The oldest mathematical work from the Maghreb which deals with combinatory problems is the Fiqh al‐ḥisāb of Ibn Mun ˓im, a scholar originally from Andalusia, living in Marrakesh in the Almohad era. To our knowledge, his book was the first in the entire history of mathematics to have devoted a whole chapter to these types of problems and to have stated them and solved them according to a common procedure.
Aside from Ibn ˓Abd al‐Malik, the biographers of the Maghreb do not mention Ibn Mun ˓im, even though they write at length about mathematicians of lesser significance, and they use the contents of his book. The little information we do have on Ibn Mun ˓im comes from his own introduction to his mathematical text, cited above, and from the book of Ibn ˓Abd al‐Malik.
According to the latter source, Ibn Mun ˓im's full name was Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ˓Ali Ibn Mun ˓im al‐ ˓Abdarī. He was originally from the town of Denia on the east coast of Spain, near Valencia, and he lived in Marrakesh...
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References
Djebbar, A. Enseignement et recherche mathématiques dans le Maghreb des XII e –XIV e siècles. Paris: Publications Mathématiques d'Orsay, 1981.
Djebbar, A. L'analyse combinatoire au Maghreb: l'exemple d'Ibn Mun ˓ im (XII e –XIII e siècles). Orsay, France: Université de Paris‐Sud, 1985.
Rashed, R. The Development of Arabic Mathematics: Between Arithmetic and Algebra. Dordrecht and Boston: Kluwer Academic, 1994.
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Djebbar, A. (2008). Ibn Mun ˓im. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9624
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