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 pro...