In fact...

In fact, they sought, with the aid of Islam and Greek philosophy, to work out a spiritual doctrine which would take the place of the historical religions and which would, at the same time, suit everyone and insult nobody. As far as we can gather from the “Epistles,” the Ikhwan al‑Safa had no political programme. It seems, however, that some of their followers had pressed for political action to take the reins of government into their hands.

The Ikhwan al‑Safa themselves, the magnates among them, were not of this opinion; they reiterated in this connection that their sole aim was to uphold the faith and attain the bliss in the hereafter.

In the meantime they tried to acquire knowledge and be versed in theoretical sciences.[^12] They declared, further, that they intended to build up a spiritual city, a Utopia, which was not of this world, neither on the continent; nor on the high seas, nor in the air.[^13] The sections, in the “Epistles,” referring to daulatu ahl al‑khairi and daulatu ahl al‑sharri (literally, the State of the people of good and the State of the people of evil) contain only a brief and general discussion on, the terms of governments or dynasties and on their succession.[^14] The Ikhwan al‑Safa referred once[^15] to the coming of daulatu ahl al‑khairi ; but they meant simply “the time when the adherents to their group would form the bulk of the nation.” System and Theories 1.

Classification of the Sciences Sciences may be classified in different ways. The Ikhwan al‑Safa mentioned a few classifications and adopted that which divided all branches of knowledge roughly into three major classes:[^16] mathematics, physics, and metaphysics, a classification which was current since Aristotle's days.

Mathematics included, in the “Epistle,” the theory of numbers, geometry, astronomy, geography, music, theoretical and practical arts, ethics, and logic.[^17] Physics included matter, form, motion, time, space, the sky, generation, corruption, minerals, the essence of nature, plants, animals, the human body, the senses, life and death, microcosm, pleasure, pain, and language.[^18] Metaphysics was subdivided, as should be expected, into psycho‑rationalism and theology.