Who is Al Farabi ? Why is he so Important?
By: Noura Abu Hamze / Arab America Contributing Writer
Biography of Al Farabi
Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Awzalagh Al-Farabi was born in approximately AH 257/ CE 870. He was born in a place called Farab or Farayb. In his youth he moved to Baghdad, Iraq. In 943 CE (AH 331) he went to Damascus, Syria. He may have gone to Egypt but died in Damascus in December 950 CE or January 951 CE (AH 339). Al-Farabi was one of the world’s great philosophers and much more original than many of his Islamic successors. A philosopher, logician and musician, he was also a major political scientist.
Works of Al Farabi
He had two main interests: Philosophy and logic and music. His huge Kitâb al-musiqâ al-kabîr or Great Book of Music is the most important medieval musical treatise in Islamic lands and also includes sophisticated philosophical sections. He became an expert in philosophy and logic, and also in music. However, perhaps the book for which he is best known is that whose title is abbreviated to The Virtuous City, Other major titles from al-Farabi’s corpus included the Epistle on the Intellect, The Book of Letters and The Book of the Enumeration of the Sciences.
What did Al Farabi Focus on in His Work?
Al Farabi focuses on language, metrics, and grammar. His work consists of logic and that remained elusive for a long time. After logic comes mathematics. For him mathematical sciences include, arithmetic, geometry, optics, astronomy, music, the science of weights and mechanics. For example, In the Enumeration he follows the traditional classification of music under mathematics. In The Great Book of Music he certainly indicates that music derives some of its principles from mathematics but insists on the importance of performance for determining its empirical principles.
After that comes physics, but there is only a few texts of his work dealing with physics. In the sense of being taken in the broadest sense and covering the whole of natural philosophy. For him metaphysics followed physics . In his very brief treatise, The Aims of Aristotle’s Metaphysics, insists that, contrary to what most people assume, metaphysics is not a theological science but rather investigates whatever is common to all existing beings, such as being and unity.
Lastly, Al Farabi dealt with ethics and politics too. Al Farabi does not take inspirtation from Aristotle but takes it from Plato’s Republic and Laws. According to three Andalusian philosophers , he denied the immortality of the human soul as well as the possibility of any conjunction with the active or Agent Intellect, considering them tall tales. Yet, in many other works, such as the Treatise on the Intellect, the Opinions, and the Political Regime, Al Farabi claims that this conjunction is possible and constitutes ultimate happiness.
Conclusion
Al Farabi was one of the greatest thinkers who influenced not only Ibn Sina, but many other thinkers. He was designated the ‘Second Master’ (after Aristotle). Not only that but, he was widely regarded as the founder of philosophy within the Islamic world. Although he had some noteworthy predecessors, he was the first philosopher of his epoch to command the unqualified respect of future generations.
