Remembering the second master
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Jamia Millia Islamia and the Embassy of Kazakhstan acknowledged the contribution of Al Farabi, a philosopher and scientist the other day.
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Few people know the giants that the Asian and Central Asians regions have produced and nurtured. One such genius was Al Farabi, the Central Asian philosopher, musicologist and scientist. Al Farabi born in 870 A.D. in Farab, travelled widely in the Central and West Asian region and passed away in Syria in 940 A.D. He was known as the `Second Master', that is the second philosopher of importance after Aristotle. He produced students of great repute like Ibn Sina. It is surprising that we Indians know so little about the man and his philosophy. He was remembered recently at Jamia Millia Islamia's Academy of Third World Studies, which has been named after this great man.
At an impressive function, recently, the ambassador of Kazakhstan, Dr. Kairat Umarov with diplomats from his embassy handed over a portrait of Al Farabi to Professor Mushirul Hasan, Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia. The ambassador pointed out that the cities Al Farabi had lived in were all linked by the Silk Route and the Kazakh Government was involved in a project to create a mausoleum for him in Damascus, where he died. Professor Kalpana Sahni, the late Bhisham Sahni's daughter, and awell-known Central Asian scholar focused on the genius of this man. She pointed out that while the European Renaissance was well documented and known the world over, Asia's role and contribution to the European Renaissance was left unacknowledged. The regions we know as West and Central Asia today and North Africa had been home to some of the oldest civilizations. Innovative ideas on optics, music and philosophy that originated here influenced perspective painting, Western music and Western thought during the European Renaissance.
Professor Mushirul Hasan saidthat Al Farabi had interpreted Plato and Aristotle, and had also brought together Islamic theology and Western philosophy. Today it was unfortunate that everything was being viewed as a `clash of civilisations' . He also stated that it was important to analyse why religious philosophies like Buddhism and Islam which had given rise to many innovative theories had also not kept up with debates of the times. It is important that today we Asians are made aware of our great masters and the wisdom they'd spoken of.
HUMRA QURAISHI
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