Al-Kindi's Philosophical Letters

Author's name: Dr. Mashhad Al-Allaf

Al-Kindi is considered the pioneer of philosophy in Arab-Islamic civilization. Through him, philosophy gradually separated from theology, and with him, it began its true beginnings. Al-Kindi was a Muslim thinker by virtue of his religious and cultural affiliation, a mathematician by virtue of his scientific interests, and a philosopher by virtue of his contemplative nature. Furthermore, he was an encyclopedia of disciplines beneficial to thinkers in both the East and the West, and a pioneer in many fields of knowledge, paving the way for those who came after him. In optics, he was the first step for Ibn al-Haytham; in chemistry, he paved the way for al-Razi; and in philosophy, he paved the way for Ibn Sina and al-Ghazali. From this perspective, the value of this book lies, as it allows the contemporary Arab reader to become acquainted with the roots of Arab-Islamic philosophy and prompts them to re-examine the central Western conceptions associated with Greek philosophy. Professor Dr. Mishal Al-Allaf sought the highest degree of clarity and explanation in it, so he put a precise and comprehensive introduction to it, and explained what might be difficult for the reader to understand in these letters, adding to the text of Al-Kindi’s letters another letter on ethics, hoping that this book will be a building block of the contemporary Arab mind, and a bridge to the roots, far from the illusions of centralism and self-flagellation.