Criteria of the Distinction Between Necessary and Contingent in the Classification of Entities in Farabi's View

It is said that Farabi –like Avicenna- has classified the entities into two parts. In this classification which is based on the causality, all the entities -except God that is the single necessary by itself- are contingent by itself and necessary by means of the others. In spite of classifying the entities into necessary and contingent, in many of Farabi's works the criteria of distinction and consequently examples of these parts are different with Avicenna’s classification. From Farabi’s Sharh Al-Ibarah, two kinds of classifications are identified. The criterion of classification in one of them is actuality and in other is eternity. In both, non-materials are considered as necessary and materials are contingent. However, Farabi’s view is different in other works. In some of them nothingness is the separate characteristic of contingents and God is out of classification. In other works, this classification is exactly according to the Avicenna’s system.