Al-Kindi

Question 1

Dates

Answer 1

801–873 CE

Question 2

What was Kindi known as and why?

Answer 2

‘Philosopher of the Arabs’, was the first major Muslim thinker to systematically synthesise Greek philosophy with Islamic theology

Question 3

R&R

Answer 3

He held that there could be no conflict between reason and revelation, asserting that all truth ultimately comes from God

Question 4

What is philosophy?

Answer 4

A divine gift that could help clarify and support religious truth

Question 5

Prophetic knowledge

Answer 5

Surpasses philosophical knowledge in certainty and speed, because it comes directly from the divine – a defence of revelation against pure rationalism

Prophetic knowledge is superior, but philosophy aids in understanding divine law more deeply

Question 6

Mihna

Answer 6

Kindi was working in the palace where people (during the mihna (833 CE)) where people were forced to say that the Qur’an was made in time

Question 7

When were his writings discovered?

Answer 7

Writings only highlighted by Ritter in 1932 as they had been lost - the witness we have to what Kindi wrote (mostly) is a single manuscript.

Question 8

Both philosophy and revelation…

Answer 8

aim at truth, and since all truth comes from God, they cannot contradict one another

Question 9

Purifying the soul

Answer 9

Sees philosophy as a means to purify the soul, just as religion is, establishing ethical and spiritual overlap

Question 10

Rational reflection

Answer 10

The Qur’an encourages rational reflection (tafakkur), legitimising philosophical inquiry

Question 11

On First Philosophy - Nobility

Answer 11

Presents philosophy as the noblest of pursuits, aligned with the pursuit of divine knowledge

Question 12

On the Use of Greek Philosophy - non-arabic

Answer 12

Claims that even non-Arabic wisdom is valuable because truth belongs to no nation

Question 13

God’s Unity

Answer 13

God is absolutely one, indivisible, and not composed of parts or attributes

Question 14

God’s transcendence

Answer 14

God is eternal, beyond time, and cannot be compared to creation

Question 15

God’s attributes

Answer 15

Attributes such as knowledge and power are not additional to God’s essence

God is knowledge and is power—these aren’t extra parts or features He has, like humans who have knowledge or have power. For example, a human can gain or lose knowledge, but God cannot, because His essence is knowledge itself—unchanging and indivisible.

Question 16

Necessity

Answer 16

God is the necessary being

Question 17

Analogies of God

Answer 17

Rejects any material analogy for God, insisting on transcendence

Question 18

On the Oneness of God
- multiplicity

Answer 18

Argues that attributing multiplicity to God compromises divine unity

Question 19

Creation

Answer 19

Accepts a Neoplatonic emanation structure but insists on creation ex nihilo

Question 20

Emanation

Answer 20

All reality flows or emanates from a single, ultimate source – The One or the First Principle

Question 21

Emanation - influence

Answer 21

Influenced by the Neoplatonic idea of a structured, tiered cosmos where everything emanates from a first cause (often identified with God)

Question 22

Emanation - modification

Answer 22

He modifies it to fit with Islamic theology, which teaches that:
1) God created everything from nothing (ex nihilo),
2) And did so by will, not as an automatic process

God is distinct from creation, unlike the necessary procession in Plotinus

Question 23

Time

Answer 23

Time itself is created (aligns with kalam)

Question 24

Emanation in Neoplatonism

Answer 24

In Neoplatonism (e.g. Plotinus), emanation is:

A necessary, eternal, and impersonal process

The One (or God) overflows and causes the universe to emanate like light from the sun

No temporal beginning—the universe is eternal

God is not choosing to create; creation is automatic and co-eternal with God

Question 24

On the Finiteness of the Body of the World - Eternality

Answer 24

He denies the eternity of the universe

Question 25

Plotinus, Ennead

Answer 25

All reality flows from the One, which is utterly simple and beyond being. The One does not think or act intentionally – it overflows and generates the rest of reality by necessity

Question 26

Potential intellect

Answer 26

The intellect before it has understood anything Has the capacity to understand, but hasn't yet done so Comparable to Aristotle’s potentiality

Question 27

Actual intellect

Answer 27

The intellect after it has grasped knowledge Potential has become actual

Question 28

Acquired Intellect

Answer 28

The perfected human intellect – it acquires form from the agent intellect and becomes like it

Question 29

Agent intellect

Answer 29

A separate, divine intellect that acts like the sun to the eye – it makes intelligible things ‘visible’ to the mind

Question 30

Where does Kindi define the four intellects?

Answer 30

On the Intellect

Question 31

Plato’s Cave, The Republic

Answer 31

Al-Kindi’s highest intellect (Agent Intellect) resembles the sun in the cave, illuminating reality and enabling true knowledge

Question 32

What is the Intellect? (4)

Answer 32

A separate, eternal entity that enables human thought The soul perfects itself by acquiring universal forms through the intellect Knowledge is purification; ignorance is a form of corruption of the soul Intellect is the highest faculty given to humans by God

Question 33

Prophetic intellect

Answer 33

Prophetic intellect operates instantly, unlike the gradual human process

Question 34

How does a prophet receive truth?

Answer 34

Instantaneously and with certainty BUT Philosophy, while slower, is still valuable in approaching divine truths

Question 35

Imagination

Answer 35

Does not reduce prophecy to imagination

Question 36

Majority vs minority

Answer 36

Revelation is suited for all, while philosophy is for the few

Question 37

Kindi on Aristotle (5)

Answer 37

Greatly admired Aristotle, often calling him 'the First Teacher' Translated and adapted Aristotelian logic and metaphysics Modified Aristotle to fit Islamic theology e.g. Denying eternity of the world Accepts Aristotelian causality but reinterprets the First Cause as the God of Islam Saw Greek philosophy as a tool, not an authority above revelation

Question 38

How is Kindi aligned with the Mu'tazila? (6)

Answer 38

Shares the Mu‘tazilite emphasis on divine unity and justice His God is just, wise, and does nothing arbitrarily He opposes anthropomorphism Accepts the createdness of the world and implicitly, the Qur'an His rationalism mirrors Mu‘tazilite methods, even if not identical in content He uses logic and proof to defend faith-based doctrines