Distinguishing the virtuous city of Alfarabi from that of Plato in light of his unique historical context

Ali, Ishraq; Qin, Mingli

doi:10.4102/hts.v75i4.5370

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…In addition to the philosophical knowledge associated with the rational faculty of the soul, he must possess religious knowledge which he receives through divine revelations (Wahy) associated with the imaginative faculty of the soul. As I and Qin have discussed elsewhere, by making revelations, in addition to reason, the source of his ruler's superior knowledge, Alfarabi "associates him with the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, rightly guided Sunni caliphs and Shia Imams who received guidance from God through revelation" (Ali and Qin 2019). However, the question that is of paramount significance here is why does the ruler of Alfarabi's virtuous city need religion in addition to philosophy?…”

Section: The Function Of Philosophy and Religion In The Political Sys...mentioning

confidence: 96%

Philosophy and Religion in the Political Thought of Alfarabi

Ali

2023

Religions

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Philosophy and religion were the two important sources of knowledge for medieval Arab Muslim polymaths. Owing to the difference between the nature of philosophy and religion, the interplay between philosophy and religion often takes the form of conflict in medieval Muslim thought as exemplified by the Al-Ghazali versus Averroes (Ibn Rusd) polemic. Unlike the Al-Ghazali versus Averroes (Ibn Rushd) polemic, the interplay between philosophy and religion in the political philosophy of Abu Nasr Alfarabi takes the form of harmonious co-existence. Although, for Alfarabi, religion is an inferior form of knowledge as compared to philosophy, the present article will show that philosophy and religion play equally significant roles in Alfarabi’s virtuous city and that in the absence of either philosophy or religion, the political system proposed by Alfarabi cannot exist.

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Section: The Function Of Philosophy and Religion In The Political Sys...mentioning

confidence: 96%

Philosophy and Religion in the Political Thought of Alfarabi

Ali

2023

Religions

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“…The term Muʿtazilah, which literally means 'those who withdraw or stand apart', originated during the first Muslim civil war between AD 656 and AD 661. As Ali and Qin (2019) have discussed, this civil war was a result of the dispute over Ali's leadership of the Muslim community following the death of the third caliph, Uthman. The word Muʿtazilah was initially used to describe those individuals who, during the 'battle of the camel' (AD 656) and the 'battle of Siffin' (AD 657), chose to take a middle position, neither condemning nor supporting Ali or his opponents (Britannica 2020).…”

Section: Muʿtazilismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Philosophy versus theology in medieval Islamic thought

Ali,

Almulla

2023

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

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The encounter of the medieval Muslims with Greek philosophy undeniably shaped the course of their philosophical and theological thought. This encounter led to the complex and contentious issue of ‘philosophy versus theology’. Medieval Muslim thinkers needed to develop a response to the issue of philosophy versus theology. The present article will first highlight the response of the Islamic theologians to their encounter with Greek philosophy in the form of three major trends in medieval Islamic theology: (1) strong opposition to the application of reason and rationalist approach to Islamic doctrines, and strict adherence to the actual text of the Qur’an and the Hadith, (2) the adoption of Greek philosophy, and the application of reason and rationalist approach to explain and defend Islamic religion and (3) acknowledging the significance of reason in exploring the matters related to the natural world but, at the same time, stressing the subordination of reason to revelation. This article will discuss Atharism, Muʿtazilism and Ashʿarism as the representatives of the first, second and third trends, respectively. The response of the medieval Islamic theologians to the issue of philosophy versus theology serves as a context in which medieval Muslim philosophers carried out their philosophy–theology debate. The article will proceed to show that some medieval Muslim philosophers, such as Abu Bakr Al-Razi, subordinated religion or revelation to philosophy or reason. Other medieval Muslim philosophers, such as Al-Ghazali, subordinated philosophy to theology. The third group of medieval Islamic philosophers represented by Alfarabi argued for the reconciliation and harmonious co-existence of philosophy and religion.Contribution: This article highlights the response of medieval Islamic theologians and philosophers to the issue of philosophy versus theology that was caused by their encounter with Greek philosophy.

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“…The basic principle of Al-Farabi's virtuous city is justice. The dominance of justice unites multifarious and heterogeneous elements of the city as a whole [41]. According to him, virtue is the best moral quality.…”

Section: Humanistic Principles and Virtuous Citiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart Cities from the Perspective of Systems

Ammara

Rasheed

Mansoor

et al. 2022

Systems

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Modern cities are complex adaptive systems in which there is a lot of dependency and interaction between the various stakeholders, components, and subsystems. The use of digital Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has opened up the vision of smart cities in which the city dwellers can have a better quality of life and the city can be better organized and managed. The deployment of ICT solutions, however, does not automatically or invariably improve the quality of living of the citizens. Analyzing cities as complex systems with various interacting sub-systems can help us understand urban dynamics and the fate of smart cities. We will be able to analyze various policy interventions and ascertain their effectiveness and anticipate potential unintended consequences. In this paper, we discuss how smart cities can be viewed through the lens of systems thinking and complex systems and provide a comprehensive review of related techniques and methods. Along with highlighting the science of cities in light of historic urban modeling and urban dynamics, we focus on shedding light on the smart city complex systems. Finally, we will describe the various challenges of smart cities, discuss the limitations of existing models, and identify promising future directions of work.

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Distinguishing the virtuous city of Alfarabi from that of Plato in light of his unique historical context

Cited by 8 publications

References 7 publications

Philosophy and Religion in the Political Thought of Alfarabi

Philosophy and Religion in the Political Thought of Alfarabi

Philosophy versus theology in medieval Islamic thought

Smart Cities from the Perspective of Systems

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