We were saddened to hear of the death of legendary Kuwaiti astronomer and mathematician Saleh Al Ajeery.
His research informed the work of many people in the Arab and Muslim worlds, from fellow researchers and scientists to keen amateurs. By authoring many books and presenting at seminars and conferences, he was known for being generous with his knowledge at a time before astronomy was widely studied.
Saleh Al Ajeery began his astronomy career after being encouraged by his father, and it is fitting that he then went on to guide so many more people as his own wisdom grew.
He faced obstacles on his chosen path, not least of which was a difficulty in traveling around the world to study and to share his learnings in the years following World War II. He did succeed in traversing the globe, however, before building Kuwait’s very first astronomical observatory, the Al-Ujairi Observatory, in the 1970s.
Among Saleh Al Ajeery’s legacies is a library in his name, and the Ojairi Calendar – considered the most authentic and reliable calendar in the country for dates and prayer times.