The Muhammad Bin Hamad Al-Thani Centre for Muslim Contribution to Civilisation at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS), a college of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, organised a symposium titled “Ibn Haytham’s Contribution to Human Civilisation” recently.
The event took place at Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha.
Held in collaboration with the Department of Public Libraries – Qatar Books House at the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage and in co-ordination with the Doha International Book Fair, the symposium highlighted the scientific contributions of the Muslim scholar, Al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham, on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of the first publication of his book, Kitab Al-Manazir (Book of Optics).
The event featured Dr Aisha al-Mannai, dean of QFIS; Professor Albert Marc Smith, professor and curator of museums at the University of Missouri; and Hamilton Morgan, diplomat and author of several books on Arabic sciences.
The scholars reflected on the work of Ibn al-Haytham, a pioneering scientific thinker recognised for his contributions to the understanding of vision, optics and light.
Dr al-Mannai said: “As Unesco declared 2015 to be International Year of Light, the Muhammad Bin Hamad Al-Thani Centre wanted to recognise the work of Ibn al-Haytham, one of the earliest and most researched scientists to study the characteristics of light and optical science.
“The symposium was organised during the book fair to bring awareness to Ibn al-Haytham’s importance as an encyclopaedic scientist and in order to expose individuals from different cultural backgrounds and nationalities to his work.”
The Muhammad Bin Hamad Centre for Muslim Contribution to Civilisation was established to provide non-Arabic speakers with access to scholarly works that underscore the contributions Muslims have made to human civilisation.
Books translated by the centre are on display at the Doha International Book Fair.