For a while now, with the flow of immigrants who have gone to the West in search of a new life, an irrational phobia has appeared in the hearts of their hosts: Islamophobia.
Little do they know that their day-to-day lives require innovations, creations, and developments that were initially pioneered by Muslims.
Let's see if anyone is ready to give up any of these necessities...
1. The Camera
Just like almost every other invention, the camera was, at first, discussed philosophically, until Hasan Ibn al-Haytham appeared.
Also known as the “father of optics,” he was the first to denounce the Greek hypothesis of sight. He explained that light ricochets off an object, then travels to one’s eye, after it was believed that an unseen light emitting from the eye allows us to see.
He was the first to experiment and materialize the world’s first camera obscura.
2. Coffee
It is believed that a goat herder named Kalid was the first to discover coffee's effect on the Ethiopian slopes after noticing that his goats became more agitated after eating the tree’s berries.
Others claim that the earliest evidence of coffee cultivation was found in the 15th century in Mocha, Yemen.
The well-spread chocolaty energizing drink got its name when Yemen's Red Sea port, Mocha, was the first exporter of coffee beans. Starting with the Arabian Peninsula, then on to the world, Sufis used to drink coffee to help them stay awake at night for prayers.
3. Clocks
We owe our punctuality to Ismail al-Jazari, a Southeast Muslim Turk.
The whole concept of automatic time-telling machines was founded by him. By 1206, he had already crafted multiple clocks like water clocks, elephant clocks, and castle clocks.
Muslims continued their steady manufacture of clocks since they needed to know when to pray.
4. Fountain Pen
The earliest mention of fountain pens dates back to the 10th century in Cairo, Egypt, in historian Qadi al-Nu’man al-Tamimi's book Kitaˉb al-Majaˉlis wa’l-musayaraˉt (Book of Sessions and Excursions.)
Around the year 953 AD, the fourth caliph of the Faˉṭimid Caliphate, Abu Tamim Ma’ad al-Mu’izz Li-Din Allah, ordered the manfucaturing of a pen that would prevent him from staining his hands and clothes.
Al Tamimi wrote down a conversation between himself and al-Mu’izz describing how the Caliph wanted the pen to function. Without notation on how the pen was created, it is said that the pen worked after the second trial.
5. Universities
Muslims had an inextinguishable thirst for knowledge. Surprisingly, it was a Tunisian Muslim woman named Fatima Al Fihri who founded one of the world's oldest academic universities back in 859.
6. Surgery
In the 10th century, Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi wrote his medical encyclopedia, On Surgery, which consisted of more than 30 volumes and described over 200 surgical tools. He also invented surgical treatments for the urethra, the ear, and the esophagus.