Sunday, January 27, 2008

Iraqi Philosopher

Al-Kindi was born and brought up in Kufah, which was a center for Arab culture and learning in the 9th century. This was certainly the right place for al-Kindi to get the best education possible at this time. Although quite a few details of al-Kindi's life are given in various sources, these are not all consistent. We shall try to give below details which are fairly well substantiated.

Al-Kindi defined Philosophy as 'the establishment of what is true and right' and believed that the pursuit of philosophy was compatible with orthodox Islam. He said - "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, nor belittling either of one who speaks it or conveys it."

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