CRITICAL REALISM OF AL-KINDÎ ON ARISTOTLE'S THEORY OF CREATION
Keywords:
Aristotle, Creation, Ibda', Khalq, Kun, al-Kindi, Universe, FiniteAbstract
This study aims to expose al-Kindi's theory of creation and his repudiation of Aristotle's equivalent theory. The theory of creation was one of the philosophical problems that originated in the Greco-Aristotle philosophy. In this tradition, "creation" refers to making or changing something from something else. In other words, this universe was created from pre-existing matters, materials, and substratum. This viewpoint ran counter to Muslim beliefs, including al-Kindi. For al-Kindi, creation entails creating something from nothing. This universe did not exist before. God's qudrah determined its existence, and His iradah created it from nothing. To defend his position, al-Kindi used both philosophical and theological arguments. Like mutakallimun, al-Kindi's theological argument is built on the Qur'anic term "kun,” while his philosophical argument is based on the argument of limitations. This study is literature-based research using a descriptive critical analytical method. The data for this study were obtained from books, articles, and other written documents. The collected data is examined utilizing the critical analytical method. This research concludes that al-Kindi explained the concept of creation quite clearly, and succeeded in making an appropriate and directed critical response to Aristotle's theory of creation. Likewise, al-Kindi's idea of creation demonstrates his close position with theologians and separates himself from the Peripatetic philosophers after him, even though al-Kindi is famous as a Muslim philosopher.
References
A. E. Taylor, Aristotle, Dover ed. New York, 1955, p 56-57. (n.d.).
Abu al-Hasan al-Asy’ari, al-Luma’ fi al-Radd, 7. Abu Bakr bin Thayib al-Baqillani, al-Insaf, 43-48. Fakhrudin al-Razi, Mafatih al Ghaib,. 19, 139. (n.d.).
Adamson, P. (2002). Before Essence and Existence: al-Kindi’s Conception of Being. Journal of the History of Philosophy Johns Hopkins University Press, 40(3), 296.
Adamson, P. (2003). Al-Kindi and The Mu‘tazila: Divine Attributes, Creation and Freedom. Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, 13, 62.
Al-Bāqī, M. F. ‘Abd. (1991). al-Mu‘jam al-Mufahras li Alfāz al- Qur’ān al-Karīm. Dar al-Hadits.
Al-Baqillâni. (1986). al-Insaf, ed ‘Imad al-Din Ahmad Haidar ed. I. Alam al-Kutub.
Al-Bazdawi, Kitab Usul al-Din, Ed. Peter Linas, p. 73. (n.d.).
Al-Farâbi, Arâ’ Ahl al-Madinah, p 21. (n.d.).
Al-Ghazâli, al-Iqtisad, M. Abu al-‘Ala (ed.), p 29. (n.d.).
Al-Ghazâli, al-Iqtisâd fii al-I’tiqâd, p 10. (n.d.).
al-Ghazālī, Tahāfut al-Falāsifah, p 96. (n.d.).
Al-Ghazali. (2000). Tahâfut, ed. Michael E. Marmura. Brigham Young University Press.
Al-Juwaini, I. (1965). Luma’ al-Adillah, ed Fawqiyah Husain Mahmud. NP.
Al-Kindî, Fî Hudûd al-Asy ya’, p 169. (n.d.).
Al-Kindi, “Fî Wahdâniyah Allah wa Tanâhi Jirm al-Alam” in Abu Ridah (ed), Rasâil al-Kindi (Cairo: M. al-Junnat al-Ta’lif wa ’l-tarjama wa ’1-nashr, 1950), p 202 and so on. See also, Al-Kindi, “On First Philosophy”, with an Introduction and Commentary by A. (n.d.).
Al-Kindî, Fii al-Falsafah al-Ula, p 111. (n.d.).
Al-Kindî, Rasa’il, p 374–375. (n.d.).
Al-Kindî, Rasâil al-Kindî al-Falsafiyyah, ed Abu Ridah, p 162. (n.d.).
Al-Kindi. (1974). On First Philosophy, with an Introduction and Commentary by Alfred L. Ivry. N.Y.: State University of New York Press.
Al-Maturidi. (1971). Ta’wilat Ahl al-Sunnah, Ed. Ibrahim Audain. Dar al-Kutub.
Al-Shahrastanî, al-Milal wa al-Nihal. V iii. (Cairo: Muassasah al Halabî, 1968), p. 32. (n.d.).
Al-Syahrastani, al-Milal wa al-Nihal, I, p. 94. (n.d.).
Arif, S. (2012). Divine Emanation as Cosmic Origin: Ibn Sina and His Critics. Tsaqafah, 8(2), 3.
Ariola, M. M. (2006). Principles and Methods of Research. REX Book Store.
Aristotle, Physics V.1, 225a15–16. (n.d.).
Atiyeh, G. N. (1983). Al-Kindi: The Philosopher of the Arabs, translated. Kasidjo Djojo Suwarno. Salman.
Daiber, H. (2012). Islamic Thought in the Dialogue of Cultures. Brill NV.
Davidson, H. (1969). John Philoponus as a Source of Medieval Islamic and Jewish Proofs of Creation. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 89(2), 370–374.
Fakhri, M. (1983). A History of Islamic Philosophy. Columbia University Press and Longman.
Fuad Ahwani, Al-Kindî, 24. (n.d.).
Hamid Fahmy Zarkasyi, Kausalitas, 128. (n.d.).
Hamid Fahmy Zarkasyi, Kausalitas: Hukum Alam atau Tuhan? p 127. (n.d.).
Hitti, P. K. (1974). History of the Arabs. The MacMillan Press LTD.
Ibn Rushd, Faṣl al-Maqȃl, p. 42. (n.d.).
In fact, according to George Atiyeh, “the argument from creation is the “most important argument for God’s existence in the philosophy of al-Kindi”. See, George N. Atiyeh, Al-Kindi: The Philosopher of the Arabs, (Rawalpindi: Islamic Research Institute, 19. (n.d.).
Jabbâr, A. (1965). Syarh al-Ushul al-Khamsah. Maktabah al-Wahbiyah.
Jackson, R. (2014). What is Islamic Philosophy? Routledge.
Joseph Kenny, Philosophy of the Muslim World, p 9. (n.d.).
McIntyre, A. R. and L. (2020). Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Introduction, Fourth Edition. Routledge.
Park, G.-J. (2007). Analytic Methods for Design Practice. Springer.
Reisman, J. M. dan D. C. (2007). Classical Arabic Philosophy. Hackett Publishing Company Inc, Indianapolis/Cambridge.
Rusyd, I. (2004). Tȃhȃfut al-Tȃhȃfut, taḥqȋq Sulaymȃn Dunyȃ, translated. Khalifurrahman Fath. Pustaka Pelajar.
Sayre, K. M. (1969). Plato’s Analytic Method. University of Chicago Press.
See footnote of Abu Ridah, Rasail Al-Kindî, p 169. (n.d.).
Sirajuddin Zar, Filsafat Islam…, 76. (n.d.).
Soleh, A. K. (2016). Filsafat Islam. Arruzz Media.
Staley, K. (1989). Al-Kindi on Creation: Aristotle’s Challenge to Islam. Journal of the History of Ideas, 50(3), 364–370.
The book is part of the “Kitâb Qawâ’id al-’Aqa’id,” Ihya’ Volume 1, a translation with notes by Nabih Amin Faris, “Al-Ghazâli, The Foundation of the Article of Faith,” (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1974), p 59-60, in Hamid Fahmy Zarkasyi, Kausalitas: Huku. (n.d.).
Zakarīya, A. al-H. A. ibn F. ibn. (2001). Mu’jam Maqāyīs al-Lugah. Dār Iḥyā al-Turās al-‘Arabīy.
Zarkasyi, H. F. (1428). The Nature of God in Aristotle’s Natural Theology. Jurnal Tsaqafah, 4(1), 40
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2023 Nurhadi Ihsan, Elit Ave Hidayatullah, Sofyan Atstsauri
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
