Here are some Mathematical problems that Hazrat Ali Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala
Anhu solved while he was Khalifa. He was known for his mathematical
genius.
Enjoy reading them:
One Day a person came to Ali Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala Anhu, thinking that
since Ali thinks he is too smart, I'll ask him such a tough question
that he won't be able to answer it and I'll have the chance to
embarrass him in front of all the Arabs.
He asked "Ali, tell me a number, that if we divide it by any number
from 1-10 the answer will always come in the form of a whole number
and not as a fraction."
Hazrat Ali Looked back at him and said, "Take the number of days in a
year and multiply it with the number of days in a week and you will
have your answer."
The person got astonished but as he was a Mushrik he still didn't
believe Ali Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala Anhu. He calculated the answer Ali
Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala Anhu gave him. To his amazement he came across the
following results:
The number of Days in a Year = 360 (in Arabic Calendar)
The Number of Days in a Week = 7
The product of the two numbers = 2520
Now ... 2520 ? 1 = 2520
2520 ? 2 = 1260
2520 ? 3 = 840
2520 ? 4 = 630
2520 ? 5 = 504
2520 ? 6 = 420
2520 ? 7 = 360
2520 ? 8 = 315
2520 ? 9 = 280
2520 ? 10= 252
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One day a person came to Ali Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala Anhu. He was planning
to ask Ali Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala Anhu such a question which would take
Ali Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala Anhu a long time to answer and because of that
his Maghrib Prayers would be delayed.
He asked, "Ali you say you know everything in the world, then tell me
which animals lay eggs and which animals give birth to their young ones"
Hazrat Ali Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala Anhu looked back at him smiled and said,
"The animals who have their 'EARS' outside their body give birth to
their young ones and the animals who have their 'EARS' inside their
body lay eggs."
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A person was about to die, and before dying he wrote his Will which
went as follows ...
"I have 17 Camels, and I have three sons. Divide my Camels in such a
way that My eldest son gets half of them, the second one gets 1/3rd of
the total and my youngest son gets 1/9th of the total number of
Camels"
After his death when the relatives read his will they got extremely
perplexed and said to each other that how can we divide 17 camels like
this ?
So after a long hard thought they decided that there was only one man
in Arabia who could help them: "Ali Ibne Abi Taalib." So they all came
to the door of Ali Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala
Anhu and put forward their
problem.
Hazrat Ali Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala Anhu said, "Ok. I will divide the camels
as per the man's will."
He said, "I will lend one of my camels to the total which makes it 18
(17+1=18), now lets divide as per his will"
The Eldest gets 1/2 of 18 = 9
The second one gets 1/3 of 18 = 6
and The Youngest gets 1/9 of 18 = 2
Now the total number of camels = 17
Then Hazrat Ali Razi-Allahu-Ta'ala Anhu said, "Now I will take my Camel
back."