Al-Farabi: The Second Teacher After Aristotle
Recognised by Nkuzify as Patron Teacher of the Year.
One of the best compliments a teacher can get is being named right after Aristotle. In the Islamic world Aristotle was known as the First Teacher. The man known as the Second Teacher is Al-Farabi.
Who Was Al-Farabi?
Al-Farabi was probably born around 870 CE in Farab, in what is now Kazakhstan, which is where his name comes from. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, he moved to Baghdad as a young man, and he later went to Damascus, where he died at the end of 950 or the start of 951. Little reliable information about his life has survived, so even those dates come with a "probably".
Why They Called Him The Second Teacher
He explained difficult ideas clearly. He wrote commentaries on the works of Aristotle and Plato, which helped readers understand them, and that work earned him the title. He also wrote on logic, physics, metaphysics, music and politics. In one book he tried to show that Plato and Aristotle agreed on the big questions rather than clashing.
A Teacher Of Teachers
His work influenced later thinkers such as Ibn Sina, known in Europe as Avicenna, and Ibn Rushd, known as Averroes. Scholars also often credit him with founding political philosophy in the Islamic tradition. His book on the virtuous city, which he finished in Damascus, is about what a good community looks like and how it should be led.
Why Nkuzify Holds Him Up
A good teacher takes something hard and makes it clear for the next person. That is exactly what the Second Teacher did with the philosophy of his day. He did not only know things. He made them teachable, and that is why he is a patron of teaching.
Nobody alive today knows exactly how Al-Farabi looked. The pictures on this page are illustrations.
Where this comes from: the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Great Thinkers and e-history.kz.
Meet The Other Patrons
Imhotep, Ptahhotep, Ahmed Baba of Timbuktu, Fatima al-Fihri. You can also go back to the full list: Global Patrons Of Teaching: Imhotep, Ahmed Baba, Fatima Al-Fihri And More.
Thank You
Happy Teachers' Day to Al-Farabi, and to every teacher who keeps this long line going, from all of us at Nkuzify.
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