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My motivation for this question is to find more example and role models who are similar to me and people I know. I'm interested in the opinion of scholars of Islam only, especially those verses in the relevant sciences, and of a fairly fixed definition of Neurodiversity (although if you come with a suitable counter-definiton, I would be open to listening). Also, I'm only looking for confirmed Sahaba (though not limited to this list) who are confirmed companions of the Prophet ﷺ.

Neurodiversity or ND, refers to variation in the human brain regarding sociability, learning, attention, mood and other mental functions in a non-pathological sense.
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The neurodiversity paradigm was taken up first by individuals on the autism spectrum. Subsequently, it was applied to other neurodevelopmental conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental speech disorders, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysnomia, intellectual disability and Tourette syndrome, as well as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and some mental health conditions such as schizoaffective disorder, antisocial personality disorder, dissociative disorders, and obsessive–compulsive disorder.

The concept of neurodiversity rejects the idea that these variations are negatives, or indicate some kind of deficiency in a person. So in no way am I ascribing or assuming the sahaba were in some way deficient.

Also, I know of Salman the Persian, credited for the suggestion of digging trenches, in the battle of the trench, but I'm not just looking for novel or ingenious individuals, but ones who modern scholars of islam would consider neurodivergent, either by my definition or another widely accepted definition.

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  • I would recommend to eliminate the restriction "opinion of scholars of Islam only" as the indication would rather come from believing scientists.
    – Jeschu
    Dec 31, 2021 at 17:26
  • @jeschu I was trying to keep the question on topic, but I do think you'd need to have a foot in both worlds Dec 31, 2021 at 18:53

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Since ancient times some people suggested that the prophet Muhammad himself (p.b.u.h) was epileptic; whereas a study denies this. Nevertheless, we may assume that a prophet needs very special skills to recieve the Word of God; skills that would be integrated into the modern term of "neurodivergent" persons. This is certainly true, but not what you are looking for.

Unfortunately, I cannot contribute more to your core question but some more research has been done among Christians of whom neurodiversity has been assigned by post-diagnosis:

Sha'ul (Paul) of Tharsus, the most influential 1st century Christian scholar, was most probably epileptic.

Three Christian Scholars have clear indications as authists: Torlak Joseph of Cupertino Brother Juniper

There are several minor examples among Christians (1)

I encourage further investigations on this question.

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