Features/Islamic Inventions
For You · Science

1,143 inventions that changed the world — from algebra to the mRNA vaccine.

From al-Khwarizmi who founded algebra, to Ibn al-Haytham who understood light. From the first hospital in Baghdad to the quantum dots of a Tunisian Nobel laureate. Science is a chain — and Muslims forged it for centuries.

Wetenschap
رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا
Kennis die de wereld veranderde
Koran 20:114

Islamic science is no footnote. It spans al-Khwarizmi's algebra and Ibn al-Haytham's optics to al-Zahrawi's 200 surgical instruments, from the astrolabe to the first hospital, from the cheque to the world’s oldest university.

Khutba World brings together 1,143 inventions, discoveries, and scientific breakthroughs — each based on solid sources and vividly told. From the Golden Age in Baghdad and Córdoba to modern Muslim scientists awarded Nobel and Fields prizes.

Filter by 10 disciplines — mathematics, astronomy, medicine, optics, chemistry, engineering, architecture, agriculture, culture & money, and modern science. Presented fairly: emphasizing development and transmission, not 'Muslims invented everything first.' Legends are clearly marked as such.

What’s inside

Fourteen centuries of science in one feed

Each invention vividly described in 130–180 words, including the inventor, historical period, legacy, and sources.

1,143 inventions

From algebra, algorithms, and the camera obscura to the gas laser, fuzzy logic, and the mRNA vaccine. The complete documented canon.

10 disciplines

Mathematics, astronomy, medicine, optics, chemistry, engineering, architecture, agriculture, culture & money, and modern science.

Filter by anything

Find medical breakthroughs, astronomical instruments, or modern Nobel laureates in seconds.

Up to 2025

Includes modern Muslim scientists: Abdus Salam, Ahmed Zewail, Aziz Sancar, Maryam Mirzakhani (Fields Medal), Omar Yaghi (Nobel 2025), and more.

One invention at a time, or dive deep into a discipline.

Read one random breakthrough today, or spend an entire afternoon exploring medicine or astronomy.

OpticaCaïro · 11e eeuw

De camera obscura

In een donkere kamer in Caïro bestudeerde Ibn al-Haytham hoe licht door een klein gaatje een omgekeerd beeld van de buitenwereld projecteert. Hij verklaarde het als eerste correct — en legde daarmee de basis voor elke camera, van de fototoestel tot je telefoon. Het Arabische 'qamara' leeft voort in het woord zelf…

— Ibn al-Haytham · Boek der Optica · ~1021
Frequently asked questions

About the inventions

How do I know it’s accurate?
Each invention is based on reliable sources (including 1001 Inventions, the Encyclopaedia of the History of Arabic Science, museum and university collections) and presented honestly. Disputed claims and legends — such as Abbas ibn Firnas’s flight or the discovery of coffee — are explicitly marked as such.
Which disciplines and periods?
Ten disciplines, from the 7th century to the present: mathematics, astronomy, medicine, optics & physics, chemistry, engineering, architecture, agriculture, culture & money, and modern science (19th–21st centuries, including Nobel and Fields laureates).
Isn’t this just ‘Muslims invented everything’?
No. We consistently frame contributions as development, systematization, and transmission of knowledge — often building on Greek, Indian, Persian, and Chinese sources and passing them on to Europe. No exaggerated claims.
Are women and modern scientists included?
Yes — from Mariam al-Astrulabiyya (astrolabes) and Fatima al-Fihri (oldest university) to modern figures like Maryam Mirzakhani (first woman to win a Fields Medal) and Hayat Sindi (paper-based diagnostics).
In which languages?
Originally written in Dutch and automatically translated into all 32 languages — Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, French, English, and more.

Walk through fourteen centuries of Muslim science.

1,143 inventions, 10 disciplines, 32 languages. One at a time, or an entire afternoon in one discipline. Free in the Khutba World app.

Islamic Inventions — Khutba World | Khutba World