[DaughterOfMordor]

Wasn't it the Mayans or some other South American people that invented the concept of zero?

[Virginia-American]

The Mayans and the Hindus both invented zero. The Moghul conquereors of India learned it from the Hindus\, and eventually Fibonacci introduced it to Europe in 1200.

Let's get the timeline straight: Rome falls when, 400 AD? Mohammed is 2-300 years later. IIRC, Constantinple and Alexandria were the centers of learning at the time. Just because the Muslims conquered and stole knowledge from others doesn't mean we should credit them with learning and scholarship.

A lot of English words that begin 'al' are of arabic origin: alcohol, algebra, alchemy