Ahlâkî Tekâmülde Mûsikînin Rolü: Kindî’nin Mûsikî Risâleleri

Abstract

Al-Kindi, who is considered the founder of the Arabic music school, establishes a connection between numbers and celestial objects with musical sounds under the influence of Pythagoras and Plato. In al-Kindi’s thought system, the musical education is very important in order to reach moral virtue and to capture “harmony” and “sobriety” individually, since “ilmu’t-te’lif”, that is music, is a reflection of the harmony and order in the universe. The person who performs or listens to the musical tunes naturally participates in this harmony. Thus, Al-Kindi explains the influence of music on human beings through the influence of celestial bodies on the physical and metaphysical nature of human beings. He connects the strings of the instruments with celestial objects. In the same way, he explains the effect of these melodies produced by wires on the perception forces of the human soul. This effect affects the formation of temperament, emergence of virtues or lack of virtues in the process of perception. Music also reminds people of the metaphysical realms. Thus, it turns the direction of the human being into isolation, and reveals the moral virtue by turning the soul into its real world.