Muslim scholar
Name:	Abū Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Fārābi[1]
Title:	The Second Teacher[2]
Birth:	c. Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies, and is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between Philosophy ( Reason) and the religious teachings 872[2]
Death:	c. Events By Place Europe Battle of Hafrsfjord: Harald Fairhair becomes the first king of Norway. 950[2]
Region:	Central Asia, Iran, Egypt and Syria
Maddhab:	Twelver Shi'a Muslim[2]
Main interests:	Metaphysics, Political philosophy, Logic, Music, Science(Tabi'iat), Ethics, Mysticism[2], Epistemology and Medicine
Works:	Purposes of Metaphysics of Aristotle[3], Fosus Al-Hekam, Kitab Mabda’ ara’ ahl Al-Madina Al-Fadhila, Counting the knowledge(Ehsa Al-Ulum), The Great musics(Al-Musiqi Al-Kabir)[2]
Influences:	Aristotle, Plato, Porphyry, Ptolemy,, Al-Kindi
Influenced:	Avicenna, Yahya ibn Adi, Abu Sulayman Sijistani, Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi, Ibn Bajjah, Mulla Sadra[2] Al Amiri and Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi

Abū Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Fārābi^[1] (Persian: محمد فارابی) or Abū Nasr al-Fārābi (in some sources, known as Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Uzlagh al-Farabi أبو نصر محمد بن محمد بن أوزلغ الفارابي ^[2]), also known in the West as Alpharabius, Alfarabi, Al-Farabi, Farabi, and Abunaser (c. Events By Place Europe Duke Boleslav I of Bohemia makes peace with Otto I. Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية See also Shi'a Islam Twelver Shi'ism ( ar اثنا عشرية Ithnāˤashariyyah) is the largest branch of Shi'a branch of Islam Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science Political philosophy is the study of questions about the City, Government, Politics, Liberty, Justice, Property, Rights Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Mysticism (from the Greek grc μυστικός mystikos, an initiate of a Mystery religion) is the pursuit of communion with identity Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Claudius Ptolemaeus ( Greek: Klaúdios Ptolemaîos; after 83 &ndash ca ( أبو يوسف يعقوب إبن إسحاق الكندي) (c TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born Shahab al-Din Yahya as-Suhrawardi ( Persian شهاب الدين يحيى سهروردى, also known as Sohrevardi) was a Persian philosopher Sufi Abū-Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn al-Sāyigh ( Arabic أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى بن الصائغ known as Ibn Bājjah (ابن باجة was an Andalusian Sadr al-Din Moḥammad Shirazi also called Mulla Sadra ( also spelt Molla Sadra or Mollasadra or sadrol mote allehin; (c Al-Amiri Abu Alhassan; ( Persian ابوالحسن عامرى) Al-Amiri an Iranian philosopher who spent most of his life in Khorasan province The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings 872^[2] – between 14 December 950 and 12 January 951) was an Iranian Muslim polymath and one of the greatest scientists and philosophers of Persia and the Islamic world in his time. Events By Place Europe Battle of Hafrsfjord: Harald Fairhair becomes the first king of Norway. Events 1287 - St Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses killing over 50000 people Events By Place Europe Duke Boleslav I of Bohemia makes peace with Otto I. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople This article is about the year 951 For the 951 Porsche sports car (a A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion A polymath ( Greek polymathēs, πολυμαθής "having learned much" is a person whose knowledge is not restricted to one subject area Early Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar See Also Persian Empire History of Iran and Greater Iran (also referred to as the " Iranian Cultural Continent He was also a cosmologist, logician, musician, psychologist and sociologist. Logic ( Arabic: Mantiq) played an important role in Early Islamic philosophy. Islamic music is Muslim religious Music, as sung or played in public services or private devotions

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Persian origin 1.2 Turkic origin 2 Contributions 2.1 Logic 2.2 Music and sociology 2.3 Philosophy 2.4 Physics 2.5 Psychology 3 Philosophical thought 4 Works 4.1 Metaphysics and cosmology 4.2 Epistemology and eschatology 4.3 Psychology, the soul and prophetic knowledge 4.4 Practical philosophy (ethics and politics) 5 See also 6 Sources 7 External links 8 Notes

Biography

The existing variations in the basic facts about al-Farabi's origins and pedigree indicate that they were not recorded during his lifetime or soon thereafter by anyone with concrete information, but were based on hearsay or guesses (as is the case with other contemporaries of al-Farabi). But what is known with certainty is that after finishing his early school years in Farab and Bukhara, Farabi moved to Baghdad in 901 to pursue higher studies. Bukhara (Buxoro Бухоро بُخارا Бухара also spelled as Bukhoro and Bokhara, from the Soghdian βuxārak ("lucky Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous Events By Place Americas The Mesoamerican ballgame court is dedicated at Uxmal. He studied under a Nestorian Christian cleric Yuhanna ibn-Haylan in Harran who abandoned lay interests and engaged in his ecclesiastical duties, and he remained in Baghdad for more than 40 years and acquired mastery over several languages and fields of knowledge. Nestorius Nestorius (c  386 &ndashc  451) was a pupil of Theodore of Mopsuestia in Antioch in Syria (modern ^[1] He left Baghdad in 941 and went to Aleppo. Events By Place Asia The Rus'-Byzantine War (941 is fought By Topic Religion Oda For other meanings see Aleppo (disambiguation. Halab redirects here for other meanings see Halab (disambiguation. There, he was supported and glorified by Saif ad-Daula, the Hamdanid ruler of Syria. The Hamdanid dynasty (حمدانيون was a Muslim Arab dynasty of northern Iraq ( Al-Jazirah) and Syria (890- 1004) Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية He had some other journeys and traveled to Cairo^[2] Finally Farabi died in Damascus sometime between 14 December 950 and 12 January 951. Cairo () which means "the Vanquisher" or "the Triumphant" is the capital and largest city of Egypt. Damascus ( دمشق,, also commonly known as الشام ash-Shām) is the capital and largest city of Syria. Events 1287 - St Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses killing over 50000 people Events By Place Europe Duke Boleslav I of Bohemia makes peace with Otto I. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople This article is about the year 951 For the 951 Porsche sports car (a ^[1]

There is no consensus on the ethnic background of Farabi. All sources on his ethnic background have been written at least 300 years after Farabi and these few classical primary sources have described his ethnicity differently. Among notable scholars who have done extensive research on Farabi's life and works is Prof. Dimitri Gutas who has examined primary sources dealing with Farabi's background. ^[1]

Persian origin

The oldest known document regarding his background, written by the medieval Arab historian Ibn Abi Osaybe'a (died in 1269), mentions that al-Farabi's father was of Persian descent. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding Ibn Abi Usaibia (1203-1270 ( Arabic,ابن أبي أصيبعة موفق الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن القاسم بن خليفة الشعري الخزرجي layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox ^[4] Mohammad Ibn Mahmud Al-Shahruzi who lived around 1288 A. D. and has written an early biography also has stated that Farabi hailed from a Persian family. ^[5] Ibn al-Nadim, a younger contemporary of Farabi and a close friend of Yahya ibn Adi (Farabi's closest and most successful student), states Farabi's origins^[1][6] to lie in Faryab in Khorasan ("men al-Faryab men ardhµ Khorasan"). Abu'l-Faraj Muhammad bin Ishaq al-Nadim ( Arabic: ابو الفرج محمد بن إسحاق النديم whose father was known as al-Warraq (Arabic الورّاق Greater Khorasan (خراسان بزرگ (also written Khorasaan, Khurasan and Khurasaan) is a modern term for eastern territories of ancient Persia Faryab is also the name of a province in today's Afghanistan. Faryab ( is one of the thirty-four Provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, The Dehkhoda Dictionary - based on Ibn Abi Osaybe'a's accounts - also calls him Persian (فارسی المنتسب‎), mentioning the fact that his father was a member of the Persian-speaking Samanid court of Central Asia. Dehkhoda Dictionary ( is the largest comprehensive Persian Dictionary ever published in 15 volumes (26000 pages layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox The Samanids (819–999 ( Sāmāniyān) were a Persian dynasty in Central Asia and Greater Khorasan, named after its founder Saman Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south The older Persian form Parab (Persian word meaning cultivated land by streams) is given in the historical account Hodud al-'alam for his birthplace. Hudud ul-'alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib (حدود العالم من المشرق الی المغرب meaning "The Limits of The World from The East to The West" is an Farabi has in a number of his works references and glosses in Persian and Sogdian,^[7][8] pointing to an Iranian-speaking Central Asian origin. The Sogdian language is a Middle Iranian language that was spoken in Sogdiana ( Zarafshan River Valley located in modern day Uzbekistan A Persian origin is also discussed by Peter J. King^[9] and some other western sources^[10] as well a comprehensive source on Islamic Philosophy written in Arabic by the Egyptian scholar Prof. Hanna Fakhuri. ^[11]

Turkic origin

The oldest known reference to a possible Turkic origin is given by the medieval historian Ibn Khallekān (died in 1282), who claimed that Farabi was born in the small village of Wasij near Farab (in what is today Otrar, Kazakhstan) of Turkic parents, and in the following decades and centuries, many others copied his work. The Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern central and western Eurasia who speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family Abu-l ‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Khallikan (أبو العباس أحمد بن خلكان ( September 22, 1211 &ndash October 30, 1282) was a Kurdish Wasij was a village near Farab in Kazakhstan and the birthplace of the Central Asian scientist Farabi. Otrar or Utrar (also called Farab) is a Central Asian Ghost town that was a city located along the Silk Road near the current town of Karatau Otrar or Utrar (also called Farab) is a Central Asian Ghost town that was a city located along the Silk Road near the current town of Karatau Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the ^[12] But scholars criticize Ibn Khallekān's statement, as it is only aimed to ridicule the earlier reports of Ibn Abi Osaybe'a, and seems to have the sole purpose to prove that Farabi was a Turk. ^[1] In this context, it is criticized that Ibn Khallekān was also the first to use the additional nisba (surname) "al-Turk" - a nisba Farabi never had. Arabic is a Semitic language See Arabic language for more information on the language in general ^[1] Ibn Khallekān's statement also contradicts Ibn al-Nadim and Yahya bin Adi, both contemporaries of Farabi, who had reported that Farabi's birthplace was Faryab in Khorasan (in modern Afghanistan). Abu'l-Faraj Muhammad bin Ishaq al-Nadim ( Arabic: ابو الفرج محمد بن إسحاق النديم whose father was known as al-Warraq (Arabic الورّاق Ibn Khallekān's accounts are also partially contradicted by the above mentioned fact that Farabi has in many of his writings references and glosses in Persian, Sogdian, and Greek, but not in Turkish. The Turkic languages constitute a Language family of some thirty languages spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the ^[1]

However, aside from early Islamic sources and the mentioned controversies, a significant number of sources^[13] as well as the Encyclopaedia Britannica^[14] consider al-Farabi to be of Turkic, some even of Turkic Seljuq^[15] origin. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc The Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern central and western Eurasia who speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family The Seljuq (also Seljuq Turks, Seldjuks, Seldjuqs, Seljuks; in Turkish Selçuklular; in Ṣaljūqīyān; in

Contributions

Farabi made notable contributions to the fields of logic, mathematics, medicine, music, philosophy, psychology and sociology. Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge"

Logic

Al-Farabi was also the first Muslim logician to develop a non-Aristotelian logic. Logic ( Arabic: Mantiq) played an important role in Early Islamic philosophy. The Organon is the name given by Aristotle 's followers the Peripatetics to the standard collection of his six works on Logic. He discussed the topics of future contingents, the number and relation of the categories, the relation between logic and grammar, and non-Aristotelian forms of inference. A number is an Abstract object, tokens of which are Symbols used in Counting and measuring. Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. Grammar is the field of Linguistics that covers the Rules governing the use of any given natural language. Inference is the act or process of deriving a Conclusion based solely on what one already knows ^[16] He is also credited for categorizing logic into two separate groups, the first being "idea" and the second being "proof. In Logic, an argument is a Set of one or more Declarative sentences (or "propositions") known as the Premises along "

Music and sociology

Farabi wrote books on early Muslim sociology and a notable book on music titled Kitab al-Musiqa (The Book of Music). Islamic music is Muslim religious Music, as sung or played in public services or private devotions He played and invented a varied number of musical instruments and his pure Arabian tone system is still used in Arabic music. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The modern Arab tone system, or system of Musical tuning, is based upon the theoretical division of the Octave into twenty-four equal divisions or 24-tone Equal Arabic music or Arab music ( Arabic: موسيقى عربية;) includes several genres and styles of Music ranging from Arabic classical ^[17]

Al-Farabi's treatise Meanings of the Intellect dealt with music therapy, where he discussed the therapeutic effects of music on the soul. Music therapy is an interpersonal process in which the therapist uses music and all of its facets&mdashphysical emotional mental social aesthetic and spiritual&mdashto help clients to improve Therapy (in Greek: θεραπεία) or treatment, is the attempted Remediation of a health problem usually following a Diagnosis The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living ^[18]

Philosophy

As a philosopher and Neoplatonist, he wrote a rich commentary on Aristotle's work. Early Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical Philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD founded by Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. One of his most notable works is Al-Madina al-Fadila where he theorized an ideal state as in Plato's The Republic. A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. The Republic ( Greek: / Politeía, meaning "political system" Latin: Res Publica, meaning "public business" or ^[19]

Al-Farabi had great influence on science and philosophy for several centuries, and was widely regarded to be second only to Aristotle in knowledge (alluded to by his title of "the Second Teacher"). His work, aimed at synthesis of philosophy and Sufism, paved the way for Ibn Sina's work. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفی‌گری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born ^[20]

Al-Farabi saw religion as a symbolic rendering of truth, and, like Plato, saw it as the duty of the philosopher to provide guidance to the state. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Influenced by the writings of Aristotle, in The Ideas of the Citizens of the Virtuous City and other books, he advanced the view that philosophy and revelation are two different modes of approaching the same truth. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Revelation is the act of revealing or disclosing (see etymology or in the theological perception making something obvious and clearly understood through active or passive communication

He also may have mentioned Alexander the Great in one of his works. Alexander in the Qur'an is a theory that holds that the character of Dhul-Qarnayn, mentioned in the Qur'an, is in fact Alexander the Great.

Physics

Farabi is also known for his early investigations into the nature of the existence of void in physics. This vacuum means "absence of matter" or "an empty area or space" for the cleaning appliance see Vacuum cleaner. Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. ^[19]

Psychology

In psychology, al-Farabi's Social Psychology and Model City were the first treatises to deal with social psychology. Social psychology is the study of how people and groups interact He stated that "an isolated individual could not achieve all the perfections by himself, without the aid of other individuals. " He wrote that it is the "innate disposition of every man to join another human being or other men in the labor he ought to perform. " He concluded that in order to "achieve what he can of that perfection, every man needs to stay in the neighborhood of others and associate with them. "^[18]

His On the Cause of Dreams, which appeared as chapter 24 of his Book of Opinions of the people of the Ideal City, was a treatise on dreams, in which he was the first to distinguish between dream interpretation and the nature and causes of dreams. Dreams are the images sounds thoughts and feelings experienced while Sleeping, particularly strongly associated with Rapid eye movement sleep. For the John Cale minimalist album see Dream Interpretation (Album Dream interpretation is the process of assigning meaning to Dreams In many of the ^[18]

Philosophical thought

The main influence on al-Farabi's philosophy was the neo-Aristotelian tradition of Alexandria. A prolific writer, he is credited with over one hundred works. ^[21] Amongst these are a number of prolegomena to philosophy, commentaries on important Aristotelian works (such as the Nicomachean Ethics) as well as his own works. Nicomachean Ethics (sometimes spelled "Nichomachean" or Ta Ethika, is a work by Aristotle on Virtue and Moral character which His ideas are marked by their coherency, despite drawing together of many different philosophical disciplines and traditions. Some other significant influences on his work were the planetary model of Ptolemy and elements of Neo-Platonism, ^[22]particularly metaphysics and practical (or political) philosophy (which bears more resemblance to Plato's Republic than Aristotle's Politics). Claudius Ptolemaeus ( Greek: Klaúdios Ptolemaîos; after 83 &ndash ca Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical Philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD founded by ^[23]

Al-Farabi as well as Ibn Sina and Averroes have been recognized as Peripatetics(al-Mashsha’iyun) or rationalists(Estedlaliun) among Muslims. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born Abū 'l-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Rushd (Arabicأبو الوليد محمد بن احمد بن رشد better known just as Ibn Rushd (ابن رشد and in European The Peripatetics were members of a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. In Epistemology and in its broadest sense rationalism is "any view appealing to Reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286 ^{[24] [25][26]} However he tried to gather the ideas of Plato and Aristotle in his book "The gathering of the ideas of the two philosophers". Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ^[27]

According to Adamson, his work was singularly directed towards the goal of simultaneously reviving and reinventing the Alexandrian philosophical tradition, to which his Christian teacher, Yuhanna b. Haylan belonged. His success should be measured by the honorific title of "the second master" of philosophy (Aristotle being the first), by which he was known. Interestingly, Adamson also says that he does not make any reference to the ideas of either al-Kindi or his contemporary, Abu Bakr al-Razi, which clearly indicates that he did not consider their approach to Philosophy as a correct or viable one. ( أبو يوسف يعقوب إبن إسحاق الكندي) (c ^[28]

Works

Metaphysics and cosmology

In contrast to al-Kindi, who considered the subject of metaphysics to be God, al-Farabi believed that it was concerned primarily with being qua being (that is, being in of itself), and this is related to God only to the extent that God is a principal of absolute being. ( أبو يوسف يعقوب إبن إسحاق الكندي) (c Al-Kindi's view was, however, a common misconception regarding Greek philosophy amongst Muslim intellectuals at the time, and it was for this reason that Avicenna remarked that he did not understand Aristotle's Metaphysics properly until he had read a prolegomena written by al-Farabi. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born ^[29]

Al-Farabi's cosmology is essentially based upon three pillars: Aristotelian metaphysics of causation, highly developed Plotinian emanational cosmology and the Ptolemaic astronomy. Plotinus ( Greek:) (ca AD 204–270 was a major philosopher of the ancient world who is widely considered the founder of Neoplatonism (along with his Emanationism is Platonic monism and an idea in the Cosmology or Cosmogony of certain religious or philosophical systems ^[30] In his model, the universe is viewed as a number of concentric circles; the outermost sphere or "first heaven", the sphere of fixed stars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and finally, the Moon. At the centre of these concentric circles is the sub-lunar realm which contains the material world. ^[31] Each of these circles represent the domain of the secondary intelligences (symbolized by the celestial bodies themselves), which act as causal intermediaries between the First Cause (in this case, God) and the material world. Furthermore these are said to have emanated from God, who is both their formal and efficient cause. This departs radically from the view of Aristotle, who considered God to be solely a formal cause for the movement of the spheres, but by doing so it renders the model more compatible with the ideas of the theologians. ^[32]

The process of emanation begins (metaphysically, not temporally) with the First Cause, whose principal activity is self-contemplation. And it is this intellectual activity that underlies its role in the creation of the universe. The First Cause, by thinking of itself, "overflows" and the incorporeal entity of the second intellect "emanates" from it. Like its predecessor, the second intellect also thinks about itself, and thereby brings its celestial sphere (in this case, the sphere of fixed stars) into being, but in addition to this it must also contemplate upon the First Cause, and this causes the "emanation" of the next intellect. The cascade of emanation continues until it reaches the tenth intellect, beneath which is the material world. And as each intellect must contemplate both itself and an increasing number of predecessors, each succeeding level of existence becomes more and more complex. It should be noted that this process is based upon necessity as opposed to will. In other words, God does not have a choice whether or not to create the universe, but by virtue of His own existence, He causes it to be. This view also suggests that the universe is eternal, and both of these points were criticized by al-Ghazzali in his attack on the philosophers^[33][34]

In his discussion of the First Cause (or God), al-Farabi relies heavily on negative theology. Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazālī (1058-1111 ( ابو حامد محمد ابن محمد الغزالی or امام محمد غزالی was born and died Negative theology - also known as the Via Negativa ( Latin for "Negative Way" and Apophatic theology - is a Theology that He says that it cannot be known by intellectual means, such as dialectical division or definition, because the terms used in these processes to define a thing constitute its substance. Therefore if one was to define the First Cause, each of the terms used would actually constitute a part of its substance and therefore behave as a cause for its existence, which is impossible as the First Cause is uncaused; it exists without being caused. Equally, he says it cannot be known according to genus and differentia, as its substance and existence are different from all others, and therefore it has no category to which it belongs. If this were the case, then it would not be the First Cause, because something would be prior in existence to it, which is also impossible. This would suggest that the more philosophically simple a thing is, the more perfect it is. And based on this observation, Adamson says it is possible to see the entire hierarchy of al-Farabi's cosmology according to classification into genus and species. Each succeeding level in this structure has as its principal qualities multiplicity and deficiency, and it is this ever-increasing complexity that typifies the material world. ^[35]

Epistemology and eschatology

Human beings are unique in al-Farabi's vision of the universe because they stand between two worlds: the "higher", immaterial world of the celestial intellects and universal intelligibles, and the "lower", material world of generation and decay; they inhabit a physical body, and so belong to the "lower" world, but they also have a rational capacity, which connects them to the "higher" realm. Each level of existence in al-Farabi's cosmology is characterized by its movement towards perfection, which is to become like the First Cause; a perfect intellect. Human perfection (or "happiness"), then, is equated with constant intellection and contemplation. ^[36]

Al-Farabi divides intellect into four categories: potential, actual, acquired and the Agent. The first three are the different states of the human intellect and the fourth is the Tenth Intellect (the moon) in his emanational cosmology. The potential intellect represents the capacity to think, which is shared by all human beings, and the actual intellect is an intellect engaged in the act of thinking. By thinking, al-Farabi means abstracting universal intelligibles from the sensory forms of objects which have been apprehended and retained in the individual's imagination. ^[37]

This motion from potentiality to actuality requires the Agent Intellect to act upon the retained sensory forms; just as the Sun illuminates the physical world to allow us to see, the Agent Intellect illuminates the world of intelligibles to allow us to think. ^[38] This illumination removes all accident (such as time, place, quality) and physicality from them, converting them into primary intelligibles, which are logical principles such as "the whole is greater than the part". The human intellect, by its act of intellection, passes from potentiality to actuality, and as it gradually comprehends these intelligibles, it is identified with them (as according to Aristotle, by knowing something, the intellect becomes like it). ^[39] Because the Agent Intellect knows all of the intelligibles, this means that when the human intellect knows all of them, it becomes associated with the Agent Intellect's perfection and is known as the acquired Intellect. ^[40]

While this process seems mechanical, leaving little room for human choice or volition, Reisman says that al-Farabi is committed to human voluntarism. ^[41] This takes place when man, based on the knowledge he has acquired, decides whether to direct himself towards virtuous or unvirtuous activities, and thereby decides whether or not to seek true happiness. And it is by choosing what is ethical and contemplating about what constitutes the nature of ethics, that the actual intellect can become "like" the active intellect, thereby attaining perfection. It is only by this process that a human soul may survive death, and live on in the afterlife. ^[42][43]

According to al-Farabi, the afterlife is not the personal experience commonly conceived of by religious traditions such as Islam and Christianity. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Any individual or distinguishing features of the soul are annihilated after the death of the body; only the rational faculty survives (and then, only if it has attained perfection), which becomes one with all other rational souls within the agent intellect and enters a realm of pure intelligence. ^[44] Henry Corbin compares this eschatology with that of the Ismaili Neo-Platonists, for whom this process initiated the next grand cycle of the universe. Henry Corbin ( 14 April 1903 - October 7, 1978 was a Philosopher, Theologian and professor of Islamic Studies at ^[45] However, Deborah Black mentions we have cause to be skeptical as to whether this was the mature and developed view of al-Farabi, as later thinkers such as Ibn Tufayl, Averroes and Ibn Bajjah would assert that he repudiated this view in his commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, which has been lost to modern experts. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Ibn Tufail (c 1105 Guadix Spain &ndash 1185 (full Arabic name Abū 'l-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Rushd (Arabicأبو الوليد محمد بن احمد بن رشد better known just as Ibn Rushd (ابن رشد and in European Abū-Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn al-Sāyigh ( Arabic أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى بن الصائغ known as Ibn Bājjah (ابن باجة was an Andalusian Nicomachean Ethics (sometimes spelled "Nichomachean" or Ta Ethika, is a work by Aristotle on Virtue and Moral character which ^[46]

Psychology, the soul and prophetic knowledge

In his treatment of the human soul, al-Farabi draws on a basic Aristotelian outline, which is informed by the commentaries of later Greek thinkers. He says it is composed of four faculties: The appetitive (the desire for, or aversion to an object of sense), the sensitive (the perception by the senses of corporeal substances), the imaginative (the faculty which retains images of sensible objects after they have been perceived, and then separates and combines them for a number of ends), and the rational, which is the faculty of intellection. ^[47] It is the last of these which is unique to human beings and distinguishes them from plants and animals. It is also the only part of the soul to survive the death of the body. Noticeably absent from these scheme are internal senses, such as common sense, which would be discussed by later philosophers such as Avicenna and Averroes. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born Abū 'l-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Rushd (Arabicأبو الوليد محمد بن احمد بن رشد better known just as Ibn Rushd (ابن رشد and in European ^[48][49]

Special attention must be given to al-Farabi's treatment of the soul's imaginative faculty, which is essential to his interpretation of prophethood and prophetic knowledge. In addition to its ability to retain and manipulate sensible images of objects, he gives the imagination the function of imitation. By this he means the capacity to represent an object with an image other than its own. In other words, to imitate "x" is to imagine "x" by associating it with sensible qualities that do not describe its own appearance. This extends the representative ability of the imagination beyond sensible forms and to include temperaments, emotions, desires and even immaterial intelligibles or abstract universals, as happens when, for example, one associates "evil" with "darkness". ^[50][51] The prophet, in addition to his own intellectual capacity, has a very strong imaginative faculty, which allows him to receive an overflow of intelligibles from the agent intellect (the tenth intellect in the emanational cosmology). These intelligibles are then associated with symbols and images, which allow him to communicate abstract truths in a way that can be understood by ordinary people. Therefore what makes prophetic knowledge unique is not its content, which is also accessible to philosophers through demonstration and intellection, but rather the form that it is given by the prophet's imagination. ^[52][53]

Practical philosophy (ethics and politics)

The practical application of philosophy is a major concern expressed by al-Farabi in many of his works, and while the majority of his philosophical output has been influenced by Aristotelian thought, his practical philosophy is unmistakably based on that of Plato. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece ^[54] In a similar manner to Republic (Plato), al-Farabi emphasizes that philosophy is both a theoretical and practical discipline; labeling those philosophers who do not apply their erudition to practical pursuits as "futile philosophers". The Republic ( Greek: / Politeía, meaning "political system" Latin: Res Publica, meaning "public business" or The ideal society, he says, is one directed towards the realization of "true happiness" (which can be taken to mean philosophical enlightenment) and as such, the ideal philosopher must hone all the necessary arts of rhetoric and poetics to communicate abstract truths to the ordinary people, as well as having achieved enlightenment himself. ^[55] Al-Farabi compares the philosopher's role in relation to society with a physician in relation to the body; the body's health is affected by the "balance of its humours" just as the city is determined by the moral habits of its people. Humorism, or humoralism, was a theory of the makeup and workings of the human body adopted by Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers The philosopher's duty, he says, is to establish a "virtuous" society by healing the souls of the people, establishing justice and guiding them towards "true happiness". ^[56]

Of course, al-Farabi realizes that such a society is rare and will require a very specific set of historical circumstances in order to be realized, which means very few societies will ever be able to attain this goal. He divides those "vicious" societies, which have fallen short of the ideal "virtuous" society, into three categories: ignorant, wicked and errant. Ignorant societies have, for whatever reason, failed to comprehend the purpose of human existence, and have supplanted the pursuit of happiness for another (inferior) goal, whether this be wealth, sensual gratification or power. It is interesting to note that democratic societies also fall into this category, as they too lack any guiding principal. Both wicked and errant societies have understood the true human end, but they have failed to follow it. The former because they have willfully abandoned it, and the latter because their leaders have deceived and misguided them. Al-Farabi also makes mention of "weeds" in the virtuous society; those people who try to undermine its progress towards the true human end. ^[57]

Whether or not al-Farabi actually intended to outline a political programme in his writings remains a matter of dispute amongst academics. Henry Corbin, who considers al-Farabi to be a crypto-Shi'ite, says that his ideas should be understood as a "prophetic philosophy" instead of being interpreted politically. Henry Corbin ( 14 April 1903 - October 7, 1978 was a Philosopher, Theologian and professor of Islamic Studies at ^[58] On the other hand, Charles Butterworth contends that nowhere in his work does al-Farabi speak of a prophet-legislator or revelation (even the word philosophy is scarcely mentioned), and the main discussion that takes place concerns the positions of "king" and "statesmen". Charles Butterworth, PhD (born 1938 is a noted Philosopher of the Straussian school and currently a professor of Political philosophy at the University ^[59]. Occupying a middle position is David Reisman, who like Corbin believes that al-Farabi did not want to expound a political doctrine (although he does not go so far to attribute it to Islamic Gnosticism either). He argues that al-Farabi was using different types of society as examples, in the context of an ethical discussion, to show what effect correct or incorrect thinking could have. ^[60] Lastly, Joshua Parens argues that al-Farabi was slyly asserting that a pan-Islamic society could not be made, by using reason to show how many conditions (such as moral and deliberative virtue) would have to be met, thus leading the reader to conclude that humans are not fit for such a society. Pan-Islamism ( اتّحاد الاسلام) is a Political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic state or a Caliphate ^[61]

See also

• Charles Butterworth
• Islamic scholars
• Islamic mythology

Sources

• Corbin, Henry; Hossein Nasr and Utman Yahya (1993). Charles Butterworth, PhD (born 1938 is a noted Philosopher of the Straussian school and currently a professor of Political philosophy at the University Scholars in Islamic studies are both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars who work in one or more fields of Islamic studies. In its current form Islam is a religion established by Muhammad, who lived in the 6th and 7th centuries C Henry Corbin ( 14 April 1903 - October 7, 1978 was a Philosopher, Theologian and professor of Islamic Studies at TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Seyyed Hossein Nasr ( Persian سید حسین نصر) an Iranian History of Islamic Philosophy. Keagan Paul International. ISBN 978-0710304162.  
• Habib Hassan Touma (1996). The Music of the Arabs, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-88-8
• Majid Fakhry, Al-Farabi, Founder of Islamic Neoplatonism: His Life, Works, and Influence, Oxford: Oneworld Publications, (2002), ISBN 1-85168-302-X. Trad. esp. : "Alfarabi y la fundación de la filosofía política islámica", trad R. Ramón Guerrero, Barcelona, Herder, 2003.
• Christoph Marcinkowski, "A Biographical Note on Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) and an English Translation of his Annotations to Al-Farabi's Isagoge". Abū-Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn al-Sāyigh ( Arabic أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى بن الصائغ known as Ibn Bājjah (ابن باجة was an Andalusian Abū-Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn al-Sāyigh ( Arabic أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى بن الصائغ known as Ibn Bājjah (ابن باجة was an Andalusian Iqbal Review (Lahore, Pakistan), vol. ( lahor is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and is the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and 43, no 2 (April 2002), pp 83–99.
• Deborah Black. Al-Farabi in Leaman, O & Nasr, H (2001). History of Islamic Philosophy. London: Routledge.
• David Reisman. Al-Farabi and the Philosophical Curriculum In Adamson, P & Taylor, R. (2005). The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Deborah Black. Psychology: Soul and Intellect in Adamson, P and Taylor, R. (2005). The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Charles Butterworth. Charles Butterworth, PhD (born 1938 is a noted Philosopher of the Straussian school and currently a professor of Political philosophy at the University Ethical and Political Philosophy in Adamson, P and Taylor, R. (2005). The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Rafael Ramón Guerrero. “Apuntes biográficos de al-Fârâbî según sus vidas árabes”, in Anaquel de Estudios Árabes, 14 (2003) 231-238.

External links

• First Iranian Expert in the Art and the Science of Music: A Research Article by Professor Saadat Noury
• al-Farabi at Britannica
• Abu Al-Nasr Al-Farabi: The Second Teacher
• Hakim Abou Nasr Farabi at irib.ir
• Abu Nasr al-Farabi at muslimphilosophy.com
• al-Fārābi — brief introduction by Peter J. King
• The Philosophy of Alfarabi and Its Influence on Medieval Thought (1947)
• Al-Farabi Kazakh National University

Notes

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