Political Philosophy Essay

Introduction Abu Nasr Muhammad stash away Muhammad bin Tarkhan al-Farabi was born at Wasij, a village near Farab, a district of Transoxania. He was matchless of the giganticest philosophers that the Muslim world had invariably produced. He mainly studied in Baghdad and after gaining coarse proficiency in the genus Arabic language, he became an ardent pupil of the Christian savant Abu Bishr Matta bin Younus, quite prominent as translator of a number of kit and boodle by Aristotle and different Greek versatile writers. beingness a original Turkish philosopher, he leave behind unchange open and profound influence upon the life of succeeding Muslim Philosophers.Being a great expositor of Aristotles logic, he was aptly c exclusivelyed al-mualim al thani (the second teacher). agree to Ibn-e-Khaldoon, no Muslim thinker ever reached the same position as al-Farabi in Philosophical knowledge. Al-Farabi is the first Muslim philosopher to suck left political literary productions, either in the form of commentaries or in treaties of his own ground upon Plato. Al-Farabis works was preserved from ravages of time contain quintette on politics as under 1. A Summary of Platos Laws 2. Siyasatul-Madaniyah 3. Arau ahlil-Madinatul-Fadilah.4. Jawamius-Siyasat 5. Ijtimaatul-Madaniyah Contri merelyion of Al-Farabi to Islamic Political Thought In pure philosophy, Farabi became as famous as any philosopher of Islam, and it is said that a savant of caliber of Avicenna found himself entirely incapable of misgiving the true bearing of Aristotles Metaphysics until one day he coolly purchased one of Farabis works and by its serve well he was able to grasp their purport. (Sherwani) Al-Farabi was a renowned philosopher of his age and deeply reverenced in all ages.Al-Farabis insatiated enthusiasm led him to study Philosophy, Logic, Politics, Mathematics and Physics. He left his indelible impact upon the succeeding generations through his works, which are still read, learnt an d discussed with great passion and literal zest. His sincerity, profound honorable convictions and his genuine belief in liberty and in the dignity of hu reality being united with his easing and human beingitarianism made him the angel spokesman of his age, which was fully of rivalries, corrosions and false vanities.Sherwani was of the view,A man with some(prenominal)(prenominal) learning had no place in the ninth-century Baghdad and as we return pointed fall out, we find him regularly attached to Saif-ud-Dowlahs court. In 946 Saif took capital of Syria and Al-Farabi became permanent resident of that delightful place, spending his time in the gardens of the at a time Umayyad capital discussing philosophical questions with his friends and writing down his rulings and compositions sometimes in a regular form, sometimes in an irregular form, sometimes, on merely cozy leaves.Al-Farabi renunciated from the worldly affairs and he never pursued the pleasures and luxuries homo geneous other nerve class Abbasids. He led exemplary simple life with full contentment with what he got to eat and to wear. It can be very intimately asserted that al-Farabi was in the truest sense the parent of all subsequent Arabic Philosophers. The great Christian learners namely Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquines acknowledged their duty to al-Farabi in the development of their own political theories. Al-Farabi laid down several(prenominal) rules for teachers honestly striving to train the young students in philosophy.No scholar should start the study of philosophy until he snuff its very well acquaint with natural sciences. Human nature rises tho gradually from the sensuous to the abstract, from the irregular to the faultless. Mathematics in particular is very heavy in educate the mind of a young philosopher, it helps him pass from the sensuous to the intelligible and hike up it informs his mind with exact demonstrations. Similarly, the study of logic as an ins trument to light upon the true from the false should precede the study of philosophy proper.Al-Farabi voluminously wrote mainly on pure philosophy and thither is no doubt that he had to egest on neo-Platonic ideas current in the Arab world of those days in his commentaries on Aristotle, Porphyry and Ptolemy. Sherwani says thatwe might accept the proposition that he was inspired by Plato, in this setting up of the ensample City, besides as there is a mass of new material in his political writings not found in Plato and taken from local sources, it is a egress of importance that such(prenominal) material should be analyzed and Farabi be condition all all over his rightful place on the scene of political philosophy.Al-Farabi died at the full age of nearly eighty years in 950. His name and works are everlasting and echoed in the corridors of time. Al-Farabis high-flown Head of evidence Every Islamic country is ruled by the ruler, or as later European Political scientists wou ld call him the milkweed butterfly. Plato after developing the matter of the government of his perfect city in his Republic had made the omnipotent and omniscient philosopher sovereign who should have no other interest but that of the affairs of state.Al-Farabi starts from the nature of the workers of leadership and impresses his readers that what is wanted for the office is the power of making proper deductions. According to Al-Farabi, his Rais should be such superior man, who, by his very nature and upbringing, does not submit before any power or instructions of others. He must(prenominal)iness have the potentialities to convey his sense to others for nail down submission. Rosenthal was of the view, He is the Imam, the first ruler over the ideal city-state, over the ideal nation and over the whole inhabited earth.The philosopher-prophet, in the opinion of Al-Farabi, is solely qualified to help man, a citizen to reach his true human destiny, where his moral and intellectual ideal permit him to perceive God, under the guidance of the divinely revealed Shariat. Those ruled by the first ruler are the excellent, best and blissful citizens. Al-Farabi contemplatively points out the virtuous qualities of his ideal Head of State, who should be competent to ascertain the actions of all in the State and must be in bullheadedness of latest intellect as well as the gained intellect.All such refined and high qualities including his political and literal caliber make him an Ideal Sovereign for the overall interest of the society and the nation. He enumerated tweleve attributes of an ideal Sovereign 1. He must possess public opinion and imagination to attain perfection as well as a philosopher skilled in the inquisitive science. 2. He must be physically sound with meticulous understanding. 3. He must have visualization of all that is said. 4. He must have a retentive and sharp memory. 5.He should discuss the matters with least thinkable arguments and must have authority to get the work done. 6. He must have power to convey to others exactly according to his wish and he has profound love of learning and knowledge. 7. He must have perfect capacity for a comprehensive knowledge and prescription of the theoretical and pragmatic sciences and art, as well as for the virtues leading to good deeds. 8. He must shun off playfulness and overlook over anger and passions. 9. Al-Farabis ideal Rais must have love of truth, persuasion of justice and shame of hypocrisy, knavery and duplicity. 10.He must vie for utmost happiness to his subjects and he should do away with all forces of despotism and oppressions. 11. He must have power to distribute justice without any effort, fearless in doing things as he thinks best to be done. 12. He must serve the hatful of his state from all indispensable and external dangers. He must be in possession of considerable riches, so that he should not clearn over to greed and lust. Al-Farabi fully realizes that th ese fine qualities cannot be found in one single human being, so he says that one without just five or six of these qualities would make a fairly good leader.If however, thus far five or six of them are not found in a person, he would have one who has been brought up under a leader with these qualities, and would thus seen to prefer some kind of hereditary leadership, with the important condition that the heir should follow the footsteps of his worthy predecessor. In case flat such a person is not available, it is preferable to have a council of two or even five members possessing an aggregate of these qualities provided at least one of them is a Hakim, i-e one who is able to know the wants of the people and realise the needs of the state as a whole.This Hakim is to Farabi a desideratum of every(prenominal) kind of government, and if such a one is not procurable thus the State is bound to be shattered to atoms. Kinds of State Al-Farabi describes the varieties of the states oth er than the Ideal States and the remarkable contribution of this philosopher are very much alive and given serious considerations even today. Al-Farabi divides states into following categories 1. State of Necessity (Daruriya) Its inhabitants aim, at the necessities of the life, like food, drink, clothing, a place to live and carnal gratification and they generally help each other in securing these necessities of life.2. Vile State (Nadhala) Its citizens strive for wealth and riches for their own sake. The account in the Siyasa includes a comment of its ruler. Ibn-e-Rushd in like manner succinctly touches upon this state. 3. Base and Despicable State Its inhabitants concentrate on the pleasures of the senses, games and other pastimes. This state is the one in which men help one another(prenominal) to enjoy sensual pleasure such as games, jokes and pleasantries and this is the enjoyment of the pleasures of take and merry-making.This state is the happy and fortunate state with the p eople of ignorance, for this state only aims at attaining pleasure after obtaining first the necessities of life and then(prenominal) overabundant wealth to spend. 4. Timocracy (Madina Karama) It contains a variety of honours. Since the Arabic source of Al-farabi is lost in the wealth of legend, we are unable to determine whether this lengthy and diffuse description goes back to it or represents Al-Farabis own amplification. The latter seems to be more than correct. The citizens of these honor-loving states assist each other in gaining glory, fame and honor.The honors fall into two groups. The first is a personal relationship between one who is worthy to be honored because of some virtue in him, and the others who accord him honor and keep because they recognize him as their superior. The second kind of honor is accorded to men because of their wealth, or because of they have been victorious, exercise authority or enjoy other distinctions. This state in the opinion of Al-Farabi is the best of all the states. 5. Tyranny (Taghallub) It receives from the aim of its citizens they co-operate to give victory over others, but refuse to be vanquished by them.Al-Farabi sets out to distinguish between despotic states and define tyranny or totalitarianism according to aim, mastery over others and over their possessions for powers sake, deep down or externally, by force and conquest or by persuasion and achieving enslavement. His despotic rule is a mixed one and thus oftentimes resembles timocracy or plutocracy. Ibn-e-Rushd avoids this by following Platos description of tyranny and the imperious man, and the transition from democracy to tyranny and of the democratic to the tyrannical man but done to their common source both Al-Farabi and Ibn-e-Rushd similarly define tyranny as absolute power.Rosenthalwas of the view,Tyranny has even more variations for Al-Farabi than timocracy as more as the tyrant has desires, for this despotism expresses itself in imposing his go out on his subjects and making them work for his personal ends. Al-Farabi knows of two kinds of tyranny within which these variations occur, internal and external tyranny. The first consists in the absolute mastery of the tyrant and his helpers over the citizens of the state, and the second is the enslavement of another state or people. 6. Democracy (Madina Jamaiya) It is marked by the freedom of its inhabitants to do as they wish.They are all bear on and no body has master over another. Their governors only govern with the perspicuous consent of the governed. Democracy contains good and bad features and it is therefore not unsufferable that at some time the most excellent men train up there, so that philosophers, orators and poets arrive into being. It is thus possible to choose from its elements of the ideal state. Apart from the afore-mentioned classification of the states, which seems to be idealistic, Al-Farabi has a definite place for the trace of political charac ter over other nations.He initiates reasons for this mastery and says that it is sought-after(a) by a people owing to its desire for protection, ease ort luxury and all that leads to the satisfactions of these necessities. In this powerful state, they might be able to get all the desire. There is nothing against human nature for the strong to over power the weak, so nations which try to get other nations under their control consider it quite proper to do so, and it is justice both to control the weak and for the weak to be so controlled, and the subdued nation should do it for the good of its masters.There is no doubt that all the lapse of centuries and the internationalistic ideology which is the current coin in politics, the psychology of the nations today is much the same as described by the Master centuries ago. Al-Farabisaid,But the more chivalrous among them are such that even when they have to shed human blood they do so only face to face, not speckle their opponent is asl eep or showing his back, nor do they take away his property except after giving him proper warning of their intentions. much(prenominal) a community does not rest till it thinks it has become authoritative forever, nor does it give any other nation an opportunity of over powering it, ever so regarding all other peoples their opponents and enemies and keeping itself on Guard. Colonies Al-Farabi is comprehensively clear some the principles of colonisation. He opines that the inhabitants of a State must scatter hither and thither in different parts of a State because they have been overpowered by an enemy or by an epidemic or through stinting necessity.There are only alternatives to the colonists, either to migrate I such a way as to form one single ground or divide themselves in different political societies. It may come to compass that a large body of these people are of opinion that it is not necessary to change the laws which they have brought from their mother country they w ould then simply codify existing laws and begin to live under them. It will thus be clear to understand that A-Farabi not only contemplates colonization but also self-Government of a republican kind which is close to the modern conceptions.