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Al Farabi
Arabic:
'abū nasri muhammadi l-fārābiyy
(Wasij, Turkestan c. 870- Damascus 950) Muslim philosopher.
Al Farabi is the philosopher who introduced Plato and Aristotle to Muslim philosophy. His system united metaphysics and politics. For al-Farabi, God was the highest intellect, the utmost reason for all existence. Al-Farabi's idea was that the philosopher could attain truth through his own reason, but the majority of human beings would have to understand truth through symbols. Philosophers who had the ability to understand truth not only with the intellect but also with imagination, could also express truth symbolically, making them prophets.
Although a religion is made up of different systems of symbols presented by prophets, all symbols seek to express the same truth. But al-Farabi did not go so far as to say that all symbolic systems were of the same value.
Al-Farabi's distinction between the intellectual elite (philosophers and prophets) and the masses (users of understanding through symbols), soon became central in Islamic thought, linked with the system of the Ulama.
The other philosophical construction of al-Farabi was his idea of an ideal state. Here he was strongly influenced by Platon. Al-Farabi's ideal state was a Muslim one and its duty was to provide for the well-being of the citizens, as well as help people achieve religious salvation. The leader of the state should be a philosopher and have higher knowledge. If nobody in a society has these qualifications, then a group of people should govern.
Al Farabi worked at the beginning of his career with the Samanid emirs. While he still was young, he moved to Baghdad. In his last years he moved to Damascus, where he worked for the Hamdanid emirs.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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