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Encyclopedia of Religion entry for
Al-Kindi
The philosopher. Abu Yusuf Ya ‘qub ibn Ishaq ibn as-Sabbah al-Kindi, who flourished at the court of the Khalifah Ma ‘mum, A.D. 833, and who translated numerous classical and philosophical works for the Abbaside Government. De Slane says his father Ishaq was Amir of al-Kufah, and his great great grandfather was one of the Prophet ‘s Companions. It was at one time supposed he was a Jew or a convert to the Jewish religion, while others tried to identify him with the author of an Apology for Christianity, entitled Risalatu ‘Abdi ‘l-Masih ibn Ishaq al-Kindi, in which the writer explains to a Muslim friend his reasons for holding the Christian faith, in preference to Islam, whose acceptance the latter had pressed upon him. But it has been proved that al-Kindi, the philosopher, and al-Kindi the author of the said treatise, are two distinct persons, although both living at the court of al-Ma ‘mun and belonging to the same tribe. Dr. J.M. Arnold, in his Islam and Christianity, p. 372, says the Risalah, or treatise of al-Kindi, is quoted as a genuine production by the celebrated historian, Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (dies A.H. 430), in one of his works in confirmation of his statement that there were human sacrifices offered up in Arabic prior to the time of Muhammad. The Apology of al-Kindi has been rendered into English by Sir William Muir, from an edition in Arabic published by the Turkish Mission Aid Society. 
citations: Dictionary of Islam, Hughes
article created 2006-04-12 , last updated 2006-04-12
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