İhvân-ı Safâ’da Sanatın Ahlaki Boyutları: Müzik Üzerine Bir İnceleme
AL-IKHWĀN AL-ṢAFĀʾ ON THE ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF ART: AN ANALYSIS ON MUSIC
Yazar: Kılıç, Muhammet Fatih
Dergi: Bilimname, Vol. 2018 No. 36, 2018
Anahtar kelimeler: Islamic philosophy,the al-Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ,music,aesthetics,ethics ; İslam felsefesi,İhvân-ı Safâ,müzik,estetik,etik

Bu çalışma, IV/X. asırda Basra ve civarında birfelsefe topluluğu olarak yaşamış olan İhvân-ı Safâ’nın felsefesinde etik ve estetik arasındakibütünlük ilişkisini müzik sanatı üzerinden ortaya koymayı amaçlar. Bu amaçdoğrultusunda makalede öncelikle, müziği diğer sanatlardan farklı kılanözellikleri, müziğin kaynak ve gaye bakımından hikmetle olan ilişkisi, müziğin,İhvân’ın hakikate ulaşmanın temel yolu olarak gördüğü matematiğe dayalı zeminive tanrısal sanatın doğrudan eseri olan semavi varlıklarla irtibatı elealınmıştır. İhvân’ın müziğe yüklediği bu metafizik anlam ve boyutlar, onlarındüşüncesinde, söz konusu sanatı metafiziğe açılan bir kapı hâline getirmektedir.Böylece müzik, bu sanatla meşgul olan kimselere söz konusu metafizikhakikatlerin gerekli kıldığı belirli ahlaki erdemler kazandırmaktadır. Metafizikhakikatlerin ahlaki sonuçlar doğurması fikrinin İhvân düşüncesindeki enbelirgin anlamı, sanatın insanı Yüce Sanatkâra benzemeye çalışmaya sevk etmesişeklinde ifade edilebilir. İhvân, metafizik bir çerçevede etikle estetikarasında kurduğu bu ilişkiyi, müziğin insan üzerindeki psiko-fizyolojiketkilerinin birtakım ahlaki sonuçlar doğurduğunu açıklayarak farklı bir düzlemdesürdürür. Bu açıklamasında İhvân, Galenci tıp geleneğine dayanan insandaki dörtsıvı karışım (ahlât-ı erba‘a) teorisini müziğe uygular. Buna göre udenstrümanındaki tellerin çıkardığı sesler, dört karışımın oranlarına etki ederekinsanda cesaret, cömertlik, iffet ve yumuşak huyluluk gibi birtakım kalıcıahlaki erdemler meydana getirmektedir. Bu düşüncesiyle İhvân, müzik üzerindengeliştirdiği etik ve estetik arasındaki bütünlük ilişkisini, metafizik birçerçevenin yanı sıra fizik bir zeminde de kurmuş olur.

Since Ancient Geekphilosophy, one of the most fundamental problems of the aesthetics has been therelationship between ethics and aesthetics. At the beginning of the questionsthat determine the nature of this relationship is the question of whether anobject which is subjected to the judgment of beauty should have an ethicallyrelated content. Until modern times, this question has been answered to thepoint that, an object which is subjected to the judgment of beauty must alsobear an ethical value. This answer states that in order to qualify an object orthing as beautiful in aesthetic sense, it should be connected to the good inethical sense. From Ancient Greek philosophy to Islamic thought, we can clearlysee the ideas and theories about this close relationship between ethics andaesthetics. This study aims to revealthe integrity between ethics and aesthetics in the philosophy of the al-Ikhwānal-Ṣafāʾ, a group of philosophers living inBasra and its environs during 4th/10th century, throughthe art of music. For this purpose, it is discussed in this article how musicinfluences on human morality in their philosophy.The relationship between music and morality could beestablished in two ways in the philosophy of the al-Ikhwān: metaphysical andphysical ways. When they connect music to metaphysics, they argue that music isa door to metaphysics, unlike the other arts. They refer to the strong effect ofmusic in the human soul when they compare it with the other arts. As an auditory art, music has a richness of meaning thattranscends the boundaries of the physical world and language. Through the senseof sight, one knows only what is at his side, but through the sense of hearing hemay know the metaphysical truths that transcend time-space dimensions. As an art based on the sense of hearing, music canconvey metaphysical truths to the audience differently from the other artsbased on the sense of sight. Accordingly, music is a door for humans to direct themto the metaphysical truths and to enrich their morality.The al-Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ assert that music has a divineand prophetic sources. These sources render it in relation to the wisdom. This thought about the source of the music alsoprovides an explanation of the legitimacy of music. In order to emphasize thisground of legitimacy, they give some examples of usage of music used duringreligious rituals. They also argue that music in these rituals enriches human’smorality.Another dimension as a metaphysical level for therelation between music and ethics in the philosophy of the al-Ikhwān is the mathematicalbasis of music. Accordingto them, mathematics is the first path to the discovery of divine wisdom. This is because God has created the world in a harmonywith the supreme proportions that describe the specific relation between theworld and the numbers. Music is an art that is located in mathematics and thatthese supreme proportions could be obviously seen. Accordingly, music presentsdefinitively the truth, divine wisdom and secrets.The al-Ikhwān arguethat music is similar and harmonious with the sounds that emerge from themovements of stars and planets. The happiness in the celestial world wherethere is no generation and corruption is reproduced by the artist in the worldof generation and corruption through music. Thus,music increases the desire to rise to the celestial world. This desire is described by the al-Ikhwān as trying to resemble to God. Thisdescription demonstrate that they evaluate the nature of music in ametaphysical context. Consequently, performing music, according to them, createsa result that redirects the human to the metaphysics. Thismetaphysical redirection does not only have a theoretical dimension in thesense that one acquires knowledge of the truth, but also has a practicalcontent in the act of human in the sense of the resemblance to God. This practical content concerns the moral developmentof a person.Regarding the relation between music and morality, theal-Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ offer a physics-based explanation in addition to thesemetaphysical bases. They argue that music creates psycho-physiological effectson humans and that the melodies coming out of the strings of the lute influencethe four elements; blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm in the human body.The background of this explication is the Hippocratic-Galician medical theory,which has become widespread in the Islamic world since the ninth century. Withinthis theory, they reveal that music influences the physical and psychologicalstates of human and that it can create permanent moral virtues such as courage,generosity, chastity, and mercifulness.