Farabi Research Articles

Al-Farabi and his school

Al-Farabi and his school

The Poetics of Alfarabi and Avicenna

The Poetics of Alfarabi and Avicenna

The Poetics of Alfarabi and Avicenna

The Poetics of Alfarabi and Avicenna

A Missing Link in the Islamic Renaissance

There is a missing link in Egypt. Although it is one of the strongestpillars upon which we are building our renaissance, we hardly ever perceiveits presence in our academic circles. This absence is one of the reasons forthe poverty of our scientific and intellectual production.And what is this missing link? To be precise, it is scholars who combinein their persons elements of both Arab-Islamic culture and the precise scientificEuropean culture. We are in need of more people like them, for we cannotregenerate ourselves without them, and we can only follow this path by makinguse of their light.Most of our scholars have only been educated in Arab-Islamic culture.As a result, they are totally ignorant of what is happening in the modemworld in relation to the opinions and views being expressed in science,literature, and philosophy. They have not heard of Kant and Bergson, or ofEurope’s authors and poets, scientists and researchers. At best, these namesare mentioned in insignificant magazines, newspapers, and books devoid ofany scientifichtellectual value. The other group of our scholars is madeup of those who have been educated solely in a foreign culture. They knowall about the latest theories in the fields of physics, chemistry, and mathematicswhich have reached them, and they follow the developments in modemEuropean literature as well as the books and poetry written by Europeans.They are also familiar with the development of philosophical views and theirprogress up to our time, but, they are totally ignorant of Arab-Islamic culture.If you tell them of Jarir, al Farazdaq, and al Akhtal, they turn their facesaway and avoid you-as if you were talking about a world not our own. Ifyou mention al Kindi, al Farabi, and Ibn Sina, they say that they have heardthe names but have no more knowledge of them, and that all we receivefrom them are ambiguous sentences and profound concepts which neitherhave scientific or intellectual benefit nor enrich or revitalize life.Yesterday I was talking with a group of these educated people about alBiruni, the Muslim mathematician who died in 440 AH, and the mathematicaland astronomical theories he had discovered. I also mentioned that the Germanorientalist Sachau had decided that al Biruni was the most brilliant man theworld has ever known, and that this orientalist had called for the establishmentof the al Biruni Society to honor him and to revitalize his memory. The people ...

Toward Islamization of the Non-Visual Arts

In his recent article, "Religious Fascism and Art," Dr. Sa'ad al Din Ibrahimconcludes with these words addressed to all scholars in the visual and nonvisualarts field: "Those who have the 'Islamic alternative or aJtematives'let them be obliged, if they truly believe in the existence of refined standardsfor aesthetic creativity different from those available, (let them) endeavorto present these refinements to society. They have endeavored and succeededin recent years in presenting alternatives in economic institutions, servicesand investments, which attracted large numbers . . . why do they not dothe same in the arts field?"Frantic endeavors at lslarnizing the non-visual arts have reached a highpointat the present time. These endeavors are primarily due to the realization ofthe grave effect art has on shaping morals and channeling, or swaying themin certain directions, and to its easy accessibility to, and profound effect on,emotion and intellect. Many contemporary Islamistsi have found some basisfor Literary theory but have not arrived at one grounded in the Qur'an andthe Sunnah with a view leading to Islamization of the non-visual arts (literature)and the fine arts as a whole. Although this discussion does not present atheory, it attempts to draw attention to crucial issues which may invite furtherendeavors for the Islamization of these artistic disciplines.The Present State Of The Arts And Islamic ResearchContributionsThe problem oflabeling all kinds of written material "literature," is itselfindicative of the obliterated sense of refinement needed in the existing nonvisualarts. Literature, such as drama, fiction, poetry, and even criticismhas been called, among its specialists, "art." But because it has not livedup to refined artistic standards, it has prompted many scholars to center theirdiscussions on the quality and value present in the different existing genres.At several points in history similar attempts have existed: al Asma'i (d.215 A.H./830 A.D.), Muhammad Ahmad Tabatba (d. 322 A.H./933 A.O.),al ·Amidi (d. 370 A.H./980 A.D.), al Farabi (d. 339 A.H./950 A.O.), andal Jurjani (d. 392 A.H./1001 A.O.) have concentrated their efforts on qualityof style, rhetoric, and means of expression in the work of art. In literaryCriticism: Roots and Methodology, Sayyid Qutb initiated a return to theQur'an and the Hadith as sources, by analyzing emotive values of the work,exploring the nature of Islamic art, describing its characteristics and its basicemergence from Islamic 'aqidah. Similarly, in Experiments in PracticalCriticism, al Qabsi touches on the Prophet's (SAAS) viewpoint of poetryand the legitimacy of poetic expression. In analyzing the significance of thework as a human product, it was learned that human expression, related firstand foremost to the human being, has not been explored. We must, then,first find the basis for such a theory in the Qur'an and the Sunnah in order ...

ISLAMIC ETHICS

Islamic ethics as a discipline or a subject does not exist at the present.We do not have works that define its concept, outline its issues, and discussits problems. What we have, instead, is a discussion by various writers-philosophers,theologians, jurisprudents, sufis and political and economictheorists- in their particular fields of some issues that are either part of,or relevant to, Islamic ethics. Philosophers like Abu Nasr al Farabi (d. 329/950)and Abu 'Ali Miskawayh (d. 421/1030), in their ethical works, have mostlyrehashed Greek ethics. True, they have introduced, here and there, someIslamic terms and concepts and modified some notions that hurt their Islamicsusceptibilities. But this does not make their ethics Islamic. They do notraise many issues that Islamic ethics must raise, and many ideas they haveset forth cannot be considered to be Islamic unless they are seriously modified.Theologians have, indeed, discussed some very important questions ofIslamic ethics, such as the source of ethical knowledge. the meaning of ethicalterms, and the basis of moral obligation. The views they have expoundedare extremely significant. But they have been treated as part of theology ratherthan ethics, and they form only one aspect of Islanlic ethics. Works on sufism.principles of jurisprudence (usul al fiqh), principles of government and administration(al ahkam al sultaniyah), and public revenue and expenditure(al khara;), also touch upon ideas that are part of, or relevant to, Islamicethics. We have in them an analysis, for instance, of some ethical virtues,a discussion on motives, priorities and preferences, levels of obligation, andpolitical and economic justice.There is, in short, much material scattered in the works of variousdisciplines that can be utilized to develop Islamic ethics. At present, whilethe discipline of Islamic ethics does not exist, it can be developed. Thirtyyears ago, Islamic economics did not exist, but thanks to the devotion ofa number of scholars, we now have Islamic economics. I am sure that Islamicethjcs will take even less time to develop, provided we give it the requiredeffort. Let us hope this conference of ours initiates the process.In this paper, I will try first to define the task Islamjc ethics should perform,and then review, in that light, various streams of writings to whichI have referred, and see what contribution each of these can make to the subject ...

The Medical Aphorisms of Moses Maimonides.

This book offers a marvelously detailed account of medicine as it existed in the thirteenth century in the most civilized regions in the West, those held by the Arabs. Maimonides, like his Arab precursors and contemporaries, considered himself one of the inheritors of classical Greek learning. Like some of them, eg, al Farabi and Razi among the Arabs, and Rabbi Schem Tov among the Jews, Maimonides did not accept this inheritance uncritically, and much space is given to showing the inconsistencies in Galen's writings and in making a plea for rational observation. (These preceded the similar plea by Roger Bacon by half a century. Both were ignored.) Medicine in that era was a mass of superstition, false science, and assorted bits of folklore. As regards the last, it is interesting that both Galen and Maimonides mentioned the suicide via snake bite of a Queen of Egypt without giving her name;

Al-Farabi on 'Analysis' and 'Synthesis'

Al-Farabi on 'Analysis' and 'Synthesis'

Plato and Alfarabi

Plato and Alfarabi

Alfarabi's Book of Religion and Related Texts. Muhsin Mahdi

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsAlfarabi's Book of Religion and Related Texts. Muhsin Mahdi Michael E. MarmuraMichael E. Marmura Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 29, Number 1Jan., 1970 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/372049 Views: 3Total views on this site Copyright 1970 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Alfarabi's Book of Religion and Related Texts

Alfarabi's Book of Religion and Related Texts

Alfarabi against Philoponus

Alfarabi against Philoponus

Al-Farabi and the Reconciliation of Plato and Aristotle

Al-Farabi and the Reconciliation of Plato and Aristotle

Alfarabi on the Meaning of Philosophy

Alfarabi on the Meaning of Philosophy

Aspects of Islamic political thought: al-Fārābī and Ibn Xaldūn

Aspects of Islamic political thought: al-Fārābī and Ibn Xaldūn

Alfarabi's "Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle"

Alfarabi's "Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle"

Maimonides' "Shemonah Peraqim" and Alfarabi's "Fusul Al-Madani"

Maimonides' "Shemonah Peraqim" and Alfarabi's "Fusul Al-Madani"

"The Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle," by Alfarabi, trans. Muhsin Muhdi

"The Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle," by Alfarabi, trans. Muhsin Muhdi

Ibn Al-Ṭayyib's Commentary on the Isagoge

The attribution of the book to al-Farabi rests solely on the note on the flyleaf, which can, however, be shown to be spurious. Examining the manuscript some years ago, I noticed that the fly-leaf was pasted over the recto of the first folio of the manuscript, and that underneath some writing was faintly visible. The fly-leaf was then separated from the folio of the manuscript, and the recto of the folio turned out to be in effect the title-page of the manuscript.

The Possibility of the Universe in Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina and Maimonides

The Possibility of the Universe in Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina and Maimonides