Ikhwan-al-safa and khollan-al-wafa are Islamic philosophers with scientific, religious and goals and viewpoints. Their epistemology is based on Greek philosophy and Islamic principles. According to their opinions, religion was facing corruption and despotism. So, the only way to reform was the Greek philosophy. In political aspect, considering decline, corruption and decentralization in Abbasid’s state or the Islamic empire disintegration, they were against them and tried to make an integrative system according to political values of Islam. So, the study of Ikhwanal-safa regarding the other movements and revolutionary groups, is more important. These unknown persons, except five, were writing and publishing some treatises about different subjects such as philosophy, ethics, politics and social knowledge in secret. These treatises are the first encyclopedia in the history of Islamic civilization.

Evolutionary theory contains two major ideas: common descent and natural selection. This theory goes back to mid-nineteenth century and Darwin. Some scholars have claimed that this theory had been given by Muslims such as Ikhwan al-Safa, Ibn Miskawayh, and Biruni. Among contemporary scholars who agree with this claim are Ebrahimzadeh, Motahari, and Azkaei. But there are scholars who disagree with this claim, among them are Nasr and Falatouri. Nasr says that those Muslims believed in "the great chain of being." And Falatouri says especifically about Biruni that he believed in some kind of gradual evolution, not a Darwinian one. In this paper we first explain these opinions. Then to clarify what is at stake, evolutionary theory and the great chain of being will be described. Criticisms and suggestions come next. We argue that because evolutinary theory was the result of gradual changes of the great chain of being, there is some truth in the ideas of the first camp. And because the great chain that those Muslims hold was of the type of that of Ibn Sina, there is also some truth in the ideas of the second camp. At last we claim that the great chain of the type that Mulla Sadra maintained is consistent with evolutionary theory.

Akhwan al-Sifa` that are amongst the thinkers of the fourth century have discussed “ love” in their literary works. In their writings “ love” possesses two different function; love in a general sense (feeling affection) and love in a particular sense (human love). In their views, enthusiasm for union is the best definition of love. The union resulted from love primarily emerges in the steamy soul and consequently in the body parts of the lover and beloved. Plant soul, animal soul, rational soul, cause and effect nature and nature of some of the animals are the primordium of different kinds of love. Love to commence stands in the need of conscious attention and the variability of people in love is due to their difference in nature or celestial status in the time of their genesis. According to them, will has a viable role in love. Love has a primary intention (e. g. satisfaction of a need) and a supreme intention which is attentiveness to God, divinity and feeling affection for them. Love is a virtue and is therefore plausible but in some cases it becomes a vice and implausible.

Islamic revolution of Iran has had numerous consequences internally, regionally and internationally including its impacts on Islamic movements and revival of the orientation toward Islam. The climax of this can be observed in the expansion of Islamic awakening waves in more than a year in some African and middle-eastern Islamic countries. Analyzing the process of formation, principles and actions of Ikhwan ul-Muslemin in Syria, this article tries to study and analyze Islamic revolution of Iran's impact on this movement.

The age of Ikhwan-al-Safa, was the age of introduction to and interaction of different cultures and civilizations with each other. Ikhwan-al-Ṣafa noticed this variety,as that in their mental system factors such as variety of climate conditions, difference of natural resources and wealth, method of exploitation of these resources, type of food, clothing and variety tendencies toward industries, moral variety of humans – that due to expectorant mater and health, effects of months and stars, way of education – and also difference of variety religions – as a effective factor in social order and relation and moral – and too variety of political system of relative to religions and difference of languages and words, different tendencies toward music and finally science, Cause distinction between different societies and creation of different cultures and civilizations. All of these factors are connected to each other and affect each other. In the course of these effects what is more influential is the religious system.

Tolerance is considered a salient characteristic feature of the thoughts and teachings of Ikhwan-al Safa va Khellan-al Vafa(Brethren of Purity), a group of Islamic scholars and mystics who lived around a thousand years ago during the flourishing years of Islamic civilization. Ikhwan’s tolerance has been studied by various researchers but the roots of this attitude and Ikhvan's open teaching of toleration towards other beliefs and practices, which appeared several centuries before the western counterparts, have been more or less neglected. This study seeks to delve into the roots and sources of this prominent feature of Ikhwan’s thoughts. After explaining the main tenets of this lesser–known school of thought, we make an attempt to find out the main sources and underlying currents of thought that led to Ikhwan’s amazing ideas about. The method used in this research is descriptive and textual interpretation.

The Islamic civilization in the 4th century hejri reached to its peak prosperity with flourishing scientific, philosophical and literary activities in the east of the Islamic World. One of the samples of this prosperity is the appearance of Ikhwan al-Safa, a secrect society of unknown philosophers in the cities of Basra and Baghdad. They believed that the Islamic principles must be combined with the Greek philosophy in order to purify Islam from ignorance and adulteration. They came up with a great encyclopedia that included 52 chapters and hence, explained their beliefs and teachings. Some times they used fiction to explain their beliefs. The story of the animals' litigation about human's tyranny is one such fiction that is included in the twenty second chapter. In this article, authors try to analyze the discourse of Ikhwan al-Safa in this story. The study shows that the discourse is a critical one that includes the layer of Abbasid era. There is rationalism, idealism, criticism of some of the social trends during Abbasid as well as political criticism of authoritative governance of that time.

Zoroastrianism, Zurvanism and Mithraism have been combined with astrological beliefs in such a way that it is nearly impossible to grasp these schools and religions without having knowledge about astrological beliefs. Ikhwan al-Safa, a mystical and esoteric association in tenth century in Basra and Baghdad, wrote 52 epistles full of religio-astrological beliefs and thoughts. For example their theory of Prophetic Cycles was developed to explain the cosmic cycles and the sacred history. Observing similarities between ancient Iranian religions and Ikhwan al-Safa and after surveying the religio-astrological elements of Iranian millenarianism (especially that of Zoroasterianism and Zurvanism) and Ikhwan al-Safa’s Prophetic Cycles, we decided to compare these two religious traditions. In the present research, by using scientific and historical references, we have tried to recognize and analyze the common roots of these beliefs and thoughts in the both traditions. The most significant achievement of this research is presenting a new method for comparison between the ancient Iranian concept of ontological levels and Ikhwan al-Safa’s concept of celestial souls. Moreover, by surveying the role of the archetypes of infinite Time and eternal Place in the immaterial and material world, we could make a comparison between Yazatas and Ameshaspentas of ancient Iranian religions and Ikhwan al-Safa’s concepts of Universal Reason, Universal Soul and Celestial Souls.

The identity and religion of Ikhwan-al Safa, which was a secret organization in the Islamic Middle Ages, is the subject of study by a large number of current scholars. Regarding the religion of Ikhwan-al-Safa, there are differences among scholars that have inevitably led them to different theories in explaining their religion. This article tries to evaluate the scientific validity of each prominent theories expressed in the explanation of the religion by descriptive-analytical method. In this article, while dealing with the identity of Ikhwan Al-Safa, the prominent theories that have been proposed by current scholars in explaining this religion, have been examined and criticized. Among the two theories of atheism and faith, the theory of atheism, was rejected and among the theories on their faith, the theories: Mu'tazilites, Ismailis, Imamis, Zaidis and Sufis were recognized as weak. However, the integrated theory, which seemed more appropriate, was recognized as an almost correct theory.

In treatises of Ikhwan al-Safa, after mentioning historical background of the discussion of emanation system, two theories are expressed on the mode of generation of multiple from the one. According to the first theory, vertical levels of emanation are as follows: God > active intellect >passive intellect (universal soul) >prime matter >absolute body (second matter). According to the second theory, there is a correspondence between vertical levels of emanation and the chain of numbers (from 1 to 9), and that vertical chain is as follows: God >intellect >soul >matter >nature >body of sphere >four-fold pillars and four-fold natures >three-fold produced things. The first theory indicates debts of Ikhwan al-Safa to Plotinus, and the second one containing logical order of expressing history of emanation system expounds their debt to Pythagoreans. Making some changes in theories of Plotinus and Pythagoreans, Ikhwan al-Safa accepted them. Between the first and the second theories of Ikhwan al-Safa there is similarity from some aspects and distinction from some others. Ikhwan al-Safa offered the first theory in order to indicate tolerance for and proximity to philosophers. Because of being endowed with mysterious language and correspondence between the chain of levels of emanation and the chain of numbers as well as some other evidence in Rasail Ikhwan al-Safa and Mujmal al-Hikmah, the second theory is to be considered the final theory of Ikhwan al-Safa.