Abu Nasr Mohammad Ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi (872-950
C.E).
was born in a small village Wasij, near Farab in Turkistan
in 259 A.H. (870 C.E.). His parents were originally of Persian descent, but his
ancestors had migrated to Turkistan. Known as al-Phrarabius in Europe, Farabi
was the son of a general.
He completed his earlier education at Farab and Bukhara but,
later on, he went to Baghdad for higher studies, where he studied and worked
for a long time viz., from 901 C.E. to 942 C.E.
During this period he acquired mastery over several
languages as well as various branches of knowledge and technology. He lived
through the reign of six Abbasid Caliphs. As a philosopher and scientist, he
acquired great proficiency in various branches of learning and is reported to
have been an expert in different languages.
Farabi travelled to many distant lands and studied for some time
in Damascus and Egypt, but repeatedly came back to Baghdad, until he visited
Saif al-Daula'scourt in Halab (Allepo).
He became one of the constant companions of the King, and it
was here at Halab that his fame spread far and wide. During his early years he
was a Qadi (Judge), but later on the took up teaching as his profession. During
the course of his career, he had suffered great hardships and at one time was
the caretaker of a garden. He died a bachelor in Damascus in 339 A.H./950 C.E.
at the age of 80 years.
Farabi contributed considerably to science, philosophy,
logic, sociology, medicine, mathematics and music. His major contributions seem
to be in philosophy, logic and sociology and, of course, stands out as an
Encyclopedist. As a philosopher, he may be classed as a Neoplatonist who tried
to synthesize Platonism and Aristotelism with theology and he wrote such rich
commentaries on Aristotle's physics, meteorology, logic, etc., in addition to a
large number of books on several other subjects embodying his original
contribution, that he came to be known as the 'Second Teacher' (al-Mou'allim
al-Thani)Aristotle being the First. One of the important contributions of
Farabi was to make the study of logic more easy by dividing it into two
categories viz., Takhayyul
(idea) and Thubut (proof). In sociology he wrote several
books out of which Ara Ahl alMadina al-Fadilabecame famous. His books on
psychology and metaphysics were largely based on his own work. He also wrote a
book on music, captioned Kitab al-Musiqa. He was a great expert in the art and
science of music and invented several musical instruments, besides contributing
to the knowledge of musical
notes. It has been reported that he could play his
instrument so well as to make people laugh or weep at will. In physics he demonstrated
the existence of void.
Although many of his books have been lost, 117 are known, out
of which 43 are on logic, 11 on metaphysics, 7 on ethics, 7 on political
science, 17 on music, medicine and sociology, while 11 are commentaries. Some
of his more famous books include the book Fusus al-Hikam, which remained a text
book of philosophy for several centuries at various centres of learning and is
still taught at some of the institutions in the East. The book Kitab allhsa al
'Ulumdiscusses classification and fundamental principles
of science in a unique and useful manner. The book Ara Ahl
alMadina al- Fadila 'The Model City'is a significant early contribution to
sociology snd political science.
Farabi exercised great influence on science and knowledge for
several centuries. Unfortunately, the book
Theology of Aristotle, as was available to him at that time was regarded
by him as genuine, although later on it turned out to be the work of some
Neoplatonic writer. Despite this, he was regarded the Second Teacher in
philosophy for centuries and his work, aimed at synthesis of philosophy and
sufism, paved the way for Ibn Sina's work.
Second teacher alias mahaguru kedua. BegitulahPeter Adamson pengajar filsafat di King’s College London, Inggris, menjuluki
al-Farabi sebagai pemikir besar Muslim pada abad pertengahan. Dedikasi dan
pengabdiannya dalam filsafat dan ilmu pengetahuan telah membuatnya didaulat
sebagai guru kedua setelah Aristoteles: pemikir besar zaman Yunani.
Sosok
dan pemikiran al-Farabi hingga kini tetap menjadi perhatian dunia. Dialah
filosof Islam pertama yang berhasil mempertalikan serta menyelaraskan filsafat
politik Yunani klasik dengan Islam. Sehingga, bisa dimengerti di dalam konteks
agama-agama wahyu. Pemikirannya begitu berpengaruh besar terhadap dunia Barat.
”Ilmu Logika al-Farabi memiliki pengaruh yang besar bagi para
pemikir Eropa,” ujar Carra de Vaux. Tak heran, bila para intelektual
merasa berutang budi kepada Al-Farabi atas ilmu pengetahuan yang telah
dihasilkannya. Pemikiran sang mahaguru kedua itu juga begitu kental
mempengaruhi pikiran-pikiran Ibnu Sina dan Ibnu Rush.
Al-Farabi
atau masyarakat Barat mengenalnya dengan sebutan Alpharabius memiliki
nama lengkap Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi. Tak seperti Ibnu
Khaldun yang sempat menulis autobiografi, Al-Farabi tidak menulis autobiografi
dirinya.
Tak
ada pula sahabatnya yang mengabadikan latar belakang hidup sang legenda itu,
sebagaimana Al-Juzjani mencatat jejak perjalanan hidup gurunya Ibnu Sina.Tak
heran, bila muncul beragam versi mengenai asal-muasal Al-Farabi. Ahli sejarah
Arab pada abad pertengahan, Ibnu Abi Osaybe’a, menyebutkan bahwa ayah Al-Farabi
berasal dari Persia. Mohammad Ibnu Mahmud Al-Sahruzi juga menyatakan Al-Farabi
berasal dari sebuah keluarga Persia.
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