Sanad ibn Ali | |
|---|---|
| Died | 864 AD |
| Occupations | Astronomer,translator,mathematician,engineer |
| Notable work | Zij al-Sindhind,Decimal mark |
| Father | Ali-Musa |
Abu al-Tayyib Sanad ibn Ali, also known asSind ibn Ali (died c. 864 C.E.),[1] was a ninth-centuryastronomer,translator,mathematician andengineer duringIslamic Golden Age who was employed at the court of theAbbasid caliphAl-Ma'mun. A later convert toIslam, Sanad's father was a learned astronomer who lived and worked inBaghdad.[2]
Sanad ibn Ali was either anIraqi Jewish[3] or a Sindhi fromMansura, capital ofArab Sind.[4] He is known to have translated and modified theZij al-Sindhind. The Zij al-Sindhind was the first astronomical table ever introduced in theMuslim World. As a mathematician Sanad ibn ʿAlī was a colleague ofal-Khwarizmi and worked closely withYaqūb ibn Tāriq together they calculated thediameter of theEarth and other astronomical bodies. He also wrote a commentary onKitāb al-ğabr wa-l-muqābala and helped prove the works ofal-Khwarizmi. Thedecimal point notation to theArabic numerals was introduced by Sanad ibn Ali.
According toIbn Abi Usaibia: theBanū Mūsā brothers out of sheer professional jealousy kept him away fromAbbasid Caliphal-Mutawakkil at his new capitalSamarra and had caused Sanad ibn ʿAlī to be sent away toBaghdad. BothJa'far Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir andAhmad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir delegated the work of digging a greatcanal instead toAl-Farghani and thus ignoring Sanad ibn ʿAlī, the better engineer.Al-Farghani committed a great error, making the beginning of the canal deeper than the rest and water never reached the new garrison ofAl-Ja'fariya. News of this greatly angeredal-Mutawakkil and the twoBanū Mūsā brothers were saved from severe punishment only by the gracious willingness of Sanad ibn ʿAlī, to vouch the corrections ofAl-Farghani's calculations thus risking his own welfare and possibly his life.
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