Last Tuesday, October 12th, the Al-Mustafa Foundation for Science and Technology announced that 5 Muslim scholars had won the Al-Mustafa Prize for Science and Technology in its fourth session.

Iranian Professor Kamran Wafa, professor of physics at Harvard University, was crowned with the award in the field of theoretical physics, as he was behind the development of "F-Theory", which is a branch of string theory.

Iranian Professor Kamran Wafa, winner of the award in theoretical physics (communication sites)

The second winner is Professor Zahid Hassan of Bangladesh, Professor of Physics at Princeton University, who received the award in recognition of his work on Weylfermion semimetals in the field of quantum physics.

From the Arab world, the Lebanese Professor Muhammad Al-Sayegh, Professor of Medicine and Immunology at the American University of Beirut, was crowned as a result of introducing new treatments to improve the results of the renal and cardiac allograft in the field of medicine.

Moroccan Professor Yahya Tiallati, Professor of Physics at Mohammed V University, received the award for his contributions to the field of theoretical and particle physics, specifically the observation of light by observing light scattering and the search for magnetic monopoles.

The fifth and final winner of this cycle is Pakistani Professor Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhary, President of the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCS) at the University of Karachi, who received the award for discovering attractive molecules with therapeutic applications in the field of organic biochemistry.

Professor Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhry, winner of the award in the field of biochemistry (communication sites)

The award ceremony will be held at the Foundation’s headquarters in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on October 19, corresponding to Rabi’ al-Awwal 12, 1443 AH, the date of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace.

This is part of a 3-day scientific festival, which includes various scientific and cultural activities, which will be brief due to the Corona virus.

500 researchers on the line of competition

About 500 scientists and researchers, who submitted scientific papers and research, entered the race for the prizes of the fourth session, and 41 scientists qualified for the final stage, to finally choose 5 winners.

According to the conditions of the award, a scientist or researcher cannot be nominated alone, but the works must be submitted by the university, institutions or scientific centers to which the researchers belong.

Commenting on this win, Iranian Professor Kamran Wafa said to Al Jazeera Net via e-mail, "I am happy to have been chosen among the five winners of the Al-Mustafa Prize in its fourth session. I think that this award clearly reflects that scientific research is an adventure without borders and without end as well, and this award is also It belongs to all of humanity."

Regarding the work that was behind his winning the award, Professor Kamran said, “My work revolves around string theory, which is a fundamental theory for understanding nature that combines Einstein’s general theory of relativity with quantum mechanics. I developed a new theory by replacing point particles with higher dimensional strings.”

Lebanese Professor Muhammad Al-Sayegh, winner of the award in the field of medicine (communication sites)

In turn, the award-winning Lebanese professor, Muhammad Al-Sayegh, in the field of medicine, told Al Jazeera Net via e-mail, "My victory was a surprise to me, and I consider it a great honor for myself. It was the culmination of my work in the field of human immune transplantation when I was at Harvard University, today I work at the university." American in Beirut.

For his part, Professor Yahya Tealati said in statements to Al Jazeera Net via e-mail, "I think that the initiative of the Mustafa Foundation for Science and Technology is an excellent initiative in the path of encouraging scientific researchers and promoting scientific research in the Islamic world."

He added, "My being crowned with the award as the first African and Maghreb researcher is first the culmination of the Moroccan University as well as for Morocco, and I am of course very happy with this achievement because the work that I won has worked on for several years, where I made great efforts... I am working on many research projects and I will employ part of The prize money is to finance these projects and open up other horizons.”

Professor Yahya Tealati also wished to establish a strong network of Muslim researchers in order to support and promote scientific research in Islamic countries, a goal that the Mustafa Foundation seeks to embody on the ground.

Moroccan Professor Yahya Telatti, winner of the award in the field of particle physics (communication sites)

Nobel Prize in the Islamic world

The Al-Mustafa Prize is one of the most important and largest scientific prizes in the Islamic and Arab world. It was launched in 2015 by the Al-Mustafa Foundation for Science and Technology, to give it every two years to the most prominent Muslim scholars and researchers, both inside and outside the Islamic world.

The supervisors of this award aim to support scientific research in Islamic countries and introduce Muslim scholars and researchers who have excelled in their specializations, whether inside or outside the Islamic world.

The award is granted in 4 fields: biomedical and biomedical sciences and technology, information and communication technology, nanotechnology, and the fourth category of other sciences.

Muhammad Saeed Shabibi, a member of the media team at the Mustafa Foundation, said in a statement to Al Jazeera Net over the phone that "the financial prizes are very valuable, amounting to $ 500,000 in each category, which is a significant amount that will undoubtedly contribute to advancing the wheel of scientific research in the Islamic world because many of the recipients donated a part of the prize money to fund scientific research.

He added, "The award is given to Muslim scholars and researchers wherever they are located, whether within the Islamic world or in international universities, and we look forward in the future to the participation of non-Muslim scholars and researchers residing in Islamic countries."

Professor Zahid Ihsan, winner of the award in the field of quantum physics (communication sites)

Regarding the award funders and the Al-Mustafa Foundation for Science and Technology, Muhammad Saeed Shabibi said, "The Mustafa Foundation does not receive funding from any government agency inside Iran, and we do not accept any funding from any government from outside the country, so that we do not have to take into account the policy of any country."

“We receive financial support from donations offered by some companies that believe in the necessity and importance of scientific research, and there is the support we receive from some scholars who have contributed to the funding of the award, philanthropists and many economic entities. In addition, we receive, for example, from the airline and hotels, which made discounts of 40% %".

This award was previously crowned by eminent scientists, led by Turkish Professor Ugur Sahin, the inventor of the "Pfizer" vaccine for the Corona virus, and his wife. He received the award in 2019 in the third cycle, and Professor Omar Yaghi from Jordan, who is one of the most prominent chemists in the world.