IBN AL-MUQAFFA: POLITICAL AND LEGAL THEORIST AND REFORMER

مرکز و کتابخانه مطالعات اسلامی به زبان های اروپایی

منو

" IBN AL-MUQAFFA: POLITICAL AND LEGAL THEORIST AND REFORMER "
Gerald Edward Lampe, Jr.

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Language of Document	:	English
Record Number	:	39626
Doc. No	:	TL13070
Call number	:	‭8716626‬
Main Entry	:	Gerald Edward Lampe, Jr.
Title & Author	:	IBN AL-MUQAFFA: POLITICAL AND LEGAL THEORIST AND REFORMER\ Gerald Edward Lampe, Jr.
College	:	The Johns Hopkins University
Date	:	1987
Degree	:	Ph.D.
student score	:	1987
Page No	:	141-141 p.
Abstract	:	Few people know about Ibn al-Muqaffa' in the West although he was one of the most interesting and controversial figuures in Arab and Islamic history and was a political thinker of the calibre of Ibn Khaldun and Machiavelli. In the Arab world, he is known primarily as a litterateur whose books are used to teach good moral behavior, and he is credited with having been the first person to compose major works in Arabic prose. Controversy surrounding Ibn al-Muqaffa' focused on two accusations: that he was a heretic and one who disparaged the Arabs and their culture and civilization. The fact is that most of the negative claims made about Ibn al-Muqaffa''s thoughts and actions were almost always based on conjecture and innuendo. His own writings reveal something quite different: that it is unlikely that he was either a heretic or one who disparaged the Arabs but rather an outspoken critic of the society in which he lived who believed in the powers of human reason and had a keen interest in politics and a strong desire to reform the ruler and his subjects. His major political work, the Risala fial-Sahaba has been translated here for the first time into English. In it he presents a whole set of proposals and reflections which cover all of the institutions of Abbasid society. His chief objective is to secure an enduring Abbasid state through institutional reform, and his basic thesis is that all government institutions, religion and law should be made uniform and subordinated to the direct authority of the Caliph. The Risala is a work of major historical importance, for it contains insights and details about the changes which were taking place in the structure of Abbasid society. It sheds light on the early development of some of the Middle East's age-old antagonisms. Ibn al-Muqaffa' foresees the coming of the feudal system, and many of his proposals for reform are implemented in later centuries. The Risala may be regarded as a major contribution to the development of Islamic political and legal theory, for it contains important information about the formative period of Islamic law and the thinking of this period. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)
Subject	:	Social sciences; Middle Eastern history; 0333:Middle Eastern history
Added Entry	:	The Johns Hopkins University