Abstract
We use a comparison of texts by several Arabic authors from the 8.-15. century inorder to explore the role of Milky Way in the early Islamic civilization until the 15thcentury. We refer to texts by Ibn al-Haytham, Ibn Rahiq, Ibn Majid, and al-Marzouqi.First we discuss the description of the Milky Way given by al-Marzouqi in the 21.chapter of his Kitab al-Azminah wa al-Amkinah. Al-Marzouqi also points out how theMilky Way can be used to determine the direction of prayer.Second we discuss Ibn al-Haytham's finding that in comparison with the Moon theMilky Way has no measurable parallax, must belong to the realm of the stars.We compare the situation at Ibn al-Haytham's time to that of the Great Debate in 1920.
 Milky Way: role in early Islamic civilization, astronomical description, Great Debate
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