Educational Philosophy Part 3: al-Kindi’s Multiculturalism

Written by Nethra Singhi

The Philosophy of Education is a reflection on the nature, aims and problems of education. It is a branch of applied philosophy that borrows from epistemology, metaphysics, language etc. It looks at both the theoretical and practical aspects of education from a philosophical angle. Now, because educational practice is so vast and varied around the world, there are, of course, variations in the philosophy of education as well.

This series of articles aims at analysing the different theories on education famous philosophers across history had and their application in the modern education system. This article looks at al-Kindi, widely considered the “Father of Arab Philosophy.”

al-Kindi’s Philosophy

Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Ṣabāḥ al-Kindī, commonly referred to as al-Kindi, was born to Arab parents at the beginning of the ninth century AD. He grew up learning Persian, Indian and Greek philosophies and translated and critiqued many works in these traditions, especially those of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Neoplatonism and Aristotle’s theories also profoundly influenced al-Kindi’s own philosophy. He reconciled Islamic belief with Greek philosophy by negotiating the compatibility of the Aristotelian cosmic view with Islamic divinity.

al-Kindi wrote that philosophy had three branches: mathematical, physical and ethical. He firmly believed that mathematics was necessary for anyone who wished to learn philosophy.

He believed that our knowledge is either acquired through reason or senses. The senses apprehend the physical (material) form of a particular, and reason conceives its universal or spiritual form. What one sees through the eyes also sees its rationality in their mind. He stresses both these sources of acquiring knowledge. If we look only with our senses, we cannot know the universal, and if we use only reason, we can’t see the particular.

Impact on Educational Practice

al-Kindi envisioned and paved the way for an intercultural and interdisciplinary curriculum within the Arabic intellectual tradition, as he believed Islamic philosophy was compatible with Greek philosophy. This can be used as a framework to understand the application of al-Kindi’s philosophy in educational theory.

al-Kindi followed a “rational Islam” proposed by the Mutazilite school (the dominant theological school of the early Abbasid Caliphate, under who al-Kindi translated texts in Baghdad). This rationalistic view of Islam had its own epistemological approach towards truth-seeking knowledge. Its orientation towards codified and verified knowledge set the tone for Islamic education to move away from Majilis (Masjid-based learning practices emphasising theology) to Minhaj (interdisciplinary schooling with a set curriculum).

Minhaj is further strengthened by al-Kindi’s combined philosophy that paved the way for merging Greek and Islamic thought into the educational curriculum. Rather than focusing merely on Islamic theology, this curriculum could now look at multiple disciplines like math and music from the view of both the Greek and Islam.

Thus, al-Kindi’s multicultural approach towards philosophy can apply to an educational practice that not only takes into account multiple sources of knowledge but strives for similarity and harmony in them.

In contemporary education, emphasis is placed on Western traditions and practices. Still, al-Kindi’s work is an example of how indigenous traditions and thought can merge with philosophy from other places without antagonism on either part.

References

Abdul-Jabbar, Wisam Kh. “al-Kindi on education: Curriculum theorizing and the intercultural Minhaj.” Curriculum Inquiry 50.3 (2020): 262–280.

Adamson, Peter. al-Kindi. Oxford University Press, 2006.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “al-Kindī”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Jul. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yaqub-ibn-Ishaq-as-Sabah-al-Kindi. Accessed 23 February 2022.

Rehman, Mutazid Waliur. “AL-KINDI AND HIS PHILOSOPHY.” Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 2.2 (1920): 97–107.

Tahiri, Hassan. “Al Kindi and the universalisation of Knowledge through mathematics.” Revista de Humanidades de Valparaíso 4 (2014): 81–90.