What We Inherited: Things Muslims Gave to the Modern World
Khadija Adnan
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Isnin September 07, 2026
. Knowledge
From the algebra taught in the classroom to the morning coffee in your cup, much of our modern world was built on historical Muslim innovation. However, these contributions were not built on guesswork. They were built on a standard of rigorous testing and exact verification.
1. Algebra & Algorithms
In Baghdad around the year 820, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi wrote a landmark book on solving equations by balancing both sides called the method al jabr: Kitab al-Jabr wa'l-Muqabala. Over time, Europe adopted his method as "algebra." Furthermore, his own name was translated into Latin as Algoritmi, giving us the word "algorithm."
2. The Science of Light
In Cairo around 1015, Ibn al-Haytham authored Kitab al-Manazir (The Book of Optics). He proved that we see because light travels from objects into the eye, rather than the other way around. To demonstrate this, he darkened a room, let light pass through a tiny pinhole, and studied the inverted image projected on the wall. While others had noticed this effect, he was the first to explain it, holding firm that no claim counts until it survives a physical test.
3. Surgery as a Discipline
In Cordoba around 1000, Al-Zahrawi wrote Kitab al-Tasrif. In this thirty-volume encyclopedia, he drew and described roughly two hundred surgical instruments, ranging from forceps to surgical hooks. He also pioneered using catgut for internal stitches because the body naturally absorbs it. Unsurprisingly, his work served as Europe’s primary surgical textbook for over five hundred years.
4. The Canon of Medicine
Around 1025, Ibn Sina published al-Qanun fi al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine). He combined Greek, Persian, Indian, and Arab medical knowledge into a single ordered system. His work included rules for testing drugs before trusting them and detailed notes on how disease spreads through contact. Consequently, European medical schools were still teaching from it well into the seventeenth century.
5. The First University
In 859 CE, Fatima al-Fihri inherited wealth from her father and spent it entirely on a mosque and school in Fez, Morocco. That institution, Al-Qarawiyyin, has been running ever since. Today, UNESCO and Guinness World Records recognize it as the oldest existing degree-granting university in the world.
6. Coffee for Night Prayers
Long before it became a morning routine across the globe, coffee originated in the Sufi circles of Yemen. Worshippers discovered that brewing the native coffee bean helped them stay awake and energized through long nights of dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and Tahajjud (night prayers). From these spiritual gatherings, the drink spread across the Middle East, into Istanbul's famous coffeehouses, and eventually throughout Europe.
7. Numbers and Everyday Words
The modern digits we use originated in India, but Muslim mathematicians developed the arithmetic and wrote the manuals that brought the system west. Fibonacci later carried these methods into Europe through his 1202 book, Liber Abaci, which is why they are still called Arabic numerals today.
In fact, English has been speaking Arabic for a thousand years without realizing it. Everyday terms like Algebra, Algorithm, Alcohol, Alkali, Cipher, Coffee, Cotton, Sugar, Syrup, Lemon, Sofa, Mattress, Magazine, Admiral, Zenith, and Nadir all trace back to Arabic roots.
Which of these historical facts surprised you the most?
