This certainly seems to be referencing the belief that those who do not share one’s religion are doomed. Many people believe, as it does say this in a lot of scripture throughout various religions, that people who sin or do not follow said religion will go to hell, or will end up in a bad place during their afterlife. This is one of the things that makes religion so powerful; people become fearful of what may occur in the afterlife if they neglect God and their purpose for him. Whether or not God is real, fear of the afterlife is definitely a reason that people are driven to believe in and follow the indoctrinations of religion. Al Farabi absolutely needed to include this as a crucial element of religion.

Again, a religion also determines what a non-virtuous city looks like.

This again ties back to the emphasis on looking back on history and recognizing what comes from where; al Kindi makes commentary about this.

Religion also includes stories of leaders who have done right. An example in Christian scripture of this might be the disciples. These men would be considered righteous men in the Christian religion whose actions were aligned with what Christians believe to be the “the truth.”

Religions also specify exactly what is evil or negative about depraved kings and profligate rulers, often through parables and stories, like the story of Moses. I would presume that the king from that story would be deemed a profligate ruler, and Bible scripture in the Old Testament is one example in which religion specifies evil actions and how those things can be propagated onto entire cities and nations. The souls of these rulers also is somewhat passed down to the souls of others that may continue this pattern, and this is one of the things that strays people away from the truth.

al Farabi moves on to discuss the anti-prophets and godless rulers; those who stray away from the truth, the “depraved kings” that lead communities the wrong way, in a way that does not follow those who existed in former times. Here, he is suggesting religions value tradition and a look back into the past, which he discusses later in the book.

Religion relates these prophets, rulers, and virtuous kings and highlights their commonalities. The good actions of these prophets, compelled by their connection to “the truth”, are highlighted by the truth. These prophets are followed or listened to by others in cities and nations, and religion validates-- or at the very least documents-- their prophecies.

Now al Farabi is beginning to talk about the second part of virtuous religious opinions: those about voluntary things. Voluntary things include the people who succeeded from the leaders of the truth. Prophets are those whose souls have been passed on from the original leader of the truth, but they are not God reincarnate.

Religion, of course, also aims to explain what happens during death. It considers the afterlife and what that entails, and al Farabi defines the afterlife as happiness for the good, the most virtuous or misery for the bad (the profligate). A profligate is someone who belongs in hell, a dissolute person. Religion offers the idea of a final judgement, which is an answer to the theoretical question “what happens when we die?”

It also defines prophecy, and how someone might go about sharing the word of God. Prophecy and revelation are two things commonly considered in religion; and the belief of the two comes from a belief in universal divine guidance, and that there is a general purpose for humans under God that needs to be conveyed in some way. Prophecy is how this message is conveyed.

Religion also provides opinions about how the human develops a soul, and intellect, and what that has to do with God. Religion absolutely sets humans apart from other animals, because of their souls and intellect, which supposedly makes us more divine. Is consciousness part of what makes humans more divine? Through al Farabi’s eyes, perhaps our ability to know that there is something greater than us, that there is a God, is what gives us greater intellect or a closer relation to God.

al Farabi, conversely, is describing the order of the Earth in relation to God.

According to al Farabi, religion also aims to make sense of the world and give it order. Interestingly, this is also the goal of ecology and biology: to organize and make sense of the world (but not in relation to God).

This reminds me of the story of Adam and Eve, who in Christian lore are the first man and woman to ever exist on Earth, created by God.

In this same vein, religion offers an opinion on how the human species came to be. All religions offer a version of how human life came to be and what the “primary sources” of being are. Reference could be made to reincarnation in that all matter can not be created and destroyed; there is some of the primary bodies in all other bodies thereafter. This creates a sense of unity among people in relation to God.

Religion also provides an explanation, or opinion, on how the world came to be. This could explain why trees grow, why the Earth looks the way it looks, etc. Essentially, al Farabi is stating that religion aims to explain why things are the way they are.

Spiritual beings, which may be a reference to angels,spirits, and ghosts is another theoretical thing that religion aims to explain, in relation to God. It also explains the purpose for these spiritual beings.

al Farabi introduces God as a theoretical concept. In other readings, references to the One, the beloved, and the Truth have all occurred in other Islamic texts, but here he is referring specifically to God, and reverence toward God is also present. “May He be exalted” is a phrase that follows God throughout the entire passage, suggesting utmost respect.

First, al Farabi discusses “theoretical things,” and later, when he is talking about virtuous kings and leaders, he is discussing the “voluntary things.” It’s interesting to note the word opinions instead of facts in virtuous religion. This suggests that al Farabi does not suggest people just accept any religion as fact, but rather sees religion as a sort of collection of opinions that aim to explain things that we otherwise can not explain. This is also a loop back to an earlier line in which al Farabi defines religion: “religion is opinions and actions, determined and restricted with stipulations and prescribed for a community by their first ruler, who seeks to obtain through their practicing it a specific purpose with respect to them or by means of them.”

When someone discovers (or fully realizes) God and all that comes with it, religion is essentially that. Here, al Farabi uses Revealer in a context that is not a direct translation to God. However, the fact that he used the same word to say that it occurs in humans as well may suggest that God is within all of us.

The second way certainly makes more sense to me than the first. They almost seem like the same thing.

Because of the phrase “may He be exalted” that follows “the Revealer”, I am led to believe that the Revealer is a synonym for God. So the virtuous ruler can also acquire “the truth” from a revelation and from God. This seems to mean that the first ruler could have received information directly from God, which is something that in Islam, and many other religions, is not common: “It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration or from behind a veil or by the sending of a Messenger to reveal with Allah's permission what Allah wills, for He is Most High Most Wise.” (Al-Shura, 51) Though a person may not be good enough to receive a response from God, the first ruler may have been, thus why they carry the knowledge of the truth.

The first ruler either has everything revealed to him, in which he discovers “the truth”.

The first ruler is who sets the opinion of virtuous religion.

The first and original ruler had a divine connection with God. Revelation is the divine or supernatural disclosure to humans of something relating to human existence or the world.