Which development enabled Islamic scholars circa 9th century to solve complex inheritance problems using algebra?

💡 Explanation

Formal symbolic notation for unknowns allowed Islamic scholars like Al-Khwarizmi to represent unknown quantities with symbols and manipulate them according to algebraic rules, leading to solutions for inheritance problems. Therefore, symbolic notation was essential, rather than just arithmetic or a decimal or geocentric system, which lack the abstraction level necessary for generalized problem-solving.

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