Abu al-Abbas Abd Allah ibn Harun al-Rashid, better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun, was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. He succeeded his half-brother al-Amin after a civil war, during which the cohesion of the Abbasid Caliphate was weakened by rebellions and the rise of local strongmen; much of his domestic reign was consumed in pacification campaigns. Well educated and with a considerable interest in scholarship, al-Ma'mun promoted the Translation Movement, the flowering of learning and the sciences in Baghdad, and the publishing of al-Khwarizmi's book now known as "Algebra". He is also known for supporting the doctrine of Mu'tazilism and for imprisoning Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the rise of religious persecution (mihna), and for the resumption of large-scale warfare with the Byzantine Empire.

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, often referred to as simply al-Khwarizmi, was a Persian polymath who produced vastly influential Arabic-language works in mathematics, astronomy, and geography. Hailing from Khwarazm, he was appointed as the astronomer and head of the House of Wisdom in the city of Baghdad around 820 CE.