Al Farabi and the Birth of Political Science in Islam

This article on Al Farabi seeks to introduce the reader unfamiliar with the political thought of classical Islam, to one of the most relevant political thinkers of the Golden Age of Islam. Al Farabi was called the Magister secundus, that is to say the most brilliant mind after Aristotle. The depth of his intellect placed him as the most important thinker of his time and the second most important in all of history, according to the Europe of the Middle Ages. His book on the Virtuous City was ahead of its time with the proposition that rulers should seek the happiness of their subjects. The theme of happiness arrived to the universities, and some of the most prestigious ones founded their own Centers for Happiness. In fact, the theme became one of the main preoccupations of the international organizations. The General Assembly of the United Nations itself in its resolution 66/281, decreed back in 2012, March 20 to commemorate The International Day for Happiness, as a way to recognize the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal aspirations for all human beings. In addition, it puts political thought above religious thought because it is more scientific. Al Farabi managed to displace religious thought, relegating it to second place after political thought, the only one that allows reaching the truth. Religious thought does not seek the truth, but to establish immutable truths that are not based on scientific reasoning, but on faith. For this reason, we can consider that with Al Farabi, the Political Science is introduced in Islam. His legacy is so deep that after him, Political though in the Islamic World changed definitively.