List of pre-modern Arab scientists and scholars
This is a list of Arab scientists and scholars from the Muslim World, including Al-Andalus (Spain), who lived from antiquity up until the beginning of the modern age, consisting primarily of scholars during the Middle Ages. For a list of contemporary Arab scientists and engineers see List of modern Arab scientists and engineers

Arab scholars at an Abbasid library in Baghdad. Maqamat of al-Hariri Illustration, 1237.
Both the Arabic and Latin names are given. The following Arabic naming articles are not used for indexing:
- Al - the
- Ibn, bin, banu - son of
- abu, abi - father of, the one with
A
- Ali (601–661), Arabic grammarian, rhetoric, theologian, exegesis and mystic
- Aisha (613–678 CE), Islamic scholar, hadith narrator, her intellect and knowledge in various subjects, including poetry and medicine.
- Avempace (1085–1138), philosopher, astronomer, physician
- Amir Kulal (1278–1370), Sufi mystic and scholar
- Ammar al-Mawsili (10th century), ophthalmologist and physician
- Ali al-Uraidhi (7th century), Muslim scholar
- Ali ibn Isa al-Kahhal (fl. 1010), physician and ophthalmologist
- Ali al-Hadi (829–868), Islamic scholar
- Ali ibn al-Madini (778–849 CE), Islamic scholar and traditionalist
- Ali ibn Ridwan (c. 988, Giza, Egypt–1061, Egypt), astronomer and geometer with Khalid Ben Abdulmelik
- Ali al-Ridha (c. 765–c. 818), Islamic scholar and theologian
- Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855), theologian, ascetic, and hadith traditionist
- Ahmad al-Muhajir (873–956), scholar and teacher
- Ahmad ibn Yusuf (835–912), mathematician
- Ahmad ibn Abu Bakr al-Zuhri (d. 904), Islamic scholar
- Apollodorus of Damascus (50–130), architect, engineer, and designer
- Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish al-Alami (1140–1227), religious scholar of Sufism
- Abdullah ibn Umar (c. 610–693 CE), Islamic scholar and hadith narrator
- Abd Allah al-Qaysi (d. 885), Muslim jurist and theologian
- Abd-Allah ibn Ibadh (d. 708), hadith narrator and theologian
- Abd al-Hamid al-Katib (d. 756), founder of Arabic prose
- Ibn Abbas (c. 619–c. 687), jurist and theologian
- Abdullah ibn Alawi al-Haddad (1634–1720), Sufi saint and jurist
- Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi (1146–1203), Islamic scholar and a prominent hadith master
- Abd al-Aziz Yemeni Tamimi (816–944), Sufi saint and scholar
- Abu al-Fazal Yemeni Tamimi (842–1034), Sufi saint and mystic
- Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali (603–689), grammarian
- Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (874–936), philosopher, Shafi'i scholar and theologian
- Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi (1076–1148), Islamic scholar and judge of Maliki law
- Abū Kāmil Shujāʿ ibn Aslam (c. 850–c. 930), mathematician
- Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala' (d. 770) linguists and grammarian
- Abu Bakr al-Aydarus (1447–1508), religious scholar of Sufism
- Al-Ashraf Umar II (1242–1296), astronomer and ruler of Yemen
- Al-Akhfash al-Akbar (d. 793), Arab grammarian
- Al-Awza'i (707–774), jurist and theologian
- Al-Asma'i (739–831), pioneer of zoology, botany and animal husbandry
- Ibn Abi Asim (821–900), scholar, famous or his work in the hadith science
- Ibn al-'Awwam (12th century), agriculturist and botanist
- Ibn al-Adim (1192–1262), biographer and historian
- Ibn al-A'lam (d. 985), astronomer and astrologer
- Ibn al-Athir (1233–1160), historian and biographer
- Ibn al-Abbar (1199–1260), historian, poet, diplomat, theologian and scholar
- Ibn al-Akfani (1286–1348), Arab encyclopedist and physician
- Ibn 'Adlan (1187–1268), cryptographer and poet
- Ibn Arabi (1165–1240), Islamic scholar and philosopher
- Ibn Arabshah (1389–1450), writer and traveller
B
- Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī (d. 1621), philosopher, architect, mathematician, astronomer
- Bahlool (d. 807), judge and scholar
- Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi (980–1037), mathematician
- Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (1162–1231), physician, historian, Egyptologist and traveler
- Al-Baqillani (d. 1013), theologian, scholar, and Maliki lawyer
- Al-Battani (850–929), astronomer and mathematician
- Al-Baladhuri (d. 892), historian
- Al-Buni (d. 1225), writer and mathematician
- Al-Bakri (c. 1014–1094), geographer and historian
- Al-Baji (1156–1231), Sufi mystic and scholar
- Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi (1256–1321), mathematician, astronomer, Islamic scholar, Sufi, and astrologer
- Ibn al-Baitar (1197–1248), pharmacist, botanist, physician
- Ibn Bassal (b. 1085), botanist and agronomist
- Ibn Bassam (1058–1147), poet and historian
- Ibn Butlan (1038–1075), Arab Christian physician
C
- Cosmas (d. 287), Arab physician and saint
- Calid (d. 704), Umayyad prince and alchemist
- Callinicus (3rd century), historian, orator, rhetorician and sophist
D
- Damian (d. 287), Arab physician and saint
- Dawud al-Antaki (d. 1599), physician and pharmacist
- Dawud Tai (1344–1405), Islamic scholar and Sufi mystic
- Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi (918–995), Hanbali Islamic scholar
- Al-Damiri (1344–1405), zoologist
- Al-Dakhwar (1170–1230), physician
- Al-Darimi (797–869), Islamic scholar and muhaddith
- Al-Dimashqi (1256–1327), geographer
- Al-Dimashqi, Abu al-Fadl (12th-century), writer and economist
- Ibn al-Durayhim (1312–1359/62), cryptologist
- Ibn Dihya (1150–1235), scholar of Arabic language and Islamic studies,
- Ibn Duraid (837–934), geographer, genealogist, poet, and philologist
- Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (1228–1302), one of Islam's great scholars in the fundamentals of Islamic law and belief, and was an authority in the Shafi'i legal school
F
- Fatima al-Fihri (800–880), science patron and founder of the Al Quaraouiyine mosque
- Fatima bint Musa (790–816), theologian and saint
- Al-Farahidi (c. 718–791), writer and philologist, compiled the first dictionary of the Arabic language, the Kitab al-Ayn
- Al-Fasi, Abu al-Mahasin (1530–1604), Sufi saint
- Al-Farghani (d. 880), astronomer, known in Latin as Alfraganus
- Ibn al-Furat (1334–1405), historian
- Ibn al-Farid (c. 1181–1234), Arabic poet, writer, and philosopher
- Ibn Fadlan (10th century), writer, traveler, member of an embassy of the Caliph of Baghdad to the Volga Bulgars
G
- Genethlius (3rd century), sophist and rhetorician from Petra
- Al-Ghafiqi (d. 1165), 12th-century oculist
- Al-Ghassani (1548–1610), physician
H
- Haly Abenragel (d. 1037), astrologer, best known for his Kitāb al-bāri' fi ahkām an-nujūm
- Harbi al-Himyari (8th century), alchemist
- Hasan al-Rammah (d. 1295), chemist and engineer
- Hamdallah Mustawfi (1281–1349), geographer
- Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809–873), Arab Christian scholar, physician, and scientist
- Heliodorus (3rd century), sophist of Arab origin
- Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (d. 819), historian
- Hafsa bint Sirin (651–719), scholar of Islam
- Harun ibn Musa (d. 786), scholar of the Arabic language and Islamic studies.
- Harith al-Muhasibi (781–857), philosopher, theologian and Sufi scholar
- Abu'l-Hasan al-Bayhaqi (1097–1169), astronomer and historian
- Abu'l Abbas al-Hijazi (12th century), traveler, merchant and sailor
- Abul Hasan Hankari (1018–1093), philosopher, theologian and jurist
- Al-Hamdani (893–945), geographer, historian and astronomer
- Al-Humaydī al-Azdi (1029–1095), historian
- Al-Harith ibn Kalada (d. 634–35), physician
- Al-Hilli (1250–1325), Twelver Shia theologian
- Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam (803–871), Egyptian historian
- Ibn al-Haj (1250–1336), scholar and theologian writer
- Ibn al-Haytham (965–1040), physicist and mathematician
- Ibn Hawqal (943–969), writer, geographer, and chronicler
- Ibn Hubal (1122–1213), physician, scientist and author of a medical compendium
- Ibn Hisham (d. 835), historian and biographer
- Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (1503–1566), jurist and theologian
I
- Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī (d. 777), mathematician and astronomer
- Ibrahim al-Nakhai (670–717), theologian, Islamic scholar
- Ibrahim al-Nazzam (c. 775–c. 845), Mu'tazilite theologian and poet
- Iamblichus (c. 245–c. 325), Neoplatonist philosopher, mystic and philosopher
- Iamblichus (c. 165–180), novelist and rhetorician
- Ismail Qureshi al Hashmi (1260–1349), Sufi scholar
- Ismail al-Jazari (1136–1206), scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, artisan, artist
- Ibrahim ibn Adham (718–782), ascetic Sufi saint
- Ismail ibn al-Ahmar (1324–1407), historian
- Ishaq ibn Hunayn (c. 830–c. 910/1), physician and translator
- Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam (1181–1262), theologian and jurist
- Al-Idrisi (1099–1166), geographer and cartographer
- Ibn Abi Ishaq (d. 735), earliest known grammarian of the Arabic language
- Ibn Ishaq (704–761), historian and hagiographer
J
- Ja'far al-Sadiq (702–765), theologian and alchemist
- Jabir ibn Aflah (1100–1150), astronomer and mathematician who invented torquetum
- Jabir ibn Hayyan (821–915), polymath who is considered the father of chemistry, emphasized systematic experimentation and did much to free alchemy from superstition and turn it into a science
- Jābir ibn Zayd (8th century), theologian and jurist
- Al-Jawaliqi (1074–1144), grammarian and philologist
- Al-Jahiz (776–869), historian, biologist and author
- Al-Jayyānī (989–1079), mathematician and author
- Al-Jawbari (fl. 1222), alchemist and writer
- Al-Jabali (d. 976), physician and mathematician from Al-Andalus
- Al-Jubba'i (d. 915), Mu'tazili theologian and philosopher
- Al-Jazari (1136–1206), inventor, engineer, artisan, mathematician
- Al-Jarmi (d. 840), grammarian of Arabic Language
- Ibn al-Jazzar (10th century), influential 10th-century physician and author
- Ibn al-Jawzi (1116–1201), heresiographer, historian, hagiographer and philologist
- Ibn Juzayy (d. 1357), historian, scholar and writer of poetry
- Ibn Juljul (c. 944–c. 994), physician and pharmacologist
- Ibn Jazla (11th century), physician and author of influential treatise on regimen
- Ibn Jubayr (1145–1217), geographer, traveller and poet, known for his detailed travel journals
K
- Khalifah ibn Khayyat (777–854), Arab historian
- Khwaja al-Ansari (1006–1088), Islamic scholar
- Al-Khalili (1320–1380), astronomer who compiled extensive tables for astronomical use
- Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (1002–1071), Islamic scholar and historian
- Al-Khayyat (c. 770–c. 835), astrologer and a student of Mashallah
- Al-Kindi (c. 801–873), Arab philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, physician and geographer
- Ibn al-Khabbaza (d. 1239), historian and poet
- Ibn al-Kammad (d. 1195), astronomer
- Ibn al-Kattani (951–1029), scholar, philosopher, physician, astrologer, man of letters, and poet
- Ali ibn Khalaf (11th century), astronomer
- Ibn al-Khatib (1313–1374), polymath, poet, writer, historian, philosopher, physician
- Ibn Kathir (c. 1300–1373), influential Sunni scholar and historian
- Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406), historian, sociologist, and philosopher
L
M
- Malik ibn Anas (711–795), theologian, and hadith traditionist
- Mariam al-Asturlabi, (10th-century), female astronomer and maker of astrolabes
- Maslama al-Majriti (950–1007), astronomer, chemist, mathematician, economist
- Moulay Brahim (d. 1661 CE), Sufi saint
- Mujir al-Din (1456–1522), qadi and historian
- Mohammed al-Mahdi al-Fasi (1624–1698), mystic, biographer and historian
- Mohammed al-Arbi al-Fasi (1580–1642), author
- Mohammed ibn Qasim al-Tamimi (1140–1207), hadith scholar and biographer
- Mohammed ibn Nasir (1603–1674), theologian, scholar and physician
- Makhdoom Ali Mahimi (1372–1431), Muslim scholar and saint
- Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (815–875), Islamic scholar, theologian and famous hadith compiler
- Mujahid ibn Jabr (645–722), Islamic scholar and jurist
- Mohammed ibn al-Tayyib (1698–1756), linguist, historian and scholar of fikh and hadith
- Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī (d. 796 or 806), Muslim philosopher, mathematician and astronomer
- Muhammad al-Baghdadi (d. 1037), mathematician
- Muhammad Ibn Wasi' Al-Azdi (d. 751), Islamic scholar of hadith, judge and soldier
- Muhammad al-Shaybani (749/50–805), father of Muslim international law
- Muhammed ibn Umail al-Tamimi (900–960), Arab alchemist
- Abu al-Majd ibn Abi al-Hakam (d. 1174), physician, musician and astrologer
- Abu Mikhnaf (d. 774), historian
- Abu Madyan (1126–1198), influential Andalusian mystic and a Sufi master
- Al-Masudi (896–956), historian, geographer and philosopher, traveled to Spain, Russia, India, Sri Lanka and China, spent his last years in Syria and Egypt
- Al-Maʿarri (973–1057), blind Arab philosopher, poet and writer
- Al-Maqrizi (1364–1442), historian
- Al-Maqdisi (946–991), medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions)
- Al-Maziri (1061–1141 CE), jurist in the Maliki school
- Al-Mubarrad (826–898), grammarian and linguist
- Al-Mubashshir ibn Fatik (11th century), mathematician
- Al-Musabbihi (977–1030), Fatimid historian
- Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi (11th century) mechanical engineer and inventor
- Ibn al-Majdi (1359–1447), mathematician and astronomer
- Ibn Manzur (1233–1312), lexicographer and linguist
- Ibn Malik (1203-4 or 1204-5 – 21 February 1274) grammarian
- Ibn Mājid (1432–1500), navigator and poet
- Ibn Maḍāʾ (1116–1196), mathematician and grammarian
N
- Niftawayh (858–935), grammarian
- Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji (d. 1204), astronomer and philosopher; the Alpetragius crater on the Moon is named after him
- Nadr ibn al-Harith (d. 624 CE), physician and practitioner
- Nafi ibn al-Harith (d. 13 AH/634–35), physician
- Abu Jaʿfar an-Nahhas (d. 338), grammarian
- Al-Nawawi (1234–1277), hadith scholar
- Al-Nuwayri (1279–1333), historian and encyclopedist
- Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288), physician and author, the first to describe pulmonary circulation, compiled a medical encyclopedia and wrote numerous works on other subjects
- Ibn al-Nadim (d. 995), bibliophile of Baghdad and compiler of the Arabic encyclopedic catalogue known as 'Kitāb al-Fihrist'
Q
- Qadi Ayyad (1083–1149), biographer and historian
- Qatāda ibn Di'āma (d. 735/736), traditionalist, hadith, tafsir, Arabic poetry and genealogy
- Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr (660/62–728/30), Islamic scholar
- Abū al-Ḥasan al-Qalaṣādī (1412–1486), mathematician from Al-Andalus specializing in Islamic inheritance jurisprudence
- Al-Qabisi (d. 967), astrologer and mathematician
- Al-Qadi al-Nu'man (d. 974), official historian of the Fatimid caliphs
- Al-Qalqashandi (1355/56–1418), writer and mathematician
- Al-Qushayri (986–1074), theologian and philosopher
- Al-Qastallani (1448–1517), jurist and theologian
- Al-Qifti (1172–1248), historian
- Al-Qurtubi (1233–1286), muhaddith and faqih
- Ibn al-Qūṭiyya (d. 977), Andalusian historian
- Ibn al-Quff (1233–1286), physician
- Ibn al-Qasim (750–806), jurist in the Maliki school
- Ibn al-Qalanisi (c. 1071–1160), chronicler and historian
- Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (1292–1350), theologian, and spiritual writer
- Ibn Qudamah (1147–1223), theologian
R
- Rabia of Basra (714–801), philosopher and Sufi mystic
- Rashidun al-Suri (1177–1241), physician and botanist
- Raja ibn Haywah (7th century), architect, jurist and Arabic calligraphist
- Rufaida Al-Aslamia (b. 620), physician
- Al-Ruhawi (9th century), physician
- Ibn Abi Ramtha (7th century), physician
- Ibn al‐Raqqam (1250–1315), astronomer, mathematician and physician
- Ibn Rajab (1335–1392/93), Islamic scholar
S
- Sahnun (776–854), Islamic scholar and Maliki jurist
- Said al-Andalusi (1029–1070), astronomer, historian and philosopher
- Said ibn al-Musayyib (642–715 CE), jurist and theologian
- Sa'id ibn Aws al-Ansari (d. 830), linguist
- Shihab al-Umari (1300–1349), historian
- Sayf ibn Umar (1428–1497), historian
- Sufyan al-Thawri (716–778), Islamic scholar and jurist
- Sa'id ibn Jubayr (665–714), theologian and jurist
- Sufyan ibn `Uyaynah (725–814), religious scholar and theologian
- Sidi Mahrez (951–1022), scholar, jurist and Qadi
- Sibt al-Maridini (1423–1506), astronomer and mathematician
- Sulaiman al-Mahri (1480–1550), geographer
- Abu al-Salt (c. 1068–1134), astronomer, physician and alchemist
- Abu Amr al-Shaybani ((d. 821/28), lexicographer and collector of Arabic poetry
- Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi (1013–1119), theologian
- Al-Shafi‘i (767–820 CE), Islamic scholar
- Al-Sakhawi (1428–1497), hadith scholar and historian
- Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid (c. 948–1022 CE), Twelver Shia theologian
- Al-Shatibi (1320–1388), Islamic legal scholar
- Al-Suwaydi (1204–1292), physician
- Al-Shifa' bint Abdullah (7th century), healer, wise woman and practiced folk-medicine
- Al-Sayyid al-Tanukhi (951–1022), Druze theologian and commentator
- Al-Suhayli (1114–1185), grammarian and scholar of law.
- Al-Ṣaidanānī (10th century), astronomer
- Ibn al-Shatir (1304–1375), astronomer, mathematician, engineer and inventor, worked at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, developed an original astronomical model
- Ibn al-Saffar (d. 1035), astronomer
- Ibn al-Samh (979–1035), mathematician and astronomer
- Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi (1213–1286), geographer
- Ibn Sab'in (d. 1271), last philosopher of the Andalus
- Ibn Sidah (c.1007–1066), grammarian and lexicographer
- Ibn Sirin (d. 729), mystic, psychologist and interpreter of dreams
- Ibn Sa'd (784–845), scholar and Arabian biographer
- Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (670–741), historian
- Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, Abu Bakr (1200–1261), Medieval theologian
- Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, Fath al-Din (1272–1334), Medieval theologian
T
- Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf (1526–1585), physician, mathematician, clockmaker and astronomer
- Taqi al-Din al-Subki (1284 CE–1355 CE), scholar, jurist and judge
- Taj al-Din al-Subki (1327/28–1370), historian and jurist
- Taqi al-Din Muhammad al-Fasi (1373–1429), historian, scholar, hafith, faqih and Maliki qadi
- Theodore Abu Qurrah (750–825), theologian and bishop
- Thābit ibn Qurra (826–902), mathematician, physician, astronomer, and translator
- Al-Tabarani (873–970), Islamic scholar
- Al-Tughrai (c. 1061–1122), physician and alchemist
- Al-Tahawi (843–933), jurist and a hadith scholar
- Al-Tighnari (1073–1118), agronomist, botanist, biologist
- Al-Tamimi (10th-century), physician from Palestine
- Al-Tawhīdī (923–1023), philosopher and thinker
- Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328), theologian and logician
- Ibn al-Tiqtaqa (d. 1310), historian
- Ibn Tawus (1193–1266), astrologer
- Ibn Tufail (1105–1185), Andalusian writer, novelist, Islamic philosopher, Islamic theologian, physician, astronomer, vizier, and court official
- Ibn al-Thahabi (d. 1033), physician and author of the first known alphabetical encyclopedia of medicine
U
- Usama ibn Munqidh (1095–1188), Arab historian, politician, and diplomat
- Urwah ibn Zubayr (7th century), historian and jurist
- Umm al-Darda (7th century), jurist and theologian
- Umm Darda al-Sughra (7th century), jurist and scholar of Islam
- Umm Farwah (8th century), hadith narrator and saint
- Al-Uqlidisi (920–980), wrote two works on arithmetic, may have anticipated the invention of decimals
- Al-Urḍī (d. 1266), astronomer
- Ibn Abi Usaibia (1203–1270), physician and historian, wrote Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba (Lives of the Physicians)
- Ibn Uthal (7th century), physician
- Ibn Umail, (10th century), alchemist and mystic
W
- Waddah al-Yaman (d. 709), poet, famous for his erotic and romantic poems
- Wasil ibn Ata (700–748), theologian and founder of the Mutazilite school of Islamic thought
- Al-Warraq (889–994), scholar and critic of religions
- Al-Wafa'i (1408–1471), astronomer
- Ibn al-Wafid (997–1074), pharmacologist and physician
- Ibn al-Wardi (1292–1342), historian
- Ibn Wahb (743–813 CE), jurist of Maliki school
- Ibn Wahshiyya (10th century), Arab alchemist and agriculturalist
Y
- Yahya ibn Aktham (d. 857), jurist
- Yaʿīsh al-Umawī (1400–1489), mathematician, wrote works on mensuration and arithmetic
- Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud (11th century), mathematician
- Abu Yusuf (735–798), Islamic scholar
- Ibn Yunus (c. 950–1009), mathematician and astronomer
Z
- Zayn al-Din al-Amidi (d. 1312 AD), Islamic scholar and inventor
- Zethos (3rd-century), neoplatonist and disciple of Plotinus
- Zakariya al-Qazwini (d. 1283), physician, astronomer, geographer, and proto-science fiction writer
- Zakariyya al-Ansari (c. 1420–1520), Islamic scholar and mystic
- Zayn al-Abidin (659–713), Muslim scholar and Twelver Imam
- Al-Zahrawi (936–1013), Islam's greatest medieval surgeon, wrote comprehensive medical texts combining Middle-Eastern, Indian and Greco-Roman classical teachings, shaped European surgical procedures until the Renaissance, considered the "father of surgery", wrote Al-Tasrif, a thirty-volume collection of medical practice
- Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar (788–870), historian and genealogist
- Al-Zarqali (1028–1087), mathematician, influential astronomer, and instrument maker, contributed to the famous Tables of Toledo
- Ibn Zuhr (1091–1161), prominent physician of the Medieval Islamic period
- Ibn Zafar al Siqilli (1104–1172), Arab-Sicilian philosopher and polymath
Notes
See also
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