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Optometrist Shamina Asif traces the historical contributions of Muslim scientists to the field of optometry

Other scientists include Al-Ghafiqi, who lives in Cordoba, Spain and treats trachoma. This procedure was used until the First World War. Ibn Isa from Baghdad, Iraq wrote the Ophthalmologist’s Notebook, which described 130 eye diseases and pointed out for the first time that eye diseases may be the consequences of systemic diseases. Today, we know that this is the case with systemic diseases such as diabetes and autoimmune diseases that affect the eyes. He also described the treatment of chalazion, sty, trichiasis, and pterygium, and we are still practicing all of these today when we advise patients to apply heat and clean the eyelids. “As the diversity of optics increases, I think it’s important to draw people’s attention to the joint scientific heritage.” Optometrist Shamina Asif shared her personal reflection on Islam’s contribution to optics. I studied the history of medicine in the GCSE and NEAB syllabus. The book has four pages of information about the dark ages, but only two pages about the development of medicine in the Islamic world. In retrospect, I think this is totally unfair to those great scientists. In 2009, when I watched Rageh Omaar's series on the BBC's European Islamic History program, I discovered the true role of Islamic scientists in pioneering inventions. We need to acquire knowledge and do more for the community. As the Prophet Muhammad said: "If someone travels on the road in search of knowledge, Allah will make him take one of the paths to heaven." This sentence itself will inspire those scientists. I believe that discovering the history of what I am doing will make me appreciate everything I did in my vision test. From fundus photography to pinholes, the struggles these scientists have experienced in researching technology and finding treatments for patients should be inspiring for everyone. I hope that after reading this article, optometrists will be motivated to conduct research, obtain additional qualifications and gain knowledge for the benefit of patients. I think the contribution of Islamic scientists in optometry and optics is not properly recognized in the UK. As the diversity of optics increases, I think it is important to draw attention to the common scientific heritage that actually connects us all. I believe that this kind of encouraging cross-cultural respect and appreciation is more than ever needed.

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Very interesting article, but actually Ibn Ishaq (Johnny Tes) is a Nestorian Christian. It is also interesting to write an article about the contribution of Christianity during the Renaissance.

A well-written and informative article.

Great article, enjoy reading.

Like this article, the content is rich, very much needed. Many people are completely unaware of this because most of the content has been omitted from textbooks and courses. well done.

Excellent article. The amount of information is huge. Indeed, Islam has made a lot of contributions to modern science. In fact, Islamic medicine has a wealth of knowledge about humans and nature as a whole. This kind of knowledge is unknown in the Western world and it is very interesting to study. Combining iris and hard chemistry can also reveal such precise information about a person's health problems. This is awesome. Shamina wrote very well, thank you 😊

Excellent article. The amount of information is huge. Indeed, Islam has made a lot of contributions to modern science. In fact, Islamic medicine has a wealth of knowledge about humans and nature as a whole. This kind of knowledge is unknown in the Western world and it is very interesting to study. Combining iris and hard chemistry can also reveal such precise information about a person's health problems. This is awesome.

Thanks to Shamina for this great article. During Ramadan, we are reminded in time to seek a better self and serve our profession and patients to the best of our ability.

It’s well written and enjoyable to read. Thank you, you have done a good job cooperating with all this information.

Great article, bring it to the forefront in time. Shamina did a good job. We are really standing on the shoulders of giants

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