The First Muslim Woman Scientist to Contribute to Astronomy and Navigation
When gazing at the night sky, you may have wondered where the North Star is. To locate it, you would likely use celestial navigation-the ancient method of finding the North Pole by observing the stars. While most of us do this for fun today, thanks to GPS technology, sailors and travelers in ancient times relied on the stars and a device called an astrolabe to navigate and measure time.
Astrolabes are detailed instruments composed of a disk, plates, and pointers, designed to calculate time and determine directions through complex mathematical calculations. Originally invented by the ancient Greeks, the astrolabe’s design was later optimized and perfected by a Muslim woman scientist, Mariam Al-Astrulabi. Mariam and her father introduced astrolabes to the Islamic world during the 10th-century Golden Age, where they became popular for their ability to determine prayer times and direction.
Despite her significant contributions, Mariam’s role in the development of astrolabes has been largely overlooked, making it essential to highlight her story as one of the earliest female scientists in Islamic history.
Mariam Al-Astrulabiya Al-ljliya lived in Aleppo, Syria, during the 10th century. Her father, Al-Ijliyy, was an apprentice making astrolabes for the Isterlabi in Baghdad. Though little is known about her life, research suggests that her family included astronomical instrument makers and engineers, which likely influenced her expertise. In fact, some scholars suggest that Mariam was inspired by her father, who taught her the craft, while others argue that there isn’t enough information to determine how she learned it. Regardless, Mariam became a master of astrolabe design and was working for Sayf al-Dawla, the founder of Aleppo, who recognized her exceptional skills.
While working for Sayf al-Dawla, Mariam continued refining astrolabe designs, improving their precision and contributing to the navigation system. Her advancements helped track the positions of the sun, moon, stars, and planets, determining prayer times, locate the Qiblah (prayer direction), and establish the dates of Ramadan-all are very important in the Islamic religion.
Through astrolabes are not widely used today, their precise design and mathematical foundations laid the groundwork for modern technology. These instruments paved the way for advances in astronomy, as early scientists used them to study celestial movements. Mariam’s contributions to astrolabe design also advanced mathematical fields such as trigonometer and spherical geometry. In fact, because astrolabes use physical mechanisms to solve complex equations based on celestial observations, they are often considered one of the earliest forms of an analog computer.
Mariam’s groundbreaking work laid the foundation for modern navigation and astronomical theories. She is recognized as one of the 200 most famous astronomers in history and was named an extraordinary woman of the Islamic Golden Age by 1001 Inventions.
Mariam Al-Astrulabi was one of the first known Muslim women scientists, following in her family’s footsteps to contribute to our understanding of the night sky. Today, whether for stargazing, education, or exploration, the celestial navigation method she helped advance still guides us—just as it guided travelers centuries ago.