Islamic Golden Age Scientists #5: Al-Kindi

 5. Al-Kindi  

Name: Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Sabbah al-Kindi  

Born: 801, Basra, Iraq  

Died: 873 (aged approx. 72), Baghdad, Iraq  

Era: Medieval Era (Islamic Golden Age)  

Region: Iraq, Arab World, Muslim World  

School: Islamic Theology, Philosophy  

Main Interests: Philosophy, Logic, Ethics, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Psychology, Pharmacology, Medicine, Metaphysics, Cosmology, Astrology, Music Theory, Islamic Theology (Kalam)  

Al-Kindi, Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq (d. c. 866–73), practically unknown in the Western world, holds a respected place in the Islamic world as the ‘Philosopher of the Arabs’. Today he can be seen as a bridge between Greek philosophers and Islamic philosophy. Part of the brilliant 9th-century Abbasid court in Baghdad, composed of all kinds of literati, he served as a teacher to the caliph’s son. He gained insight into the ideas of Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle, through the translation movement; although he did not translate himself, he revised them and used them beneficially in his ideas. His skills covered many fields, including medicine, mathematics, music, astrology, and optics. 

Al-Kindi’s work on definition is _Fi Hudud al-Ashya’ wa-Rusumiha_ (On the Definition of Things and Their Descriptions). Al-Kindi’s most famous treatise on metaphysical studies is _Fi al-Falsafa al-Ula_ (On First Philosophy). In _Fi al-Falsafa al-Ula_, al-Kindi describes first philosophy, which is also the greatest and highest philosophy, as the knowledge of the first truth, including the cause of every truth (the First Cause). Al-Kindi emphasizes the importance of the intellect (_‘aql_) and compares it to matter. Al-Kindi’s ethics and practical philosophy are most discussed in the treatise of doubtful authenticity _Fi al-Hila li-Daf‘ al-Ahzan_ (On the Art of Dispelling Sorrows).

List of Works: 

1. Al-Kindi (before 873) _Fi Hudud al-Ashya’ wa-Rusumiha_ (On the Definition of Things and Their Descriptions) 

2. Al-Kindi (before 873) _Fi Wahdaniyyat Allah wa Tunahi Jirm al-‘Alam_ (On the Oneness of God and the Finiteness of the Body of the World)