Dreams in Kindī, Fārābī and Ghazzālī
With accumulated knowledge from history, many people believe that
dreams contain mysterious clues about their lives. Due to their mystical
dimension, dreams are of interest to a wide range of people and, consequently,
to science. Psychology, neurology, theology, and philosophy are
among the leading scientific disciplines that study dreams. The ongoing
debates between intellect and religion are also reflected in the concept
of dreams. In Islam, the perception of dreams that can transcend reason
prevails in the Qur’an and Sunnah. Islamic philosophy, which developed
under various influences, primarily the Qur’an and Sunnah, has an intellectual
environment where different ideas can flourish. The concept of
dreams is one of the foremost concepts nourished by this environment. In
our study, the meanings attributed to the concept of dreams by the Islamic
thinkers Kindī, Fārābī, and Ġazzālī will be compared in terms of religion
and philosophy. Although our study focuses on Islamic philosophy,
the book also includes perspectives on dreams from different disciplines.
Our study consists of three chapters.
The first section will address the nature of sleep and dreams, focusing
on the scientific perspectives on dreams, particularly under the headings
of psychology and neurology. The subheadings of the first section will
examine the historical development of the concept of dreams in Ancient
Greece and the perspectives on the concept of dreams in Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam. Its place in verses and hadiths will be emphasized,
specifically in the Islamic religion. In the second chapter, the concept of
dreams in Islamic philosophy will be examined within the framework of
the ideas of Kindī, Fārābī, and Ghazzālī. The main ideas on which the
three thinkers based their concept of dreams will be outlined. The final
section will compare the concepts of dreams held by Kindī, Fārābī, and
Ghazzālī. This study will present the meanings attributed to the concept
of dreams, a concept that concerns both physics and metaphysics, by Islamic
thinkers, offering the reader a broad perspective on dreams.
Keywords: Dream; Ghazālī; Gazzali; Gazali; Fārābī; Farabi; Al-Farabius;
Alpharabius; Kindī; Kindi; Al-Kindi; Psychology; Norology; Mysticism