A pioneer of Ottoman astronomy, especially in the field of astronomical instruments and timekeeping, he served as muwaqqit at various mosques, and eventually at the Sublime Porte under Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566).

He was influenced by earlier Mamluk astronomers, especially Shams al-Din al-Khalili (1320–1380) and Ibn al-Shatir (c. 1304–1375), as well as by the Central Asian Ali al-Qushji and Al-Biruni.

He wrote two treatises on the construction of the astrolabe quadrant (al-rub' al-muqantarat), including Hadiyat al-Muluk ("A Present for Kings") dedicated to Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512).

Taha Yasin Arslan writes that al-Qunawi "single-handedly pioneered" the science of timekeeping in the Ottoman Empire.

His nisba, al-Qunawi, indicates that he or his family came from Konya (Qunya), but historian of science İhsan Fazlıoğlu writes that he was likely born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

[3] In his Mizan al-Kawakib ("Balance of the Stars") written during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566), he signed himself as the muwaqqit of the Ottoman court, also known as the Sublime Porte.

The rub' al-muqantarat contained marking (such as curves and scales) similar to those found in an astrolabe, and although less precise, it was simpler to use.

[9] Hadiyat al-Muluk's twenty chapters begin with Al-Qunawi's methods to construct the frame of the rub' al-muqantarat and to verify its accuracy.

[10] It includes curves relevant for calculating prayer times,[11] arcs representing the zodiac signs,[12] and the construction of the azimuths.

[7] Al-Qunawi wrote a new version of Shams al-Din al-Khalili's "universal auxiliaries tables"—containing solutions to all standard problems of spherical astronomy for each degree of latitude—which he titled Tarjamah‐i jadāwil‐i āfāqi.

[3][16] He added his own preface, in which he remarked about his motivation in writing it: "some of our sons wanted, from this poor man, to learn about sine tables; and so we translated this work into Turkish".