SİYASAL DÜŞÜNCE

Avicenna is considered to be a descendant of Al- farabi as he continued the Neoplatoic emanationist scheme of existence. In contrast with the classical Muslim theologians, he rejected creation ex nihilo and argued that cosmos has no beginning but is a natural logical product of the divine One; which would later be attacked by Al-Ghazâlî. The super- abundant, pure Good- i.e. the One cannot fail to produce an ordered and good cosmos that does not succeed him in time. The cosmos succeeds God merely in logical order and in existence.

In political thought, as well as in metaphysics, Avicenna followed the path built by his predecessor, Al-Fârâbî. For Al-Fârâbî, the conditions for ideal rule are mostly related with the functions of the soul and the intellect. Avicenna thoroughly studied the soul in its totality and in all its functions, whether rational, animal, or vegetative. He charted the operations of all the senses in detail, including the five external senses and especially the five internal senses located in the brain-namely, common sense, imagery (where the forms of things are stored), imagination, estimation (judging/guessing the imperceptible significance or connotations for us of sensed objects, like friendship and enmity, which also includes instinctive sensing), and memory-and how they could help or prevent or slow down the intellect in finding out the middle term and perceiving intelligibles more generally.

The political writings of Al-Mâwardi may be seen as the sum of two distinct styles: 1. The format focusing on the individual ruler as a social figure, as well as his ideal characteristics and lessons learned from the preceding generations, the “Mirrors for Princes” format, which has an important role in the advising tradition in Islam (nasîhatnâmah); 2. The format in which the theory of the caliphate (imâmah) is put forward, which is more complicated in structure and focused on issues of government. Within the context of the first style, it is convenient to count The Advice to Kings (Nasîhat Al-Muluk); and within the second,Al-Ahkâm As-Sultâniyyah.

Al-Ahkâm As-Sultâniyyah is a work in which Al-Mâwardi theoretically and legally positioned the imâmah and the status of the caliph again within the boundaries of the shari‘ah. It had set limits for the power of the caliph, too, via strict requirements and demands for religious and secular accountability; and this really had been extraordinary given the circumstances of the place and time Al-Mâwardi had lived.

The foundations of politics had largely been seen as ethical, especially under the code of Islamic Law (shari‘ah), since the Ancient Greek legacy were being transferred to the Islamic intellectual background. However, the uprise of theology in the 11th century, and major attacks on the philosophical legacy of Al-Fârâbî and Avicenna as “Philosophers” and accusations of heresy by the Ash‘arite theologians-especially by Abu Hamid Muhammad Al-Ghazâlî, had the strongest reaction from Ibn Rushd (Averroës) of Cordoba, Andalus in the 12th century.

The characteristics that should be possessed by the ruler/Imam/Caliph, or by the philosopher-king, on Averroës’ view, are as follows:

1. Love of knowledge and the aptitude to acquire theoretical sciences and teach them,

2. Good retention-as a prerequisite for learning,

3. Love of learning,

4. Love of truth and hatred of falsehood,

5. Contempt for sensual pleasures,

6. Aversion to amassing wealth (as well as desire for wealth),

7. Magnanimity,

8. Courage,

9. Resolve to pursue on his own for what is good or beautiful,

10. Eloquence/facility in expressing thoughts,

11. Ability to light quickly on the middle term

Coming to the relation between ethics and politics, Averroës evaluates these two as two parts of the same science. The state, on his view, was the ground which provided the necessary conditions for pursuing a good life. In order to make room for the good of everyone, the ruler had to inculcate virtue in the souls of citizens; and for performing this duty, according to Averroës, the ruler has two choices as he had thoroughly elaborated in Fasl al-Maqâl: 1. Persuasion, 2. Coercion.

Ibn Khaldûn’s thought was organized in his magnum opus, namely, The Muqaddimah. It is known to us through his Muqaddimah and his autobiography-namely Et-Tâ’rîf (bî-Ibn Khaldun Wa Rıhletûhu Garban ve Sharkan) that Ibn Khaldûn’s level of education, motivation for further learning, as well as his intellectual capabilities, are really high. When his experience as a diplomat, jurist, advisor and vizier for more than 40 years is added to the equation, the sum is a multidirectional analysis of utmost significance, which transcends his lifetime and gives rise to a philosophical evaluation of history-both as a discipline, and as a realm of existence.

It could be argued that a majority of the literature on political philosophy in the Islamic world is based on the relations between ethics and politics, as well as idealized criteria for rulers- e.g. philosopher and/or prophet-kings (modelled on the personality of Muhammad the prophet).

Al-Farabi argues that ultimate happiness is a state associated with afterlife but this ultimate happiness is attained by active intellect – thinking and reasoning.

Avicenna believes that the prophet acquires knowledge but this acquisition “is not an uncritical reception [of this knowledge] merely on authority, but rather occurs in an order which includes the middle terms (reasoning). For beliefs accepted on authority concerning those things which are known only through their causes possess no intellectual certainty.

Those who elect the caliph must possess all of the qualities given in I to III.

Al-Mawardi lists all of the above except (a) as qualities a caliph-to-be must possess.

A caliph should not have a desire for wealth.

All except (a) are in agreement with Averroes’ beliefs.

Ibn Khaldûn argues that “what is subject to life span is the sedentary culture as the product of ‘umrân, rather than ‘umrân itself."

In The Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldûn states that “development could not be provided without justice” and that wealth, which is necessary for the survival of people, cannot be acquired in the absence of development.

In The Muqaddimah, one of the meanings ‘umrân includes is “to be settled with, as humans and animals with regard to the place itself.”