Hey folks I'm curious to know what place philosopher al-Kindi has in current Muslim culture. Is he still regarded as important?
I’m interested in finding copies of Al-Kindi’s 801–873 AD manuscripts on music theory he is said to have produced 15 such works. I know only a few have survived and I am most interested in the one about music therapy. Are there any scholars today out there who have access to anyone of them?
In this mini series of posts, I will be posting excerpts on the heretics, liberal philosophers and openly atheistic philosophers of the Golden Era from Pervez Hoodbhoy's book Islam and Science and other sources.
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 10 (Five Great Heretics) from the book, Islam and Science, by Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy:
"AI-Kindi (801-873)
The founder of the Islamic Peripatetic school of philosophy and the author of
270 treaties ranging from logic and mathematics to physics and music, Abu
Yusuf Yaqub Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi is known as the 'Philosopher of the Arabs' in
recognition of his tireless efforts to make philosophy acceptable to theologians.
He is also the only great Arab Muslim philosopher of antiquity. A thorough
Mu'tazilite, he wrote that truth is universal and supreme, and that philosophy
is but another form of the message which the prophets have carried. The word
'truth' for AI-Kindi had a very definite meaning. It stood for what Plato,
Aristotle and other Greek sages had elucidated. The job of scholars was, in his
words, 'to complete what the ancients have not fully expressed, according to
the usage of our language and the custom of our times, so far as we are able.
As a rationalist, AI-Kindi proposed that certain passages from the Holy
Book whose literal interpretation would be in conflict with reality should,
instead, be understood as allegories to guide men of reason. Most ancient
philosophers, including AI-Kindi, believed that there exist two truths: one for
the stupid and uneducated masses, and the other for the cultured and the
educated. AI-Kindi was of the opinion that the former were only able to
appreciate simple things and so had to be enticed by the vision of houris and
other physical allurements. On the other hand, the latter were given the gifts of
logic and reason so that they might arrive at a deeper meaning of the Book.
AI-Kindi rationalized his efforts at allegorical interpretation in this manner.
To give an example of the allegorical reasoning that AI-Kindi believed in,
consider verse LV5 of the Qur'an. In this passage, the believer is told that the
sun, moon, stars, mountains, trees and beasts 'bow themselves' before God.
For the unsophisticated, this invokes an image wherein all creation literally
bends in prayer. But AI-Kindi gave an elaborate linguistic argument that the
Arabic word for 'bow' should be understood as meaning 'obey'. Thus, the
naive pict
... keep reading on reddit ➡This is an interesting argument from al-Kindi (the first great Islamic philosopher) which aims to disprove the possibility of an actually infinite body. I do not offer this as a sound proof, just as an interesting thought experiment - albeit one with direct relevance to religion!
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Suppose there is an actually infinite body.
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If we remove one finite part from the infinite body, the remainder after the removal of that finite part is either finite or infinite.
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The remainder cannot be finite, since then the original body would have been finite and not infinite.
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So the remainder must be infinite.
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Now, if we reattach the finite part we removed to the infinite body, the infinite body either increases in size or remains the same size.
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If it increases in size, then there are two infinite bodies, one smaller and one larger (i.e. from before and after we reattached the finite part).
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But this means the smaller infinite has limits, which is absurd, since an infinite body has no limits.
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So the infinite body must remain the same size before and after the finite part is reattached.
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But this means there is a whole that is not greater than its parts, which is absurd.
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So the original supposition is false, and an actually infinite body cannot exist.
Thoughts?
Abu Yusuf ya'qub Ibn Ishaq as Sabah al-kindi born in 801 AD in Kufa he is known as the first Muslim philosopher During his life besides being able to speak Arabic he was proficient in Greek and Syriac in the western world he is known as alkindus Al-kindi Read more
(I am sorry for my poor English. Also, I reviewed the rules and tried to be civil and not editorializing or sarcastic. I think this is an important story that highlights how some groups are trying to write (or, "re-write") their "history." I apologize if it is a little scattered; I'm not a journalist).
So, in case you don't know, in an effort to validate their legitimacy, many opposition/rebel groups have formed and are operating "parallel" governments, some from inside Turkey (like US/Turkish backed Syrian Interim Government - SIG) and some from inside rebel controlled areas in Syria (like HTS/al-Nusra backed Syrian Salvation Government - SSG). There are many more. They all have their own Prime Ministers, Presidents, Ministers of Economy/Agriculture/Health/Education/etc...
The Ministries of Education of these parallel governments, with significant funding from their foreign benefactors, in an effort to seem legitimate, given the humanitarian situation and the Coronavirus pandemic, have invested significantly in the medical field, "opening" medical schools and medical centers, with enthusiastic press coverage. Naturally, each institutions, just like their "parent governments/benefactors" are in "competition" with one another. For example, internal disputes at one "university" caused a split, leading to the formation of al-Nusra/Hayat Tahrir SSG backed University of Idlib and Turkish SIG backed Free Aleppo University (source). (Note, however, Turkey provides significant financial support to many "universities" in the area (source)).
Al-Kindi University Hospital was the main medical center of the University of Aleppo, where medical students and nurses would train. It was considered done of the most advanced hospitals in the Middle East, especially in cancer treatment (source). I am sure many of you remember the horrors surrounding this hospital in 2013-2014, when al Queda, al-Nusra held Syrian Army men hostage before executing them. Eventually al-Nusra would use a group of suicide "martyrs" to destroy the century old building and the Army forces stationed there ([video of the blast and destruction of hospital](https://
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hello, what are your opinions on the Philosopher, Al-Kindi? Do you think he set the Islamic world on the road to some kind of reformation? He made contribution to music theory and played a stringer instrument which is peculiar since in Islam, stringed instruments are haram.
(4) Let us also remember that whatever we cannot obtain or whatever we lose, whese same things could not be obtained, or were lost by many others, all of whom were content with being unable to obtain it or to lose it, or were even visibly happy, and far from being sad. There are many such people whose child died or who do not have children; some do not have children and are still content; others, whose child died, get over this and are happy [again]. Likewise with money and all other sensible possessions of this world, and all others objects of desires of the human soul. (5) Sorrow is only by position, not by nature.
The Philosophical Works of Al Kindi, Part Four: Ethics, Page 255
The philosophical school of stoicism had its way throughout the Arabian World, influencing its religion and philosophy.
I am reading the texts of Al-Kindi for school, and I find most rewarding that other philosophers from ancient times understood the psychological goal of stoicism.
I've been asked several times about the relationship between Stoicism and Islam. I stumbled across the claim that this letter by Al-Kindi contained apparent references to Stoicism so I decided to go through it more carefully and write up some notes on the relationship between Stoicism and its mixtures of Hellenistic and Islamic ideas.
Stoicism and Islam: Al-Kindi's Device for Dispelling Sorrows
I’m interested in finding copies of Al-Kindi’s 801–873 AD manuscripts on music theory he is said to have produced 15 such works. I know only a few have survived and I am most interested in the one about music therapy. Are there any scholars today out there who have access to anyone of them?
