In February 2021, the AIRA holds an international scholarly conference on “Contributions of Imam Al-Fārābī in Enriching the Human Civilization”
Al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy (AIRA), in cooperation with the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Cairo, announced a plan to organize an international scholarly conference entitled, “Contributions of Imam Al-Fārābī in Enriching the Human Civilization”. The conference is held via video conference on February 15th and 16th, 2021.
The AIRA Secretary-General, Prof. Naẓīr ˁAyyād, said, “The conference comes within the framework of Al-Azhar's keen interest in the intellectual and scholarly symbols of the Muslim nation throughout its long history, along its geographical area, including its various ethnicities. The conference scholarly activities are held in implementation of the directives of Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Aḥmad Aṭ-Ṭayyeb, to encourage researchers and highlight the efforts of scholars in support and enrichment of the human civilization.”
Ayyād also added that the main goal of the conference is to strengthen the link between the current generation of scholars and their teachers and symbols. Such link is meant for them to realize what those teachers have contributed to the history of humanity, and what the current generation of scholars can offer in comparison to their teachers, particularly regarded as a deeply-rooted achievement in the human history, with various dimensions positively affecting the human civilization.
The Secretary-General further stated that Imam Al-Fārābī had an influential and clear imprint on the path of human civilization in several aspects, including methodology, political thought, applied science, music, machine science, Arabic linguistics, science statistics, and Islamic disciplines, in addition to his prominent major role in philosophy. This confirms that he deserves to be known as the “Second Teacher” (next to Plato). ˁAyyād has also indicated that the conference will open the door to the participations of researchers, with working papers on the conference's various themes in several languages: Arabic, English, Kazakh, French and Spanish.
The conference will discuss contributions of Imam Al-Fārābī through a set of perspectives: first, the Islamic political jurisprudence in Al-Fārābī’s thought; second, moral philosophy in Al-Farabi's thought; third, the philosophy of language according to Al-Farabi; fourth, Al-Fārābī and human civilization: knowledge, philosophy and logic; fifth, Al-Farabi’s bibliography.