İHVÂN-I SAFÂ RİSALELERİNDE PEYGAMBER ve FİLOZOFA VERİLEN DEĞER.

In this text, we will discuss the value given to the prophet and the philosopher who are both guides for the happiness of mankind in the thought of Ikhwan al-Safa (Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity) which point out that the salvation of man will take place together with the religion and philosophy and endeavours on this issues in the sequel. In the thought of Ikhwan al-Safa, the human being is created by Allah in the best conformation and is equipped with a tendency to accept the highest and the lowest soul. The high grades accepted by the human soul are the angelic degree which is the degree by which philosophical knowledge is attained, and the holy degree by which it has attained the degree of prophethood. Due to the holy degree, man accepts revelation, which is the highest grade reached by human being's soul. In this sense, the highest authority is the prophetic authority in the thought of Ikhwan al-Safa. This is a place where philosophy is not possible. Philosophy is the most valuable human art after prophethood. In fact, according to Ikhwan al-Safa, both the prophet and the philosopher fulfill the same task such as criticizing the world and directing the mankind to the life of the hereafter, refining the human being, rescue from hell, the world of corruption and conveying him to the paradise. In the thought of Ikhwan al-Safa; while the philosopher is the source of worldly knowledge, the prophet is the source of the knowledge of eternal life belonging both to the worldly and to the afterlife. Ikhwan al-Safa regands the prophet as a doctor of hearts and the philosopher as a doctor of bodies. Body is considered as a device of spirituality and then hereby the prophet is evaluated in a superior position. Again, Ikhwan al- Safa, criticized philosophers because they have obtained their information from different perspectives through the use of logical comparisons and philosophical education and they can not agree on the same view; But on the other hand they have revered the prophets because they Receive their information from the angels by doubtless way and they transmit these truths to mankind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]