Written by Wefa M. S.
The following Medieval Scholars were either born, have lived most of their lives and/or have studied in IRAQ.
They were all Moslems and all, but one (Ar-Rumi) have published their work in Arabic. Al-Biruni published his books in Arabic and Persian.
The points below reflect the errors and misconceptions committed by those maintaining Wikipedia about these scholars:
1. Both Al-Farabi (alpharabius) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicenna are presented as Persians. In the case of al-Farabi, Wikipedia enlisted two subtitles; one on his Persian origin backed supposedly by "historic sources" without using the term 'claim,' and the other introduced his Turkic origin as a claim to denote its unreliability. Under the paragraph “Persian Origin,” it states Al-Farabi’s “Iranian-speaking Central Asian origin”! There is no Iranian language, but Persian or Farsi. Additionally, 'Iran' is a modern reference. Both Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina were born and raised in Central Asia, specifically in today’s Afghanistan/Uzbekistan, little to nothing known about the origin of their parents and both contributed during the Islamic era, yet Wikipedia refers to it incorrectly as “Persian Empire” or “Samanid dynasty” and categorizes these scientists as PERSIANS.
Even though al-Farabi lived 40 years in Baghdad with no source ever mentions that he lived or studied in any city in today's Iran, in the list of regional countries (in which he was supposedly born and lived) on the right side of the page, Wikipedia completely neglect IRAQ and enlists:
Region: Central Asia, Iran, Egypt and Syria
2. The greatest Moslem chemist of his time Jabir bin Hayan al-Kufi, who was born and raised in Kufa, South of IRAQ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geber is according to Wikipedia born in Khorasan/Iran. The Wikipedia page about this great Arab scientist is filled with mention of Persians and Persian language/thesis and unrelated Shiites-Umayyad-Abbasid rivalry overshadowing the more important subject of his great inventions. It includes a corrupted and a damaging account in the middle of the page under the subject title of "The Geber Problem" Western writers and so-called historians twist history facts and make errors about Arab (and Islamic) history. According to Wikipedia, This Arab chemist was Persian!
3. When there are serious discrepancies about the ethnic and regional origin of a Moslem Scholar, the phrases 'Moslem Scholar' or 'Moslem Scientist' are placed above the personal portrait on the right side of the webpage, yet when those are argued to be "definitely known" as Persians, the categorization above the portrait is typed 'Persian Scholar' for distinction. The portrait for the Arab scientist, Jabir al-Kufi, has only ‘Scientist’ placed on top of it without ethnicity!
4. Even though Ibn Al-Haytham http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Haytham was of Arab descent, Wikipedia enlists him as ' Arab and/or Persian' on the right-side index and interestingly does not enlist his sect as normally mentioned about the so-called Persian scholars. It states that Basra city was part of Persia by stating that he was "Born circa 965, near modern-day Basra, part of present-day Iraq, and then part of Buyid Persia,[1] ..........." This reference is unacceptable because there was no such an area or dynasty as Buyid Persia in the 10 and 11 centuries.
5. Al-Bayrooni or Al-Biruni http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Biruni has been documented as Persian even though the origin of his parents is unknown and he was born in a city in today's Kazakhstan! It typically mentions his sect (on the right-side list) during a time when there was no such categorization made. The interesting discrepancy is that even though it states in this Al-Biruni page, under the “Biography” section that Khawarizm was “then part of the Abbasid Empire,” Wikipedia does not label him an Arab. But when the polymaths were said to have been born in a city under the so-called Persian Empire, (a wrong categorization) they are automatically labeled as Persians. See the commentary about al-Khawarzmi below.
6. Jalalu~Ddine Ar-Rumi or Rumi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalal_ad-Din_Muhammad_Rumi (the famous Sufi scholar) was born in Balkh, today's Afghanistan. His father was Arab and his mother was Persian, yet he is documented in this Wikipedia link as Persian eliminating his Arab ancestry. His father, Mohammed bin al-Hussein bin Ahmed al-Khatibi al-Bakri, was a well-respected religious scholar whose ancestry goes back to Rashidun Caliph Abu Bakr As-Siddiq. Wikipedia states that Balkh (during Rumi's time) was part of the Persian Empire despite that during Rumi's time there was no Persian Empire, it was an Islamic era/dynasty. Arabs never referred to their golden centuries as Arab Empire. They were anti-imperialists since the Assyrian & Roman empires and participated in pre-Islam wars against them, and eventually defeated the two strongest empires at that time: Persian & Roman.
7. Ibn Zakariya Ar-Razi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_ZakarÄ«ya_RÄzi is again labeled Persian just because his family's name is said to mean 'from the city of Rayy' (if this is truly what it means) Wikipedia states that:
"In Persian, Razi means "from the city of Rayy (also spelled Ray, Rey, or Rai, old Persian Ragha, Latin Rhagae -formerly one of the great cities of the World)", an ancient town on the southern slopes of the Elburz Range that skirts the south of the Caspian Sea, situated near Tehran, Iran. In this city (like Avicenna) he accomplished most of his work.[9 " In other words, gibberish was used just to relate Ar-Razi to Iran.
8. Al-Hasan al-Basri who was born in Medina in today's Saudi Arabia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_al-Basri is also categorized as Persian indicating that his parents were Persians. Interesting enough that he is the only polymath in Wikipedia that despite being so-called Persian, the index on the right of the page (which normally has a personal portrait) does not have the title “Persian Scholar,” instead it is “Moslem Scholar”. It seems that the "Arab ethnicity" is completely and purposefully neglected by Wikipedia.
9. Mohammed bin Mousa Al-Khawarizmi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Khawarizmi is again Persian despite that it states he was "born maybe in Khwārizm[2][4][5], in Uzbekistan," Here there is an unprecedented and scholarly unacceptable terminology, “………which was then part of the native Iranian-Khwarizmian Afrigid dynasty[6]" undoubtedly one of Wikipedia’s new inventions!
There is a seriously damaging sectarian inclusion provided in the Wikipedia pages under madh.hab (sect) or religion, which appears on the right side of the page. It discloses the sect as either Ismaeli or Shiite. According to Wikipedia, none of the Moslem polymaths were Arabs and nearly all of them were Persians and Shiites, which is incorrect!! Religious sects have no relevance in documenting the history of people worldwide. None of the Christian and Jewish polymaths, kings, artists and professionals are being categorized in Wikipedia or in any other encyclopedia by their religion or sect (Orthodox, moderate Jews, Catholics, Protestants, etc.) whether in documenting the past or the present!
In other words, no Moslem scholar (especially the popular) is presented in Wikipedia without being linked often incorrectly or unnecessarily to Persian ancestry!
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This article was last updated on May 4, 2022