The Muslim era began when the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) started preaching Islam. In the seventh century, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) sent Muslims to different countries. They were commanded to study, seek knowledge, learn and benefit from others’ experiences. Thus, in less than a century, Islam had spread from Al-Andalus in Spain to the borders of China. It was this that inspired Muslims to reach great heights in sciences, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, philosophy, art, architecture and other fields of science.
Jabir ibn Hayyan (Persian, Arabic and Urdu: جابر بن حیان, Latin Geberus; usually rendered in English as Geber) was born in 721 or 722, in Tus, and was the son of Ḥayyan, a druggist from the tribe of al-Azd. He lived in Kufa, and eventually became a court alchemist for Caliph. A large body of work was written by Jabir ibn Hayyan, so large that it’s difficult to believe that he wrote them all himself. According to the theory of Kraus, many of these works should be ascribed to later by different authors. It includes the following groups of works: The Hundred and Twelve Books; The Seventy Books; The Ten Books of Rectifications; and the Books of the Balances.
The great Arab chemist Jabir Ibn Hayyan discovered sulphuric and nitric acids. According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, the words sugar, alcohol, alkali, syrup, coffee, cotton, are all Arabic words. This alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan, is generally known as the father of chemistry. Jabir Ibn Hayyan’s, sometimes called al-Harrani and al-Sufi, produced major contributions in the field of chemistry. He introduced experimental investigations into alchemy, which rapidly changed its character into modern chemistry. He discovered nitric acid and described the operations of distillation, sublimation, filtration, coagulation and crystallization. The book written by Jabir ibn Hayyan was considered a textbook until the 18th century. Even still, people refer his books.
Abu Bakar Al-Razi of the 9th century was the first who described the properties of sulphuric acid, H2SO4. Abu-Musa Al-Kufi who lived in the late 8th century contributed greatly to chemistry. Some of his works were even translated into different languages such as Latin and French, some as late as the 17th century.
Muslim chemists learned how to apply the results of their research to daily life. They learned about distillation of water, plasters, syrups, ointments and tampering of steel. Many English terms in chemistry originated from Arabic, such as: camphor, alcohol, elixir, alkali, and syrup. Many of the products or discoveries made by the Muslims have become part of our modern chemistry.
Mathe summarises the legacy of Muslim chemists, which includes the discovery of alcohol, nitric and sulphuric acids, silver nitrate and potassium, the determination of the weight of many bodies, the mastery of techniques of sublimation, crystallization and distillation. Muslim chemistry also took many industrial uses including tinctures and their applications in tanning and textiles; distillation of flowering plants; and the making of perfumes and therapeutic pharmacy. Muslims also managed to perform the crystallisation of “ammonia alu” (ammonium aluminium sulphate).
Without the contributions made by Muslims in chemistry, the technology of today would not be possible.
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