Chapter 4 - Al-Maʾmūn: the heretic Caliph

Summary

Like Hārūn al-Rashīd, the caliph al-Maʾmūn has been a familiar, popular figure in the modern period. Whereas the name of al-Rashīd has been associated with romance and mystery and decidedly placed in a mythical milieu, however, al-Maʾmūn's has been associated with learning and rational pursuits, and descriptions of his reign have generally echoed with a far more realistic ring. Al-Maʾmūn's name never escapes mention at the start of any study of medieval Islamic science and philosophy. For it was he who first commissioned the translation of the ancient classics, the works of Euclid, Ptolemy, Aristotle, Plato, and Hippocrates, and who founded the academy known as Bayt al-Ḥikma (house of wisdom), where scholars pored over inquiries ranging from medical study to measuring the circumference of the earth. ʿAbbāsid patronage of scientific efforts not only created a central institution housing the great works of various fields, but also turned the ʿAbbāsid court into a magnet for scholars who had previously worked in isolation.

The list of those indebted to al-Maʾmūn's patronage is long and varied. It includes such luminaries as the Bakhtīshūʿ family, trusted physicians of the caliph; the Banū Mūsā b. Shākir, expert mathematicians and engineers; Isḥāq b. Yūsuf al-Kindī, the renowned philosopher of the day; Ḥunayn b. Isḥāq, the leading figure in the translation movement; al-ʿAbbās b.SaʿĪd al-JawharĪ who managed the astronomical observatory in Baghdad; and even astrologers, such as ʿUmar b. al-Farkhān Abū Ḥafṣ al-ṬabarĪ and ʿAbdallāh b. Sahl b. Nawbakht, who advised the caliph of fortuitous moments for sensitive decisions.