Al Kindi was the first of the Islamic peripatetic Philosophers, and is hailed as the “Father of Arab Philosophers”.

1. Al Kindi
Presented by
Mubbara

2. Introduction
Al Kindi was the first of the Islamic peripatetic Philosophers,
and is hailed as the “Father of Arab Philosophers”.
His Full name was Abu Yusuf Ya„qub ibn Ishaq Al-Kindi.
Al-Kindi belongs to a noble family of the “Kinda”, tribe of
Yemen.
Educated in Baghdad, Born in Kufah.
A Muslim Arab Polymath who flourished in Baghdad (c. 801-
873). He was a Philosopher, Scientist, Astonomer, Chemist,
Mathematician, Musician, Physician and a physicist.

3. Introduction
He is well-known for his efforts to introduce Greek Philosophy
to the Arab world, as a pioneer of cryptology and physics.
As the first outstanding Arabian scholar, al-Kindi received the
honorific title “Faylasuf al-Arab” (the philosopher of the
Arabs).
Today he might be viewed as a bridge between Greek
philosophers and Islamic philosophy.

4. Famliy Background
Al-Kindi was born and brought up in Kufah, which was a
centre for Arab culture .
His father was the governor of Kufah, as his grandfather had
been before him. Certainly all agree that al-Kindi was
descended from the Royal Kindah tribe which had originated in
southern Arabia.This tribe had united a number of tribes and
reached a position of prominence in the 5th and 6th centuries
but then lost power from the middle of the 6th century.
However, descendants of the Royal Kindah continued to hold
prominent court positions in Muslim times.

5. Educational Life
He was educated at the important intellectual center of
Kufa (in modern Iraq) and later at Baghdad, where he
attracted the attention of Caliph al-Ma'mun. Al-Ma'mun
made him a member of his scientific academy, called the
House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hilkmah).
As a member of the House of Wisdom, al-Kindi played
an important role in the preservation of Hellenistic
science.

6. Educational Life
He was appointed together with al-Khwarizmi
and the Banu Musa brothers. The main task that
al-Kindi and his colleagues undertook in the House
of Wisdom involved the translation of Greek
scientific manuscripts.

7. Famous Books and Treatises
Al-Kindi wrote two treatises on mineralogy:
i. “Risalafianwa al-jawahir al-thaminahwaghayriha”
(Treatise on various types of precious stones and other kinds
of stones.)
ii. “Risalahfianwa al-hijarahwa'l-jawahir”(Treatise on various
types of stones and jewels.)
He also produced the first Arabic book on metallurgy:-
“Risalahfianwaalsuyuf al-hadid”(Treatise on various kinds of
steel swords).

8. Famous Books and Treatises
He subsequently wrote hundreds of original treatises of
his own on a range of subjects ranging from
metaphysics, ethics, logic and psychology, to medicine,
pharmacology, mathematics, astronomy, astrology and
optics, and further afield to more practical topics like
perfumes, swords, jewels, glass, dyes, zoology, tides,
mirrors, meteorology and earthquakes.

9. Famous Books and Treatises
some of the survived works of Al-Kindi include;
On First Philosophy, On the Intellect, Discourse on the Soul, On Sleep and
Dream, On Dispelling Sorrows, On the Definitions and Descriptions of
Things, On the Proximate Agent Cause of Generation and Corruption, On
the Bowing of the Outermost Sphere, Benefits for Bodies and Souls, On the
Oneness of God and On the Quiddity of What Cannot be Infinite, and On
the Prostration of the Outermost Sphere.
The central theme underpinning al-Kindi's philosophical
writings is the compatibility between philosophy and other
Islamic sciences, particularly theology.

10. Some of the Islamic Philosophical Contributions
The greatest contribution of Al-Kindi to the
development of Islamic philosophy was his efforts
to make Greek thought both accessible and
acceptable to Muslim audience. He carried out this
mission from the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-
Hikma).

11. House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma)
Muslims were engaged in translating scientific,
philosophical, literary and religious works of the ancient
civilizations for more than three centuries. They took the
advantage of the languages of that time, which include
Hebrew, Syriac, Persian, Latin and the most importantly
Greek. A scientific center called the House of Wisdom
(Bayt al-Hikma) was established for sheltering the
translators and preserving their works.

12. House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma)
Caliph Al-Mamum (813–833), established a research institute
known as Bayt Al-Hikma which applies a program of
translating the manuscript into Arabic.
Staff in the Bayt Al-Hikma, include: Translators, Scientist,
Scribes, Authors, Writers, and Copyist. The languages spoken,
read and written in Bayt Al-Hikma inclund Indian.
The major contribution of Bayt Al Hikmade Arabic, Farsi,
Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Greek, Latin, a is translating books
into Arabic by Yusuf Ya'qub Al-Kindi.

13. House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma)
He translated the works of Aristotle. He had his own personal
library at home, which was referred to as “Al-Kindiya”.
The house of wisdom had crucial role to play in linking the
Islamic world fronts in east and west and in introducing the
heritage in its perfect form to Muslims in order to preserve it
from loss and deterioration.
The house of wisdom had gained a great fame in the Islamic
world for it was the first scientific and educational center of
its kind, thus, it assembled scientists, scholars and translators,
and researchers.

14. Cryptology / Cryptogaphy
Al-Kindi was influenced by the
work of Al-Khalil (717–786),
who wrote the Book of
Cryptographic Messages, which
contains the first use of
permutations and combinations to
list all possible Arabic words with
and without vowels.

15. CONTRIBUTION
He is one among a small group of Muslim scientists who made
original contributions in many fields
Al-Kindi was the first physician who systematically determined
the dosage for most drugs.
He provided the foundation for modern arithmetic.
In the field of Chemistry.
Al-Kindi researched on the scientific aspects of music.
He discovered a method to express musical notes in terms of
frequencies.

16. CONTRIBUTION
He discussed the nature of sound and optics.
He worked on Geometrical optics, one of his work on optics
was translated into Latin.
He explained the idea that Gold cannot be made from other
metals.
He poduced many research monographs on Meterology,
Specific gravity and on Tides.
He did considerable work on Medicine too.
Al-Kindi wrote more than two hundred forty books.

17. Some of Al-Kindi’s Philosophical views
• Al-Kindi viewed that prophecy and philosophy were two different routes to arrive
at the truth. He contrasts the two positions in four ways.
Firstly, while a person must undergo a long period of training and study to become a
philosopher, prophecy is bestowed upon someone by God. Secondly, the philosopher
must arrive at the truth by his own devices (and with great difficulty), whereas the
prophet has the truth revealed to him by God. Thirdly, the understanding of the prophet
being divinely revealed is clearer and more comprehensive than that of the philosopher.
Fourthly, the way in which the prophet is able to express this understanding to the
ordinary people is superior.
 Therefore, al-Kindi says the prophet is superior in two fields:
i. the ease and certainty with which he receives the truth, and
ii. the way in which he presents it.

18. Some of Al-Kindi’s Philosophical views
However, the crucial implication is that the content of the
Prophet's and the philosopher's knowledge is the same, as he
described both as ways of arriving to the truth.
“We ought not to be embarrassed of appreciating the truth and
of obtaining it wherever it comes from, even if it comes from
races distant and nations different from us. Nothing should be
dearer to the seeker of truth than the truth itself, and there is no
deterioration of the truth, or belittling either of one who speaks
it or conveys it."

19. Some of Al-Kindi’s Philosophical views
Al-Kindi believed, revelation was a superior source of
knowledge to reason because it guaranteed matters of
faith that reason could not uncover.
In addition to this, al-Kindi adopted a naturalistic view
of prophetic visions. He argued that, through the faculty
of "imagination" as conceived of in Aristotelian
philosophy, certain "pure" and well-prepared souls
were able to receive information about future events.

20. Some of Al-Kindi’s Philosophical views
He successfully incorporated Aristotelian
and neo-Platonist thought into an Islamic
philosophical framework. This was an
important factor in the introduction and
popularization of Greek philosophy in the
Muslim intellectual world.

21. Some of Al-Kindi’s Philosophical views
In addition to absolute oneness, Al-Kindi also
described God as the Creator. He described that
God acts as both a final and efficient cause.
Unlike later Muslim Neo-Platonic philosophers
who asserted that the universe existed as a result
of God's existence.

22. Some of Al-Kindi’s Philosophical views
According to Al-Kindi, the goal of metaphysics is the
knowledge of God. For this reason, he does not make a
clear distinction between philosophy and theology,
because he believes they are both concerned with the
same subject. Central to Al-Kindi's understanding of
metaphysics is God's absolute oneness, which he
considers an attribute uniquely associated with God and
therefore not shared with anything else.

23. Some of Al-Kindi’s Philosophical views
Therefore, only God is absolutely one, both
in being and in concept, lacking any
multiplicity whatsoever. Some feel this
understanding entails a very rigorous negative
theology because it implies that any
description which can be predicated to
anything else cannot be said about God.

24. Some of Al-Kindi’s Philosophical views
• Al-Kindi also theorized that there was a separate, incorporeal
and universal intellect (known as the "First Intellect"). It was
the first of God's creation and the intermediary through which
all other things came into creation. It was also crucial to al-
Kindi's epistemology, which was influenced by Platonic
realism. According to Plato, everything that exists in the
material world corresponds to certain universal forms in the
heavenly realm. These forms are really abstract concepts such
as a species, quality or relation, which apply to all physical
objects and beings.

25. Some of Al-Kindi’s Philosophical views
The human intellect to think about something, the First
Intellect / cause must already be thinking about it.
Therefore, he says that the First Intellect / cause must
always be thinking about everything.
Aristotle’s view of unmove mover of prime / prime
mover of First Cause and Al-kindi’s view of First
Cause and end product.

26. “God is both the efficient
cause as well as the final
cause of everythnig in the
world”

27. CONCLUSION
Al-Kindi was a master of many different areas of thought
and was held to be one of the greatest Islamic
philosophers of his time. His influences in the fields of
knowledge were far-reaching and lasted for several
centuries. Al-Kindi was unique in his knowledge of all the
ancient sciences. His books deal with different sciences,
such as logic, philosophy, geometry, arithmetic,
astronomy etc. He is connected with the natural
philosophers.

28. CONCLUSION
Al-Kindi‟s major contribution was his establishment of
philosophy in the Islamic world and his efforts in trying to
harmonize the philosophical investigation along with the
Islamic theology and creed. Therefore, his greatest contribution
to the development of Islamic philosophy was his efforts to
make Greek thought both accessible and acceptable to Muslim
audience by translating and simplifying works into Arabic for
Muslim audience of not only his time, but also of the
contemporary time.

29. CONCLUSION
His exertions capitalized from the House of
Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) which was founded in
the effort of Abbasid Caliphs particularly Al-
Mamun. Services rendered at Bayt Al-Hikma
immensely contributed in the understanding,
preservation, and dissemination of important
knowledge among Muslim.