WHO IS YAKUB BIN ISHAK AL-KINDI?
WHO IS YAKUB BIN ISHAK AL-KINDI?
Prof. Dr. Kadircan KESKİNBORA
Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Medicine
Yakub bin Ishak al-Kindi, known as the first Islamic philosopher and the founder of the Peripatetic school, was born in Kufa, approximately in 866, as the child of a noble family. Although it is not known from whom he was educated in Baghdad, he soon gained the appreciation of Caliph Me'mun, and proved his success and competence in the fields of science and philosophy by attending religious, scientific, philosophical and literary meetings in the palace, as well as Beyt ul-Hikme, which Me'mun founded in 830. He managed to take a place among the scholars and translators in .
Kindi, who lived during the reign of nine Abbasid caliphs, received close attention and support, especially from Ma'mun, Mu'tasim-Billah and Vasi-Billah. While the three caliphs mentioned considered the Mu'tazila sect as the official view of the state, later Mutawakkil-Alellah followed a pro-Ahl al-Sunnah policy, and in the meantime, Kindi fell from grace and had to spend the last twenty years of his life away from the palace, perhaps as a recluse. This was not because he was considered a Mu'tazila, but because, like the members of this sect, he was the representative of a type of knowledge and thought called philosophy, which gave priority to reason, for the first time in the Islamic society. It is thought that Kindi, who lived during the period when the science of Kalam was shaped as an independent science in the hands of the Mu'tazila, benefited greatly from the Basra branch of the sect while he was in Basra and gained his first mental discipline in the field of dialectics there (the science of Kalam, the essence and attributes of Allah, Prophethood). It is the science that talks about the issues related to it and the issues related to the creation of the universe within the framework of Islamic rules. It should not be confused with the science of Philosophy. Because in the science of Kalam, the main source is the definitive and clear provisions of Islam. The science of Kalam is also called Tawhid, Akaid or Fıkh-ı Ekber).
It is known that he was exposed to pressure and criticism from various circles, and that his very rich private library was confiscated as a result of the conspiracy organized by the brothers Muhammed and Ahmed, known as Beni Musa, who were the great mathematicians and astronomers of the period, and that he broke their trick and regained his library. In the introduction part of his work called "Kitâb fi'l-felsefeti'l-ulâ", which he presented to Caliph Mu'tasim-Billah, the philosopher complained about the pressure of some circles and said, "Although they are known as the thinkers of our time, we do not discuss complex points at length because we are afraid of misinterpretations by those who are far from the truth." After saying "we had to cut it short instead of analyzing it", he accuses those circles of trading in religion and based on the premise that "Whoever trades something sells it, and what he sells is no longer his own", he reaches the conclusion that "Whoever trades in religion does not have a religion", which is logically true. It is also true in terms of religion and morality.
In the Islamic society, the transfer and rational sciences were systematized, the translations into Arabic from the scientific, thought and cultural products of foreign nations reached the most productive level in Bayt al-Hikme, the speculations in the field of theology and philosophy intensified to the fullest, and the struggles between various religions and sects continued fiercely. Kindi, who lived in the 10th century, was the first Islamic philosopher who participated in the studies and discussions in these fields at the highest level and enabled the transition from theology to philosophy with the method he applied and the terminology he used.
Kindi divides the sciences into two: religious and humanitarian. The source of religious sciences is revelation. Revelation is the knowledge that occurs when Allah enlightens the pure souls of the prophets, without the need for desire or will, without effort, without resorting to logic and mathematical methods. Since the knowledge of revelation, which cannot be obtained by the power of sense and reason and which humans cannot produce, is compatible with human nature, the mind has to accept it. Mathematics includes four disciplines: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.
Kindi, who generally uses logic and mathematics as methods, insists that mathematics is the science that leads people to success in every subject; considers mathematics a prerequisite for studying philosophy. According to Kindi, a person who does not know mathematical sciences cannot understand even if he studies philosophy throughout his life, he will only repeat what is written. The principles put forward by Kindi, who stated that those who lack mathematical knowledge cannot understand the essence of his own works, later became important starting points for Farabi, Ibn Sina, Safiyüddin Urmevi and Abdülkadir Meragi.
Kindi sees philosophy as a branch of knowledge that disciplines and matures people in the field of mental, spiritual and moral activities.
Kindi's leadership in the history of science is indisputable. Through translations, it inherited the products of Greek, Indian and Persian science and thought. He is an encyclopedic philosopher who is interested in all branches of theoretical and practical knowledge as well as theology and literature, and who presents a rich science and philosophy literature to the next generations by producing works in every field from philosophy to medicine, from mathematics to astronomy, from optics to meteorology, from psychology to ethics, from chemistry to music. Science and philosophy, which until then had been represented by Assyrian scholars and translators, changed hands thanks to Kindi's works, and his collection, numbering 277, constituted an important moral force for the Islamic society in the face of foreign cultures.
Kindi's studies in the field of optics (ilm ul-menazir) are also of particular importance. He is considered the first of this field with his works on mirrors that burn and burn with the spread and reflection of light and their construction. He made a significant contribution to the science of meteorology with his unique views on interpreting the events occurring in the atmosphere.
Classical sources speak of him as follows: “Kindi is a noble Arab philosopher, the only scholar of his age who encompasses all of the ancient sciences. "He is a mathematician who dives into the depths of science, reconciles rational sciences and sharia, and has many works."
RESOURCES
- Al-Kindi: The Father of Arab Philosophy. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2006.
- Ya'kub b. Ishaq al-Kindi. Turkish Religious Foundation Islamic Encyclopedia. Ankara: TDV Publications, 2002, Volume 26, pp.41-59.