translated into several European languages, which laid the foundation of western surgery. This book is considered the first rational, complete and illustrated treatment of its subject. It was studied by students of surgery in Europe till the 19th century. ABD AL-RAHMAN IBN AHMAD INB YUNUS Astronomer, mathematician, born in 8th century A.D. was a witness to the Fatimid conquest of Egypt and the foundation of Cairo in 969 A.D. He made

astronomical observations that were renewed by order of Caliph Al-Hakim, who succeeded Al-Aziz in 996 A.D. Ibn Yunus recorded observations continued until 1003 AD. He died in Fustat, Egypt in 1009 A.D. His major work was ‘Al-Zij Al-Hakimi Al-Kabir’ a fine representative of a class of astronomical handbooks. In 1804, Armand-Pierre Caussin De Perceval published the text of Ibn Yunus’ observational reports with a French translation. Ibn Yunus was the author of an extensive set of tables, called ‘Al-Tadil Al Muhkam’, that displays the equations of sun and moon. His another major work was part of the corpus of spherical astronomical tables used for time keeping in Cairo until the 19th century. It is difficult to ascertain precisely how many tables were in this corpus, which was later known as the ‘Kitab Ghayat Al-Intifa’ (very useful Tables). ABU AL-WAFA AL-BUZJANI Astronomer and one of the greatest Muslim mathematician, born in Buzjan, Iran, in 940 A.D. He moved to Baghdad, in the year 959, which was then the capital of the Eastern Caliphate. He conducted astronomical observations at the Baghdad observatory, where he built the first wall quadrant for observing the stars. He died in Baghdad in 998 A.D. He made important contributions to the development of trigonometry. In his work on lunar theory, he utilized the tangent and cotangent trigonometric function and calculated tables for them. He also invented the secant and cosecant functions, proved the generality of the sine theorem for spherical triangles, and devised a new method of calculating sine table. Al-Buzjani also wrote ‘Kitab Fima Yahtaj Ilaya al-Kuttab wal-Ummal Min Ilm al-Hisab’ (Book on What is Necessary from the Sciences of Arithmatic for Scribes and Businesmen) and ‘Kitab Fima Yahtaj Illayh al-Sani Minal-Amal at—Handasiyha’ (Book on What is

Necessary from Geometric Construction for the Artisan). He also write a book on music, “Compendium on the Science of Rhythm. AL-HASAN IBN AL-HAYTHAM Astronomer, mathematician, Physicist and physician, known in the west as Alhazen, who had a 20th century mind in the 10th century world. Born in Basra in 965 A.D., he was educated in Basra and Baghdad. Later moved to Cairo, then the hub of Islamic world and a great center of learning. The Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakam, took him into his service. Al-Haytham died in Cairo in 1039 A.D. A pioneer in scientific studies in optics and light. First to draw the eye to illustrate phenomenon of expansion of flat surfaces and to explain phenomenon of reflection and expansion. His great work is ‘Kitab Fil Manazir’. The Book on Optics, translated into Latin and published in Basle in 1572 under the title THESAURUS OPTICUS. In this work he studies reflection of light in the anatomy of eye and formation of pictures on the cornea based on his principle of collection of light rays, accumulation and formation of colours. So far among his work 44 treatises on philosophy, geometry, astronomy and mechanics have been identified. His optical thesaurus formed the basis of the optical works of Roger Bacon. His pioneer work on optics influenced Leonardo da Vinci, Johann Kepler and Sir Isaac Newton. ABU RAYHAN AL-BIRUNI A versatile scholar of the highest order, scientist, mathematician, astronomer and one of the greatest historians. Born in a suburb of Kath, Khwarizm, in 973 A.D. he studied in Khwarizm and acquired good reputation as a scholar. He was the historian at the court of Mahmud of Ghazni and his son, Masud. He studied Sunskrit and Indian customs and spent 40 years traveling in quest of knowledge. He died in 1048.

He invented the ‘Biruni Method’ for measurement of the radius and discussed the rotation of the earth on its axis, accurately measured latitudes and longitudes. He made tables for the sine and tangent, and invented a method to measure generic weight for nine metals. He discovered the nature of liquid pressure and method to extract the salt from the sea. His most famous works are ‘Qanun Al-Masudi’, an astronomical encyclopedia, and ‘Tahqiq Al-Hind’, a compendium of concise and penetrating information about the intellectual and socio-economic conditions in the sub-continent. He has left 100 works in geography, history, astronomy, mathematics and pharmacy. ABU ALI AL HUSAYN INB ABDALLAH IBN SINA The most influential of all Muslim philosopher-scientists in the western world, where he was known as Avicenna. He had been given the honorific titles of ‘Ash Shaykh Ar Rais’ (The Leading Wise Man) in the east and ‘Prince of Physicians’ in the west. Born in Bukhara in 980 A.D, he spent his whole life in the eastern and central regions of Persia. He had a great reputation as an out-standing physician. He died at Hamadan in 1037 A.D. Two of his most famous works ‘Kitab Ash Shifa’ (The Book of Healing) and ‘Al Qanun Fi At-Tibb’ (The Cannon of Medicine). The former is a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, probably the largest work of its kind ever written by one man. The latter book became the medical authority for several centuries and was used as a textbook as late as the 18th century. Ibn Sina distinguished 15 types of illnesses and prescribed 760 remedies. He had identified Tuberculosis, Meningitis and other such inflammations. He was the first man to declare that economics by itself is a science. He played a critically important role in initiating the European Renaissance.

ABU MUHAMMAD ALI IBN HAZM Muslim theologian, philosopher and jurist, born in Cordova in 994 A.D. Spent his youth in the circles of the ruling hierarchy at the Umayyed court of Cordova. Rest of his life was spent on his estates, writing and teaching. He died in 1064 A.D. in Seville. Famous for his literary productivity, extraordinary breadth of learning and mastery of the Arabic language. Ibn Hazm’s most important work is the Book of Religions and Sects, a work on comparative religious history, one of the earliest of this genere. One of the leading exponents of the Zahiri (literalist school of jurisprudence), he produced some 400 works covering jurisprudence, logic, history, ethics, comparative religion and theology, ‘The Ring of the Dove’ by Ibn Hazm, is a treatise on the art of love in its psychological and ethical complexities. IBN MUHAMMAD IBN AL-HUSAYN AL-KARAJI Muslim mathematician and engineer, a native of Al-Karaj, Iran. Born in 10th century A.D. he went to Baghdad where he held high position in the administration, and produced bulk of his work there. Later he left Baghdad for the ‘mountain countries’ (the land bordering the Caspian Sea), where he appears to have devoted himself mostly to mathematical work on engineering. Died in the decade 1019-29. His works hold an especially important place in the history of mathematics. In his work, he attempted to free algebra from the tutelage of geometry. In his famous treatise on algebra, ‘Al-Fakhri’, he first presented a systematic study of algebric exponents. Then to the application of arithmetical operations to algebric terms and expressions. And concluded with a first account of the algebra of polynomials. His another well known work ‘Al-Badi Fil Hisab’, he expounds for the first time the

theory of the extraction of the square root of a polynomial with an unknown. NIZAMUL MULK TUSI A great statesman and administrator. Born on April 10, 1018, at Radkhan, Tus. He became the grand vizier of Alp Arsalan, the Saljuk Prince. Undertook many military operations on his own and was responsible for the capture of Istakhr citadel in 1076. For more than twenty years during the reign of Saljuk Empire, he was involved with statecraft. He died in 1092. He was one of the greatest patrons of learning that the world has seen. He established higher educational institutions at Neshapur, Baghdad, Khurasan, Iraq and Syria. Nizamiyah, the university, he set up in 1066 in Baghdad, attracted scholar from all over the Muslim world. Imam Ghazzali, the famous Muslim theologian, philosopher and mystic had been its rector. In 1091, Nizamul Mulk wrote a book on statecraft, ‘Siyasat Nama’, a work on Iranian administrative insight and scholarship. He also introduced a solar calendar. OMAR KHAYYAM Poet, mathematician, and astronomer, was born in Neshapur, Persia, in 1048. He received as extensive education in the sciences and philosophy in his native city and Balkh Travelled to Samarkand, where he completed his important treatise in Arabic on algebra. He was invited by the Sultan Jalal Ad-Din Malik Shah to undertake the astronomical observations necessary for the reform of Calendar. Omar spent much of his life teaching philosophy and mathematics. Died in 1122 at Neshapur. Omar’s Rubaiyat’ (Quatrains), are known in the west largely through the rather inaccurate paraphrase translation of Edward Fitz Gerald (1859). A 20th century student Ali Dashti, concluded in ‘In Search of Omar

Khayyam’ (1971) that of the 1,000 quatrains originally attributed to Omar, 102 are authentic. A close reading of the authentic verses reveals him as a thoughtful and profound man plagued by the eternal questions of the nature of the universe, the passage of time, and man’s relationship to God. In 1079, Omar Khayyam gave geometric solutions to the cubic equations and devised a calendar which was more accurate than either Julian Calendar or the Gregorian Calendar we use today. He also discovered the set of numbers, which was later to become known in the West as Pascal’s triangle. IBN ZUHR One of the Islam’s greatest medical practitioners during the Western Caliphate known as Avenzoar in Europe. Born in Seville, Spain in 1090 A.D. studied medicine under his father Abul-Alz Zuhr. Like his father Ibn Zuhr served the Marabit dynasty (Almoravids 1090-1147) in Spain. Later he served Abd Al-Mumin as a court physician and personal advisor. He died in 1162 A.D. at Seville. Ibn Zuhr-Father of Dietetics, composed the ‘Kitab al-Taysir Fil Mudawat Wal Tadbir’ (Practical Manual of Treatment and Diet.), translated into Latin and Hebrew. He describes pericarditis (inflammation of the memberanous sac surrounding the heart) and mediastinal abscesses (affecting the organs and tissues in the thoracic cavity above the diaphragm, excluding the lungs), and outlined surgical procedures for tracheotomy, excision of cataracts, and removal of kidney stones. As a clinician and medical therapist, he was one of the finest Muslim physicians in Spain and his influence on medicine in the West continued until the Renaissance. MUHAMMAD IBN MUHAMMAD AL-IDRISI Arab geographer, born in Ceuta in Morocco in 1100 A.D. He was a descendant of the Sharifian

Hammudid dynasty, which ruled until 1057 A.D. and over Ceuta and Tangier until 1084 A.D. He studied in Cordova and in his youth he traveled widely visiting Asia Minor, North Africa, France and probably the English coast. He died in Ceuta in 1165 A.D. Idrisi made the first map of the world that was similar to those made by modern cartographers. His greatest work ‘Nuzhat Al Mushtak Fi Ikhtirak Al Afak’ was produced on the orders of Roger-II, the Norman King of Sicily. For this reason the book was also called the Book of Roger, completed in January 1154, it remained the sole geographical reference in Europe for three centuries. In this work Al-Idrisi divided the world into seven regions according to the latitudes. An abridged version of the Book of Roger was published in Roman in 1592 and a Latin translation of it in 1619, the full text has never been edited. Al-Idris also wrote a pharmacological treatise and some poetry. ABU BARK MUHAMMAD IBN TUFAYL A Spanish Muslim philosopher and physician, known to the mediaeval Christian scholastics as Abubacer. Born in Guadix near Granada in 1110 A.D. He was trained as a physician but also followed the career of a government functionary. He became court physician to the Almohad Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf from 1163 to 1184. Died in Marakesh, Morocco in 1185 A.D. Little of Ibn Tufayl’s work has survived except the celeberated allegorical tale ‘Risalat Hayy Ibn Takzan’ in 1175. (Eng. Trans; The Improvement of Human Reason, 1708, new edition; The History of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, 1929). It is a philosophical romance in which he describes the self-education and gradual philosophical development of a man who passes the first 50 years of his life in complete isolation on an uninhabited islan. It has been suggested that Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, may have been inspired by the English

translation of 1708. Ibn Tufayl also wrote a number of medical treatises in Arabic. ABU AL WAHID MUHAMMAD INB RUSHD Famous in the mediaeval west under the name of ‘Averroes’, scholar of the Quranic science and the natural sciences, theologian and philosopher. Born in Cardova, Spain in 1126 A.D. he studied medicine under Abu Jafar Harun Al Tajali, a noted physician in Seville. Ibn Rushd became the chief qadi (judge of Cardova. Later he was invited by the Almohade Caliph Abu Yaqub in Marakesh (Morocco). He died in 1198 at the age of 72. He was the creator of the principles of ‘Free Thinking’. The philosophical, religious and legal works of Ibn Rushd have been studied more thoroughly than his medical worked. His major work in medicine ‘Al-Kulliyat’ (General Medicine) was written between 1153 and 1169 and was translated into Latin in 1255. Between 1169 and 1195 Ibn Rushd wrote a series of extensive commentaries on most of Aristotle’s work, which earned him the singular title, “the Commentator”. Translated into Latin, a century later, his writings inspired many of the Renaissance philosophers. SALAH-AD-DIN YUSUF IBN AIYUBI Muslim Sultan and hero, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, is held to be the Christian Crusader’s most indomitable and chivalrous foe. Born in Takrit, Mesopotamia in 1138 A.D. He served with his uncle, Shirkuh, under Nur-Ad-Din. At the age of 31, he was made Commander of Syrian forces and Chief Minister of Egypt, and in 1186 assumed sole rule of all Egypt and Muslim Syria. Died on March 4, 1193 in Damascus. He taught his peopled zealously to view the struggle with Christianity as the ultimate jihad (holy war). Having trapped and destroyed the crusaders’ army at Hattin in northern Palestine of July 4, 1187 ending its

88-year occupation by the Franks. The great Christian counterattack of the Third Crusade was stalemated by Salah-Ad-din’s Military genius. He established colleges to advance Islamic learning and religion and made devoted his personal assets on the advancement of the Muslim Empire. AL-HATIMI AL-TAI IBN AL-ARABI Celebrated Muslim mystic philosopher, who gave the esoteric, mystical dimension of Islamic thought its first full fledged philosophic expression. Born in Murcia, Spain on July 28, 1165. Spent 30 years in Seville devoted to the study of the traditional Islamic sciences. Traveled throughout Spain and North Africa in search of renowned mystics. He left Spain for the Muslim East in 1198 reaching Mecca as a pilgrim in 1201. Finally settled in Damascus and died there in 1240. The Muslim sages have elaborated Islamic cosmology in numerous treatises, sometimes making use of Quranic angelology alone and at other times incorporating into their worked cosmological sciences drawn from other traditions but in conformity with the Islamic perspective. This is to be seen especially in the writing of Ibn ‘Arabi, who was like a sea into which the rivers of Pythagoreanism, Platonism and Hermeticism flowed and in which they became completely intermingled with purely Islamic esotericism. The symbolism of the Arabic alphabet, the astrological signs, numerical symbolism and the science of the Divine names became synthesized in his writings into a pattern of unity that is characteristic of the synthesized in his writings into a pattern of unity that is characteristic of the synthesizing genius of this great master of Islamic gnosis. MOSLEH OD-DIN SA’DI One of the greatest figures in classical Persian literature, born in Shiraz, Persia in 1213 A.D., He studied

in Baghdad at the renowned Nezamiyeh University. He left Shiraz in 1226, because the old social and political infrastructure was breaking down. This was a period of warring and chaos in Persia Sa’di visited central Asia, India, Syria, Egypt, Arabia, Ethiopia and Morocco. He returned to Shiraz in 1256 to record his many experiences, where he died on December 9, 1292. One of his best known works, completed in 1257, the ‘Bustan’ (The Orchard, 1882), is entirely in verse (epic metre) and consists of stories aptly illustrating the standard virtues recommended to Muslims (justice, liberality, modesty, contentment) as well as the behaviour of dervishes and their ecstatic practices. Another of his famous work, finished in 1258, the ‘Golestan’ (The Rose Garden, 1964), is mainly in prose and contains stories and personal anecdotes. The text is interspersed with a variety of short poems, containing aphorisms, advice and humorous reflection. His lyrics are to be found in Ghazaliyat and his odes in Qasaid. He is also known for a number of works in Arabic. ABD ALLAH IBN AL-BAITTAR Muslim botanist and pharmacist born in Malaga (Spain) in 1190 A.D. Studied under Abdul Abbas Al-Nabati, a renowned herbalist. In 1219 A.D., Al-Baitar started his travels to North Africa, Syria and Asia Minor, later he became the chief herbalist of Ayubi King Al-Kamil at Cario. Finally he settled down in Damascus and remained in service of Malik Al-Saleh who succeeded Malik Al-Kamil.Al-Baitar died in Damascus in 1248 A.D. In his study in Biology and Medicine, Ibn Al-Baitar followed clinical and experimental methods. He made a thorough study of plants growing in the Mediterranean region. His book ‘Al Djami Li Mufradat Al-Adwiya Wal-Aghdhiya’. The Dictionary of Medicines and Food, translated in French in 1881 and introduced more than 80 new terms hitherto unknown. The book

was arranged in alphabetical order and contain 1400 simples, animal, vegetable and mineral, based on his won observations and those of over 150 authorities including Al-Razi, Ibn Sina, Al-Idrisi and Al-Ghafiki. It deals with 200 novel plants which were not mentioned before. NASIR AL-DIN AL-TUSE One of the best known and most influential figures in Islamic intellectual history. Born in Tus, Persia on Feb. 18, 1201. He studied the religion and other sciences from his father. Later he set out for Neshapur, to complete his advanced studies. Halaku Khan took him as a confidential adviser when he attacked and destroyed Baghdad in 1258. Al-Tusi died in Baghdad in 1274 A.D. A man of exceptionally wide erudition, he wrote many books in Arabic and Persian. He improved upon earlier Arabic translations of Euclid, Ptolemy, Autolycus, Theodosius, Apollonius and other, and made original contributions to mathematics and astronomy. His ‘Zij-I-likhani’, is a splendidly accurate table of planetary movements, written in Persian and later translated into Arabic and also partially in Latin by John Greaves. Al-Tusi’s most famous and popular work is the ‘Akhlaq Nasiri, a treatise on ethics in the Greek tradition. He made important contributions to many branches of Islamic learning and wrote excellent philosophical prose. JALAL AD DIN AR RUMI The greatest Sufi poet in the Persian language, born in Balkh, Afghanistan on September 30, 1207. He migrated west (1218) under the threat of the approaching Mongols led by Genghis Khan, and settled in Konya, Turkey (1228). Rumi in 1244 met Shams ad-Din of Tabriz. Several years later he formed another mystical companionship with Salah ad-Din Zarkub and then with

Husam ad-Din Chelebi. Rumi died in Balk on Dec. 17, 1273. He is famous for his lyrics and for his didactic epic ‘Masnavi-e-Manavi’ (Spiritual couplets) which widely influenced Muslim mystical thought and literature. This work is a compendium of poems, tales, anecdotes, and reflections all meant to illustrate Sufi doctrine, the result of 40 years of work by Rumi. His tales possessed diverse qualities, variety and originality, dignity and picturesqueness, learning and charm, depth of feeling and thought. His poetry showed original religious and wonderfully esoteric forms of expression. His poetry showed original religious and wonderfully esoteric form of expression. He also wrote a shorter Diwan and a prose treatise entitled Fihi Ma Fihi (What Is Within Is Within). AHMAD IBN MUHAMMAD IBN KHALLIKAN Muslim judge and author of a classic Arabic biographical dictionary. Born on September 22, 1211 in Irbil, Iraq. He studied in Irbil. Aleppo and Damascus. He was an assistant to the chief judge of Egypt until 1261 when he became qadi (chief judge) of Damascus. In 1271 he was dismissed. He taught in Cairo until he regained his judgeship and returned to Damascus in 1278, where he died on October 30, 1282. Ibn Khallikan’s fame rests on his biographical dictionary ‘Wafayat Al-Ayan Wa-Anba Abna Az-Zaman’ (Deaths of Eminent Men and History of the Sons of the Epoch), translated by Baron de Slane in 1842-72. He began arranging material for it in 1256 and worked on it until 1274, continuing to improve it with marginal notes. Ibn Khallikan selected factual material for his biographies with intelligence and scholarship and rounded them out with poetry and anecdotes. His book is a valuable source of information about his contemporaries and contains excerpts from earlier biographies no longer extant.

IBN AN NAFIS Philosopher, theologian and physician, also known as the second Ibn Sina. Born in Damascus in 1210 A.D. he studied under the physician Ad-Dakhwar and went to Egypt to take charge of the Nisiri Hospital in Cairo. Also he worked in Damascus. Died in 1286 A.D. He was the first to describe the pulmonary circulation of the blood. In finding that the wall between the right and left ventricles of the heart is solid and without pores, he disputed Galen’s view that the blood passes directly form the right to the left side of the heart. Ibn An Nafis correctly stated that the blood must pass from the right ventricle to the left ventricle by way of the lungs. It was only in the 20th century that his work was brought to light. He also wrote a treatise on eye diseases and diet, and commentaries on medical writings of Ibn Sina, Hiippocrates and Hunain Ibn Ishaq. AMIR KHUSRO A master musician, considered one of India’s greatest Persian language poets. Born in 1253 in Patiala, now in Haryana, India. He was the son of a Turkish officer in the service of Iltutmish, Sultan of Delhi, and for his entire life enjoyed the patronage of the Muslim rulers of Delhi, especially Sultan Ghiyas-ud-Din Belban and his son Muhammad Khan of Multan. Amir Khusro was a dedicated disciple of Muhammad Nizamuddin Awlia, and eventually he was buried next to his tomb in 1325, at Delhi. He acquired mastery of some of the Indian arts, especially music, and introduced many innovations in them. Amir Khusro’s best known works are five divans, and his Khamsah (Pentology), a group of five long idylls in emulation of the Khamsah of the celebrated Persian poet Nezami (1141-1203). Amir Khusro’s Pentology deals with general themes famous in Islamic literature.

He is also known for a number of prose works, including the ‘Khazain Al-Futuh’ (The Treasure-Chambers of the Victories), also known by the title ‘Tarikh-e-Ala;. Two of his historical poems for which he is well known are ‘Nuh Sipihr’ (The Nine Heavens) and the ‘Tughluq Namah’. IMAD AD-DIN ISMAIL IBN UMAR IBN KATHIR Theologian and historian who became one of the leading intellectual figures of 14th century. Born in Basra in 1300 A.D. educated in Damascus and obtained first official appointment in 1341, when he joined an inquisitorial commission formed to determine certain questions of heresy. Thereafter he received various semi official appointments, culminating in June/July 1366, with a professional position at the Great mosque of Damascus. He died in Damascus in 1373 A.D. As a scholar, Ibn Kathir, is best remembered for his 14-volume history of Islam. ‘Al-Bidayah Wa an-Nihayah’ (The Beginnign and the End) a work that utilized nearly all the available sources and is still a major source for Mamluk history. His another well known work ‘Al-Jami’, which is an alphabetical listing of the companions of the Prophet and his traditions transmitted through them. ABD ALLAH AL-LAWATI AL-TANJI IBN BATTUTAH Greatest name in the field of travel and observation. Born on February 24, 1304 in Tangier (modern Morocco). He lived as a pious Muslim in Mecca and Madina (1327-30) visited the last Mongol Khan of Iran (1326) and the Khan of Golden Horde in 1332. He served for several years as grand qadi (judge) of Delhi (after 1333) and a qadi in the Maldive Islands (c. 1342-c. 1344), and spent the year 1352 in the Empire of Mali. He died in 1368/69 in Morocco. Author of one of the famous travel books in history, the ‘Rihlah’ (Journey). Ibn Battuta began his

extensive travels in 1325, covering some 75,000 miles trip through all the Muslim countries. The Rihlah contains accounts of visit to Egypt and Syria (1325); Arabia, Iraq, Southern Iran, Azarbaijan (1326). Yamen, Aden, the eastern African coast, southern Arabia, Oman, Hormuz (1330-32); Anatolia, the Crimea, the northern Caucascus, Saray on lower Volga. Constantinople. Central Asia, Khorasan, Afghanistan, and India (1332-33); the Maldive Islands, Ceylon, Bengal, Assam, Sumatra, China, Malabar (1342-48); Tunisia, Sardina and Algiers (1348-49); Spain (1350); the western Sudan and Mali (1352-52). Thus, before the advent of steam boats and speedy means of traveling. Ibn Battutah was the greatest traveler that the world had known. SHAMS-AL-DIN HAFIZ A great Persian mystical poet, born in Shiraz in 1320 A.D. He grew up in an age when Persian poetry had reached the zenith of its romantic era. As a student, Hafiz learned the Quran by heart, and his poetry proves also that he was very well versed in the sciences of his day. At the age of 30, he was appointed to the Court of the Indju Vizir of Shiraz. In 1387, after he had conquered all of Persia Tamerlane came to Shiraz where he met Hafiz. Hafiz died in 1390 in Shiraz. As professor of Quran exegesis, Hafiz composed some of the most sensitive and lyrical poetry ever produced in the Middle East. His fame was well deserved. No other poet up to his time in the Islamic World was such a superb linguist and literary craftsman. He took the poetic forms of the day so far beyond the work of his predecessors that he practically cut off all succession. Over 600 poems are attributed to Hafiz, most of them both mystical and lyrical. His work was meant to be understood on many levels, which was typical of the poetry of his day. Hafiz’s major work, the ‘Divan’ was a collection of short odes known metrically as Ghazals.

ABD AL-RAHMAN MUHAMMAD IBN KHALDUN One of the most distinguished scholars of the Islamic culture in the period of its decline. Generally regarded as a great historian, sociologist and philosopher. Born in Tunis on May 27, 1332 in an Arab family of Hadramawt origin. Completed his education at the age of 20, spent 23 years in political adventure and 31 years as a scholar, teacher and magistrate. Served at the court of the Sultan of Granada and taught at Al-Azhar University of Cairo. He died in 1406 A.D. Through his doctrine of asabiyyah (communal sentiment), he dreamt of reviving the declining Islamic Civilization. Wrote ‘Kitab Al Ibar’, the universal history. But his main work of universal value is the ‘Mukaddima’, an introduction to the historian’s craft, the starting point of several avenues of research leading to the philosophy of history, sociology, economics and allied disciplines. According to him history includes the whole of human past including its social, economic and cultural aspects. NUR AL-DIN ABD AR-RAHMAN JAMI Scholar, mystic and poet, is often regarded as the last great mystical poet of Iran. Born on November 7, 1414 in the district of Jam, now in Khurasan, Iran. He spent his life in Heart, Afghanistan, except for two brief vistis to Meshhed (Iran) and the Hejjaz (Saudi Arabia) in 1472. He also visited Baghdad, Damascus and Tabriz. Later he stayed at his home and lived a quiet introspective life. Died on November 9, 1492 at Herat. His work is notably devoid of panegyrics. His voluminous scholarly output can be divided in two broad categories of prose and poetry. His most famous mystical treatise entitled ‘Lavayeh’ (Eng. Trans, Flashes of Light, 1906), a short work that contains a clear and precise exposition of the Sufi doctrines of ‘Wahdat Al-Wujud’ (the Existential Unity of Being), together with a

commentary on the mystical experiences of other famous mystics. Jami’s poetry is fresh and graceful and is not marred by unnecessary esoteric language. His most famous collection of poetry is a seven-part compendium entitled ‘Haft Awrang’ (The Seven Thrones, or Ursa Major). Among this collection are ‘Salman-o-Absal’ (Eng. Trans, 1856), Yousuf-o-Zalikha (Eng. Trans 1882). FARID KHAN SHER SHAH OF SUR Emperor of North India (1540-45), who created the land revenue system. Born in Sasaram. India in 1486. One of eight sons of Hasan Khan, a horse breeder, Farid rebelled against his father and left home to enlist as a soldier in the service of Jamal Khan, the governor of Jaunpur. He later worked for the Mughal ruler of Bihar, who rewarded him for bravery with the title of Sher Khan. He was killed during the siege of Kalinjar on May 22, 1545. One of the great Muslim rulers of India. Sher Shah rose from the rank of a horseman to be emperor. In early 1539 he conquered Bengal and through his stratagem he captured the Rohtas, a stronghold of southwest of Bengal. At the Battle of Chausa on June 26, 1539 he defeated the Mughal Emperor Humayun and assumed the royal title of Farid-ud-Din Sher Shah. In May 1540 he had driven his foes from Bengal, Bihar, Hindustan, and the Punjab. Intent on expanding the Sultanate of Delhi, he captured Gwalior and Malwa. He efficiently administered the army and tax collections, and built roads, rest houses. And wells for his people. He built the famous Grand Trunk Road, starting from Bengal in the east and passing through the principal towns of Bihar, United Provinces and Punjab, which terminate at Peshawar in Pakistan. SULEIMAN-I THE MAGNIFICENT Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566 also known as KANUNI, meaning the Law-giver. The

only son of Sultan Salim-I born in 1494. He served as governor of Kaffa (in the Crimea) and at Manisa before becoming Sultan Suleiman-I in September 1520. Having conquered Belgrade (1521) and Rhodes (1522). He defeated the Hungarians at Mohacs (1526) and then incorporated the south central portion of Hungary into his empire. He died in 1566, near Szigetvar, Hungary. In addition to his European wars, Suleiman waged three campaigns against Persia, conquering the region of Erzurum in eastern Asia Minor and Iraq (1534-35) as well as much of the area around Lake Van (1548-49). He also built up the naval strength of the Ottomans, who became the dominant power in the Mediterranean Sea and in 1551 conquered Tripoli in North Africa. Suleiman encouraged the effort to adjust the complex structure of the Ottoman states to its new circumstances and therefore was known by his subjects as the ‘Law-giver’. He not only undertook bold military campaign that enlarged his realm but also oversaw the development of what came to be regarded as the most characteristic achievements of Ottoman civilization in the fields of law, literature, art and architecture. SHAH JAHAN The firth Mughal emperor of India during 1628-58, a great patron of fine arts and architecture, and builder of Taj Mahal. Third son of emperor Jahangir. Shah Jahan was born at Lahore on January 5, 1592. On the death of Jahangir on October 29, 1627, Shah Jahan proclaimed himself emperor at Agra on February 4, 1628. He transferred his capital to Delhi and built a place with two-audience hall, the Divan-e-Khass and Divan-e-Amm. Dies on January 22, 1666 at Agra, India. Shah Jahan’s reign was characterized by great pomp and splendour, His crowning achievement is the magnificent mausoleum at Agra, the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan built the white-marbles Taj Mahal as a

mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Records show that more than 20,000 workmen were employed daily for its construction, which was begun in 1631 and completed in 1648. Specialists in various crafts were drawn from all over India and Middles East. Ustad Isa, either various crafts were draws from all over India and Middles East. Ustad Isa, either Turkish or Persian, is thought to be its architect. His other two great masterpieces of architecture are the Jama Mosque of Delhi and the Pearl Mosque of Agra. MIRZA ASADULLAH KHAN GHALIB The pre-eminent Indian poet of his time writing in Persian, equally renowned for poems, letters and prose pieces in Urdu. Born on December 27, 1797 at Agra, India in an aristocratic family. Ghalib passed his youth in luxury. Subsequently, he was granted a small pension by the British government, but had to struggle against penury and hardships. Died on February 15, 1869 in Delhi. His recognition came in 1850, when he was appointed poet laureate to the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar. Ghalib’s best poems were written in three forms; Ghazal (love lyric), Masnavi (moralistic or mystical parable), and Qasidah (panegyric). His critics accused him of writing in an obscure and ornamental style of Persian, incomprehensible to the common man. His verses affirm God’s omnipotence while questioning the misery of the phenomenal world. SIR SYED AHMAD KHAN Muslim religious leader, reformer, educationalist and politician. Born on October 17, 1817, studied Muslim law and religion and was employed by the British government. He served in several Indian administrative posts, and retired with pension 20 years later to devote himself to social and religious reform. He died in 1898.

He was the first to realize that no progress was possible without western education. He founded the first college for Muslims in the sub-continent at Aligarh, as a first step towards the Muslim University of his dreams. He devoted all his energies to this cause and in the face of great opposition succeeded in popularising modern thought and scientific education among the Muslims. He was also the founder of the All-India Muslim Educational Conference and founded two other organizations for protecting the interests of Muslims, The Patriotic Association and the Muslim Defence Association. He declared Muslims a separate nation distinct from the Hindus. A great stylist of Urdu prose, Syed Ahmad was also the author of a number of books. DR. MUHAMMAD IQBAL Thinker, poet and philosopher. Famed for his influential efforts to direct his fellow Muslims towards the establishment of the separate Muslim state of Pakistan. He was born in Sialkot, Punjab in 1877 graduated from Government College, Lahore in 1899 with a master’s degree in philosophy. Between 1905-1908, Iqbal completed his doctorate at Cambridge University, visited German Universities and qualified as a barrister. He died in Lahore on April 21, 1938. He was the first to give a concrete shape to the Muslim aspirations in the sub-continent for a separate homeland. In 1930, he proposed to Muslim League that the Muslim of northwest India be granted a separate state, an idea accepted by the Muslim League in 1940 and realized in 1947. Through his poetry and prose he placed the greatest emphasis on action. His philosophy found poetical expression in its maturest form in ‘Asrar-i-Khudi’ (Secrets of the Self) in 1915 and ‘Rumooz-e-Bekhudi’ (Mysteries of Selflessness) in 1918. During 1928-29, he also delivered a series of lectures on ‘The

Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam’ in which he made a bold attempt to reconstruct Muslim religious philosophy and philosophical traditions. QUAID-I-AZAM MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH Muslim politician, founded the State of Pakistan. Born on December 25, 1876 at Karachi. He went to England in 1892 to study law and after his return in 1896 he practiced law in Bombay. His entry into politics at the 1906 session of the Indian National Congress marked the beginning of a distinguished parliamentary career. He opted for an independent Muslim State in 1940. After the establishment of Pakistan in 1947 Jinnah became its first head. Died on September 11, 1948. Quaid-i-Azam came to symbolise the Muslim aspirations for a separate independent homeland. In 1940, the Muslim League, under his inspiring leadership, demanded that India should be partitioned and the Muslim Majority areas should constitute the sovereign, independent state of Pakistan. It was his ardent advocacy and unbending character, unshakable determination and his tremendous power of persuasion that brought about the successful fruition of the Muslim struggle in the shape of Pakistan. “Character, courage, industry and perseverance” he had said “are the four pillars on which the whole edifice of human life can be built and failure is a word unknown to me”. SHIBLI NOMANI A great oriental scholar and historian, born in the stormy year of 1857. He joined the Aligarh College as Professor of Oriental Languages, and later founded an institution ‘Nudwatul Ulema’ at Lucknow a unique experiment, because it sought to impart science knowledge alongwith classical oriental subjects. He devoted himself to the service of Urdu literature, and continued writing till his death in 1914.

The fame of Shibli rests on his role as an outstanding literary critic. His historical works are distinguished for their authentic research and lucidity of expression. His principal historical contributions are ‘Al-Farooq’; ‘Al-Mamun’, Al-Ghazzali’, ‘Al-Noman’, and ‘Aurangzeb Alamgir’. A logical sequence pervades his writings, which never suffer from the complexities of expression, and are distinguished for their vigour and spontaneity of expressions. His published works include, ‘Sherul-Ajam’, an outstanding critical treatise on Persian poetry, and ‘Seeratun-Nabi’, a monumental work on the life of the Prophet (S.A.W). Shibli wrote some excellent essays in ‘Makalat Shibli’ on various topics. His book ‘Philosophy of Islam’ and ‘Al-Kalaam’ are valuable contributions to Islamic philosophy and religion: GHAZI MUSTAFA KEMAL ATATURK Soldier, statesman, and reformer. Founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey. Born in 1881 at Salonika (now Greece, but then part of Turkish Macedonial) the son of a lower-middle class Turkish customs official. He graduated from the Military Academy in Monastir and then attended the War and Staff College in Istanbul. He introduced lasting reforms that earned him the name Ataturk (Father of Turks) Dies on November 10, 1938 at Istanbul. He modernized the legal and educational systems, encouraged adoption of modern way of life and raised the status of women. Supporting the idea of an independent Turkey, he resigned from the army in 1919 and was elected President of National Congress. In 1920, when the British formally occupied turkey and dissolved the Chamber of Deputies, he opened the 1st Grand National Assembly of Turkey. After military consolidating his control over Anatolia, Mustafa Kemal proclaimed Turkey a republic and was elected its first President in 1922. The peace treaty of 1923 established Turkey’s

complete independence. In 1924 Mustafa Kemal abolished the Caliphate, and began his programme of sweeping reforms in Turkish politics, law and culture. DR. SIR ZIAUDDIN AHMAD (1879-1947) Muslim Mathematician and educationist. Passed his M.A. in Mathematics and D.Sc. from Calcutta University. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge from where he obtained Honours Degree in Mathematics, became Senior Wrangler, and was awarded the Newton Scholarship. In 1904 he joined Gottingam University in Germany where he got his Ph. D. Degree. Headed the Department of Mathematics at Aligarh University, where he became Vice Chancellor. At Gottingam University, Dr. Ziauddin wrote his Ph. D. thesis on Al-Beruni and his ‘Qanun Al-Masudi’.His is a pioneer work in the history of science. He also attended Al-Azhar University, Cairo, to learn Arabic language and Islamic thought. It was through his efforts that Aligar, besides being a University, has Engineering College, Medical College, Tibbia College, Agricultural College, and what not. Besides his academic achievements, Dr. Ziauddin’s untiring academic moral leadership had produced an entire generation of university teachers and students, dedicated to the struggle for creation of Pakistan.

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WHAT IS MISSING IN OUR EDUCATION

Justice(R) K.M.A.Samdani The education in our country has been reduced merely to imparting information. It does not serve the real purpose, i.e. formation of personality. The following questions highlight what is missing in our education: Do we teach our kids –

1. to say ‘thank you’ when it is due? 2. When thanks are due? 3. how and whom to great? 4. to be truthful and honest? 5. to be considerate to others? 6. to respect the constitution and law? (It is not

for the school students to go into the question of validity).

7. that everybody is entitled to their own opinion and to express it?

8. to avoid unnecessary arguments? 9. when an argument is unnecessary? 10. the manner of conversation? 11. to say things in the best possible way, i.e.

without hurting others? 12. that service to mankind is service to God? 13. that they should always strive for perfection

and shun casualness? 14. always to keep promises? 15. behave always in a responsible manner? 16. to discharge obligation rather than insist on

rights? 17. that duties to God are important but duties to

mankind are more important? 18. that to be courteous but firm? 19. that never to compromise on principles? 20. to be punctual?

21. always to be just and fair? 22. the virtue of humility with dignity? 23. the importance of austerity? 24. that ostentation (show off ) is cheap? 25. that austerity is more impressive than

ostentation? The list is not exhaustive. The answers to most of the questions are in the negative. The deficiencies need to be made up and spread over all the three stages of school education. It is, however, for the educationists to decide which deficiency should be addressed at what level. Some can be best taken up at the primary school level and some at the middle school or high school level. But the deficiencies on our education must be recognized and addressed if we want a sound and sensible nation to succeed us. It is true that the basic training must come from homes. But in most cases, the parents are themselves incapable of guiding their children properly or do not have the time or maturity to do so. Whatever be the excuse, the teachers must rise to the occasion and do their duty. If necessary, the teachers should themselves be taught and trained to undertake the task of nation building. It will not do just to devise a separate subject to address the problem. Every teacher must occasionally take time off his subject to brainwash his pupils so that they learn the basic manners pointed out above. These values should never be taught as a subject for examination in which case the values will be learnt only for the sake of examination and lose their importance. However, I hope, the educationists know better. But the need to produce a nation worth the name can hardly be overemphasized.

THE CHOICE

Justice(R) K.M.A.Samdani

Not long ago, we were offered a choice. The choice was between survival with dishonour and self-respect. We opted for survival not for self-respect. Some people in our society thought that we had made a wise choice. Some thought otherwise. Well, I belong to the latter category. In my opinion, it was a blackmail. My advice is that it is foolish to succumb to a blackmail. For, there is no end to it. The blackmailer, who is capable of annihilating us can do so any time he likes or any time it suits him. There is nothing that you can do about it. Every time he may come up with a new demand. You satisfy the demand or you will be bombarded back to the Stone Age. Where will you stop? When will your self-respect or, let us say, your national self-respect, will force you to say ‘no’? Where will you draw the line? A few days after you say ‘no’ you are likely to find yourself in the Stone age. Nay, you will, perhaps face total annihilation. But this kind of end is bound to occur if your adversary is determined to carry out his threat. So, you have lived a little longer in the atomic age by not saying ‘no’ right in the beginning. Was it worth living that long with dishonour or, at the national level, with a subjugated sovereignty? What are a few years in the lives of nations? It is said, a day in a lion’s life is worth more than a hundred years of a jackal’s life. But that depends upon how you look at life. It is interesting to note that the blackmailer was surprised at our total surrender. With all his might, he was expecting a deal not surrender. What a shame. It is true that we did not know this at the time we surrendered everything. Nobody knows the future. At best we can

only guess it which may turn out to be right only half the time. So the way to make a decision at a given point of time is to base it on a certain principle. The principle involved in this case was whether we should prefer survival to self-respect. Unfortunately, we decided in favour of survival. We are facing the consequences. Then, why the surprises or protest when a few of the Pakistani citizens die or illegally extradited? Our impotence has made us a laughing stock of the world. And the pompous way we behave is adding insult to injury. Allama Iqbal’s following couplet will not be out of place.

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