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

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 theologizing or philosophizing 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 categorizes 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.

Gokhan Bacik teaches in the Department of Politics and European Studies at Palacky University, Czech Republic. His research interests the Middle East, Islam and politics. He is the author of Contemporary Rationalist Islam in Turkey (I.B. Tauris, 2021), Islam and Muslim Resistance to Modernity in Turkey (Palgrave, 2019) and Hybrid Sovereignty in the Arab Middle East (Palgrave, 2009). Bacik also published in leading scholarly journals such as the Middle East Policy, Middle Eastern Studies, the Muslim World, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Turkish Studies, Arab Studies Quarterly and Peace Review.

Gokhan Bacik teaches in the Department of Politics and European Studies at Palacky University, Czech Republic. His research interests the Middle East, Islam and politics. He is the author of Contemporary Rationalist Islam in Turkey (I.B. Tauris, 2021), Islam and Muslim Resistance to Modernity in Turkey (Palgrave, 2019) and Hybrid Sovereignty in the Arab Middle East (Palgrave, 2009). Bacik also published in leading scholarly journals such as the Middle East Policy, Middle Eastern Studies, the Muslim World, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Turkish Studies, Arab Studies Quarterly and Peace Review.