The Birth and Evolution of Islamic Political TheoryPolitical Rationalism from Ibn al-Muqaffa to Ibn Khaldun

Offers provocative re-readings of five political rationalists in Islamic political thought between the eighth and the fifteenth century

• The first book about Islamic thought that studies political rationalists exclusively
• Demonstrates that power-oriented political thinking (that is, Islamic political theory) exists as an aspect of Islamic history, and should be analysed as distinct from the religious view of politics and Islamic political philosophy
• Challenges the problems caused by the use of theological-philosophical rationality in the study of Islamic political thought, and proposes the use of political rationality as the appropriate conceptualisation
• Combines political history and intellectual history of Muslim societies
• Provides a history of the evolution of political rationality in Islamic history
• Based on the primary works of classical names like Ibn al-Muqaffa and al-Mawardi

The literature on Islamic political thought utilises a methodology whose typical characteristic is the arbitrary use of religious, philosophical and political perspectives, as if the differences among them have no effect. This amounts to the theologising or philosophising of works of Islamic political theory – written as responses to social, economic and political dynamics – as if they were written as general theoretical formulations of religion or political philosophy.

To overcome this problem, The Birth and Evolution of Islamic Political Theory first categorises Islamic political thought as three distinct group categories: the religious view of politics, Islamic political philosophy, and Islamic political theory. In turn, Islamic political theory is defined as the intention to explain and justify politics by invoking social, economic, and political dynamics completely or partially independently of religious and philosophical norms. These dynamics are illustrated by the study of five political rationalists: Ibn al-Muqaffa, al-Mawardi, Nizam al-Mulk, Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Khaldun.