Astronomy – Contributions of Islamic Scholars to the Scientific Enterprise by Yasmeen Mahnaz Faruqi

https://muslimheritage.com/astronomy-contributions/ Long before the telescope, scholars from Muslim Civilisation were mapping the skies with incredible precision. Building on ancient works like Ptolemy’s Almagest, they translated, tested, and corrected ancient theories through their own detailed observations. Al-Khwarizmi pioneered astronomical tables (zij), while Al-Farghani’s writings guided Europe and Central Asia for centuries. By the 13th century, thinkers like Al-Tusi introduced groundbreaking models such as the “Tusi Couple,” which influenced later astronomers, including Ibn al-Shatir, whose ideas on planetary motion bore striking similarities to those of Copernicus. Whether or not Copernicus saw these manuscripts, Islamic innovations, from treating trigonometry as an independent science to refining planetary models, paved the way for the Renaissance and beyond.