Biography of Imam Allamah Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri

Alam al-Din Ibn-Abidin al-Hanafi (; 1178 – 1251) was an Egyptian

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

during the

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

period. Alam al-Din was born in Egypt, son of a well-known Egyptian scholar Abidin Ibn al-Hanafi. He later moved to

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

and then to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

where he settled and accomplished most of his engineering works. He died in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

in 1251. Al-Hanafi wrote a treatise on the postulates of Euclid, designed

water mills A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

and

fortifications A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

on the

Orontes river The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek , ) or Nahr al-ʿĀṣī, or simply Asi (, ; ) is a long river in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Hatay Province, Turk ...

, and built the second-oldest

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

celestial globe Celestial globes show the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon, and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated. ...

in the world, that is the representation of

stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...

and

constellations A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellations were likely defin ...

given their apparent positions in the sky. The

was used by Al-Hanafi above all for some

astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...

calculations,

astrological Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions of celesti ...

purposes and as an ornament. Some of his

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

s and

on the Orontes are considered one of the best

hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the move ...

works in the Arab world and many still exist to this day.

Bibliography

*Author: Al-Majlis al-Ilmi, ''Majmu'ah Rasa'il al-Kashmiri'', Vol. 1, 2ed Edition (Karachi: Idarat al-Qur'an wa ‘l-'Ulum al-Islamiyyah), published in 1424, printed 2004 in a limited edition *Author: Shaykh ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah, ''The Arabic biography of "Imam al-'Asr ‘Allamah Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri'', website:
Pearls of Elders
@wordpress.com *Author: Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani, Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, Title
''"Al-Hidayah: A Classical Manual of Hanafi Law"''
Vol. 1, 2006-websit
Amal Press
*

al-Yunini Quṭb al-Dīn Abu ʾl-Fatḥ Mūsā ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Yūnīnī (1242–1326) was a Syrian historian and religious scholar of the Ḥanbalī school of jurisprudence. He wrote the ''Dhayl Mirʾāt al-zamān'', a cont ...

; Li Guo, ed. ''Early Mamluk Syrian Historiography: Al-Yūnīnī di Dhayl Mirat Al-Zaman'', Vol 1, 21 Islamic history and civilization, Brill, 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alam al-Din al-Hanafi Inventors of the medieval Islamic world 13th-century inventors Medieval Egyptian mathematicians Medieval Egyptian astronomers Engineers of the medieval Islamic world 1178 births 1251 deaths Astronomers from the Ayyubid Sultanate 13th-century engineers