The Introduction of Greek Philosophy in the Muslim World
Greek or to be precise Hellenistic philosophy came into the Muslim world by way of Syriac. At Haran, in northern Iraq, a philosophical school kept versions of the Hellenistic philosophical heritage intact in either the original Greek or in Syriac translations. In the time of the Abbasid rule, that fertile period, in which the Greek heritage was being translated into Arabic. The Caliph at first was interested to see what sciences there were there, then works on civil administration, then to ethical works, if any then it was all works. So it was no surprise that there was a vigorous effort to translate all the works (ca. 754-833).
 At first, some of the translations were not from good original copies but as the demand for the philosophical literature was up more and better copies were found. Interestingly however, some important works never made it into Arabic for example the politics of Aristotle (c.f. Aristu) was never found. Also among the bad copies/translations was Aristotle's poetics. To make matters even worst, some of Plotinus' Enneads (available online c.f. Enneads) would be translated under the title of the “Theology of Aristotle”, so the Muslims had a skewed if not a contradictory view of Aristotle. Some writers questioned its attribution to Aristotle but no one could research this further. One of those who strongly apposed the view that the “Theology” was a work of Aristotle is Averroes (d. 1198). As Greek was not one of the languages that many Arabic speaking Muslims learned. The perceived superiority of the Arabic language deterred many from learning or writing in any other language.
 The spread of Hellenistic philosophy in the Muslim world would be first expounded on by the first Arabic philosopher al-Kindi (ca.800-865). He wrote many works on Greek science and philosophy. He laid the foundation for others to follow in studying philosophical works. His main contribution was the firm conviction that Greek heritage contained important truths that Muslims could not afford to overlook. As a mathematician he realized the importance of Aristotelian Logic, However, al-Kindi found Aristotelian metaphysics contradictory; that Aristotle did not offer valid logical support to the issue of the eternity of the world.
 Al-Kindi in his mathematical philosophy presented an argument that actual infinity is self-canceling. Also in his philosophy of nature he showed that matter, motion, and time as closely related concepts (this is an advanced worked comparing it with the knowledge of the middle ages.) Since matter cannot be eternal, and cannot generate its existence (c.f. essence and generation argument) then its motion and time are not eternal too. Al-Kindi was the first Muslim philosopher to note clearly that the metaphysics of the Greek philosophers is first self contradictory, and second it contradict the Islamic belief. He also gave a religious basis for studying these fields.
 Al-Kindi would prove to be the most difficult Islamic thinker to study which explains the dearth of works on him. This is due to a variety of reasons some of which is that he was a scientist, philosopher of science, a rigorous mathematician and a man of letters with a high command of Arabic. One who is not well versed in all of these topics in addition to a solid grasp of scientific Arabic would not be able to fully appreciate al-Kindi nor his contributions.
 Then it would be up to al-Farabi (870-950) [who served in the Hamdanid court in Aleppo, northern Syria.] that would formulate philosophy in a manner that would be palatable to Muslim tastes. His efforts would be aimed at expounding philosophy in Islamic terms. It is worthwhile to note that in his lifetime he was not a noted figure in field. Actually, Avicenna is the one that popularized his writings. He became known as the Second teacher (after Aristotle). He also laid an important groundwork in every major field of philosophy and most importantly political philosophy. He would be the credited with the popularizing neo-Platonism in the 