Political Thought in the Mamluk Period: The Unnecessary Caliphate

Description

Political Thought in the Mamluk Period covers the political thought produced by legal theorists, jurists, judges and administrators of the late Ayyubid and early Mamluk period as they tackled a central question: how best to govern their communities. It proposes a taxonomy of the main themes and concerns of this political thought under the three ideals of the rule of law, limited government and legitimate delegation of power. Further, it recommends a contextualist approach for interpreting Islamic political texts based on their narrow social, intellectual and political contexts. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Reading Islamic Political Thought 2 Ibn Jamaʿa’s Synthesis and Praxis of Shafiʿi Political Thought 3 Sufi Political Thought 4 The Late Ayyubid and Early Mamluk Context: Ibn Talha and al-­Qarafi 5 Mamluk Historiography as a Form of Political Thought Bibliography Index