"I was drowning in thought in a gathering in a group, so I did not hear what they were saying or feel them... I thought one day and lingered, then I cut off the thought when I drowned in it, and I saw the world had darkened in my eyes, as if I passed out, or I was in a dream."
(Al-Hassan bin Musa bin Shakir, describing his passion for sciences and knowledge)
The Abbasid Caliphate reached the height of its power, activity, breadth, and richness during the era of Caliph Harun al-Rashid and his two sons al-Ma’mun and al-Mu’tasim since the second half of the second century AH / eighth and ninth century AD, a golden age in which the translation movement and cultural and scientific exchange between Islamic races, such as Arabs, Persians, Sindh, Berbers, Turks and others were active. On the one hand, and between Muslims and non-Muslims on the other, especially the Greeks, Indians, Chinese and others.
The Muslims of all classes, especially the caliphs and scholars, realized the extent of their religious and cultural power as well as the military, and the Caliph al-Ma’mun sponsored a revolutionary project called “House of Wisdom”[1], which is the university and the largest scientific and technological institution of his time and in the whole world in his time, a university in which he established Al-Mamoun is one of the largest libraries in the world, and he appointed the greatest translators for it, and he sent his scientific missions to the horizons to copy what the Greeks, Byzantines, Syriacs, Indians, Persians and other philosophical and experimental sciences alike. He also appointed in this giant institution the most eminent experimental scientists of his time, in astronomy and mathematics. engineering, medicine, and others, and he bestowed upon them and scientific research a tremendous wealth that soon paid off.
Rather, the Caliph al-Ma’mun cared more about the brilliant and the scientific families, and this interest had the greatest impact in the history of science in Islamic civilization and in the development of sciences and inventions, and among these brilliant people who were embraced by Islamic civilization in the Abbasid era, the family of Musa bin Shakir, the father and his sons inventors, or the three geniuses Mohammed, Hassan and Ahmed. Who are the sons of Musa bin Shakir? What did they bring to the march of experimental sciences in their lives? And why did the Caliph al-Ma’mun give them great care and attention?
Musa bin Shakir lived during the time of the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid and his sons al-Amin and al-Mamun 1250 years ago, in the third century AH / ninth century AD in Baghdad. Musa was famous for his interest in the affairs of astronomy and its colors, which are the special astronomical tables that show the positions of the stars and their movements across the seasons, and for his fame in this The field was appointed by the Caliph Al-Ma’mun (d. 218 AH/833 AD) as an astrologer in his court, that is, a scientist in astronomy and its affairs. He was allowed to build a large observatory on the Baghdad Bridge in which his three sons, Muhammad, al-Hasan and Ahmad, helped him. Astronomers and mathematicians from Greece and others [2].
Then the Caliph Al-Mamoun assigned Musa bin Shakir, accompanied by his sons, to head a scientific expedition to the Sinjar region in northern Iraq to measure the distance corresponding to one degree on the longitude (which ultimately helps in determining the circumference of the Earth). After a long and accurate calculation, the mission concluded that the distance is 66.6 Arab miles. , which is equivalent to 47.356 km for the Earth's orbit, and this result is close to the scientific truth today, as the actual circumference of the Earth is approximately 40,000 km! [3]
In view of the death of Musa bin Shakir, and the intelligence and genius of his three young sons, whose genius was realized by the Caliph al-Ma’mun, and their fondness for astronomy, mathematics and engineering, he decided at that time that the state should embrace them and pledge them to education and development. That is what Ishaq says: “Al-Ma’mun made me a maid of the children of Musa bin Shakir”[4]. For his part, Isaac sent them as students and researchers to be included in the "House of Wisdom" institution under the supervision of one of the famous astronomers of that era, Yahya bin Abi Mansour.
The Caliph al-Ma’mun used to follow up on their news from time to time, inquiring about them, and reassuring their affairs even during his travels and conquests to the country of the Romans. Wisdom.” So they watched the debates of experimental scientists, and reviewed the latest scientific experiments and research, as well as the latest translations that were supervised by a number of great translators of their time, such as Ibn Qurra, Hanin Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Bakhticho’ and others.
The three brothers excelled in the sciences of mathematics, engineering, astronomy and mechanics, and what distinguished their brilliance and talents was their cooperation in research, excavation and study, until they formed the most famous and oldest scientific research team in the history of Islamic civilization in the first half of the second century AH / ninth century before 1200 year from now.
Their inclinations and desires had an impact on their scientific disciplines. Muhammad was interested in mathematics, meteorology, and mechanical construction. He spent most of his time studying astronomy and mathematics, and stratigraphy and their development, as well as his contributions to mechanics. Because of the breadth of his knowledge, Muhammad was called “Hakim Bani Musa.” .
As for Ahmed, he loved the science of mechanics (tricks)[5], and it reached a great amount that no one could argue with, to the extent that the historian Jamal Al-Din Al-Qafti said about him: “Ahmed was without his brother in science except for the craft of tricks (mechanics), for he was opened in it. The like of it was not opened to his brother Muhammad, nor to other ancients who were verified by tricks”[6].
One of the most famous books written by the three brothers is “Al-Hail” or “Mechanics”.
As for the third brother, Al-Hassan, he was proficient in the science of geometry, mastered its arts and secrets, had a genius memory to solve difficult and intractable problems, and he was always preoccupied with mathematics, constantly thinking about them, and it was reported that he said about himself: “I was drowning in thought in a gathering in a group.” I do not hear what they say nor feel them… I thought one day and took a long time, then cut off the thought when I drowned in it, and I saw the world had darkened in my eyes, as if I was unconscious, or that I was in a dream”[7].
The book “Al-Hail” or “Mechanics” is one of the most famous books written by the three brothers as the fruit of one scientific team. The knowledge of the sons of Musa bin Shaker in the sciences of mechanics was not only theoretical, but their concerted efforts resulted in great inventions that are still among us today despite the passage of 12 centuries since their death.
Among what the three brothers invented was an environmentally friendly jar, from which water comes out in a specified amount when the faucet is opened, i.e. the faucet, then it cuts off, and after a certain interval the water flows again, and the matter is repeated until the content of the jar is emptied of water, and this is similar to what we see in bathroom sinks The modern public today that works with special sensors, the three brothers used the stopper, the float and a separator sheet to separate the jar into two parts, the upper working as a tank, and the lower one containing two basins, with the use of a hooked tube resembling the idea of a siphon connecting the two basins in the body of the jar[8], which is a very advanced mechanism. In water control hundreds of years before the invention of the tap.
Among the inventions of the sons of Musa bin Shakir, depending on the sciences of mathematics and mechanics, was what can be called a “machine hook” to extract oysters that carry pearls from the seas, or to dig out the sunken objects in the bottoms of rivers, seas and wells, and this hook or “ram” is no different from the mechanism of action Modern hooks, they made it from two hemispheres connected to each other by chains used to control their movement[9].
The flute that plays automatically through the movement of water, one of the innovations of the sons of Musa bin Shaker (Al-Jazeera)
Among the wondrous things that the sons of Moses invented is a very complex self-operating musical instrument, and they added to it many of what they had previously developed in their equipment, such as gears, cranks, valves, various forms of siphons and levers, and they envisioned linking the work of this device to the body of a flute player. One of their most important works in mathematics was the book "Knowing the Area of Simple and Spherical Shapes", and many Arab and European mathematicians and astronomers relied on it alike[10].
Although the sons of Musa bin Shakir cooperated with each other and formed a scientific research team through which they accomplished many joint works that represented the nucleus of research teams in Islamic civilization, they were also interested in adopting young talents and working to encourage them, as did the Abbasid Caliph and state men in their time. They turned their house into one of the most important centers of science in the Islamic world, which is the house that was given to them by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil, the grandson of Harun Al-Rashid, near his palace in Samarra. In this house, they established a translation department similar to the translation department established by Al-Ma’mun in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. They translated a huge number of books in the fields of astronomy, mathematics and medicine[11].
A number of historians have narrated that the sons of Musa bin Shakir used to send scientific missions to the lands of the Romans to bring science works of various specializations, and to bring in the most experienced and knowledgeable translators so that they would transfer them to the Arabic language. Ibn Abi Asaba’a mentions in his history that Banu Musa bin Shakir used to pay some translators, The likes of Hanin bin Ishaq, Hobeish bin Al-Asham and Thabit bin Qurra, monthly salaries in exchange for transportation and translation amount to about 500 dinars (equivalent to between 70 to 100 thousand US dollars per month)[12], and this shows the amount of generosity and the huge fortunes that they spent on scientific research and development Scientific knowledge in their time.
Muhammad bin Musa bin Shakir, the eldest son, nicknamed Hakim Bani Musa, died at the age of seventy in 259 AH/872 AD, and it is not known exactly when his two other brothers died, although it is most likely that they died in the late third century AH / ninth century AD after a scientific career A bus in which we saw the interest of the Caliphate Foundation itself in these geniuses, and this interest in science and scientific research led to important innovations and inventions in the applied mechanics sciences, which are comparable to robotics today, and perhaps we are not surprised when we know that Arab scientists invented the first “robot” hundreds of years ago based on The works of those who preceded them were the sons of Musa bin Shakir, and this is another hadith that we will stand with later.
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Sources:
Khader Atallah: The House of Wisdom in the Abbasid Era, p. 28 and beyond
Muhammad Amin Farshoukh: Encyclopedia of the Geniuses of Islam 5/114.
Ali Abdullah Al-Defaa: Banu Musa bin Shakir, p. 82.
Al-Qafti: Informing the Scholars of the Scholars' News, p. 264.
Hila Al-Qusayr: The Impact of Research Teams on the Development of Science in Islamic Civilization, p. 41.
Al-Qafti: Previous pg. 287.
Al-Qafti: Same as the previous one.
Banu Musa and Alam Al Hail, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, pp. 30-32.
Previous source pg.
Previous source pp. 54, 55.
Haila Al-Qusayr: Previous pg. 54.
Ibn Abi Usabah: Oyoun Al-Anbaa p.