KazNU Scientists Study Al-Farabi’s Religious and Political Thought Based on Original Manuscripts

Scientists from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University are conducting fundamental research aimed at studying the religious, political and philosophical views of the great thinker Abu Nasr al-Farabi within a modern scholarly paradigm. The project focuses on the manuscript versions of two of al-Farabi’s important works, Kitab al-Milla (“The Book of Religion”) and Al-‘Ilm al-Ilahi (“Divine Knowledge”), with the aim of studying their original texts, translating them directly from Arabic into Kazakh, and introducing the results into scholarly circulation.

Systematic international research on al-Farabi’s intellectual heritage developed from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and subsequently contributed to the formation of Farabian studies as a distinct field of scholarship. Research on al-Farabi’s legacy in Kazakhstan also developed throughout the twentieth century and passed through several historical stages. However, only part of the thinker’s more than 200 known treatises has been studied comprehensively. In particular, the study of his religious works based on their original texts and the comprehensive examination of the relationship between religion, philosophy and politics remain important areas of research.

The significance of the research lies in studying al-Farabi’s religious thought not only through existing translations and interpretations, but directly through Arabic manuscript sources. Manuscripts of Kitab al-Milla are preserved in the Library of Leiden University in the Netherlands and in manuscript collections in Cairo, while versions of Al-‘Ilm al-Ilahi are held in archival collections in Türkiye and Egypt. Some previously published translations do not provide sufficient information about the specific manuscripts used as their sources, creating a need for further textual verification and comparative analysis.

As part of the project, the researchers will collect, compare, systematize and scientifically describe manuscript versions of al-Farabi’s religious works from foreign archives and manuscript collections. Codicological, palaeographical and source-critical analyses will be conducted, alongside the preparation of detailed bibliographic descriptions. This work will help systematize original sources related to al-Farabi’s heritage and expand the documentary foundation of Farabian studies in Kazakhstan.

One of the key features of the project is the direct translation of Kitab al-Milla and Al-‘Ilm al-Ilahi from the original Arabic into Kazakh. The new translations will be published together with the manuscript materials and introduced into scholarly circulation, giving researchers an opportunity to work directly with the source texts of al-Farabi’s works. This will help clarify linguistic, textual and semantic differences that may have occurred in earlier translations.

The research will go beyond translation. The scholars will conduct an interdisciplinary study of the relationship between religion and politics and between religion and philosophy, bringing together approaches from philosophy, religious studies, political science and Oriental studies. Particular attention will be given to al-Farabi’s understanding of the role of religion within civic science, its relationship with political science, and his metaphysical and social ideas.

The scientific novelty of the project lies in translating two of al-Farabi’s religious treatises directly from the original Arabic into Kazakh and conducting a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis within a contemporary scholarly paradigm. The research will provide an opportunity to examine the thinker’s religious, political and philosophical ideas from new perspectives and explore their connections with Turkic intellectual traditions, complementing existing approaches to the study of al-Farabi’s legacy.

The project brings together specialists in Farabian studies, Arabic studies, political science, religious studies and philosophy. Members of the research team have experience working with medieval Arabic manuscripts and have previously conducted research on al-Farabi’s intellectual heritage. The interdisciplinary nature of the project will strengthen connections between source studies, Oriental studies, political science, religious studies and philosophy.

The researchers will apply documentary analysis, source criticism, palaeography, codicology and bibliography, as well as philosophical-logical and social research methods. Direct work with original manuscripts will allow the researchers to clarify textual characteristics and meanings and establish a basis for a new scholarly interpretation of al-Farabi’s religious and political thought.

The project is expected to result in new Kazakh translations of the two religious treatises, a monograph and a series of scholarly publications. It will also contribute to expanding manuscript collections, introducing new sources into academic circulation and training young researchers in the field.

The project is planned for 2025–2027. Its results will contribute to the development of Farabian studies in Kazakhstan, promote deeper research into al-Farabi’s heritage based on original sources, and support the broader dissemination of his scientific and philosophical legacy. The collection, systematization and translation of manuscripts from international repositories will also strengthen the source base for the study of al-Farabi’s heritage in Kazakhstan.