The Concept of the State in Ibn Taymiyyah's Political Thought

Abstract

Until the present time, the state has been one of the most important topics in political science and has been a central focus for thinkers and scholars in this field. Often, politics is understood as the study and analysis of the state. The state is considered as the most important political institution in society, it has several unique characteristics compared to other institutions in society. In an Islamic perspective, this significance is similar, as the formation and existence of political authority in society are essential requirement. Therefore, scholars and thinkers of Islamic thought, across various schools and sects, affirm that the existence of the state and political authority is one of the fundamental duties of Islam, and that it is even considered a part of and related to the core of the religion and its implementation

Ibn Taymiyyah, like many other scholars, emphasized the importance of this field and treated it as an integral part of religion in his writings. He argued that its system and foundations are based on religious texts (the Qur'an and the Sunnah). This indicates that politics is an inherent part of religion, and throughout Islamic history, up until 1924, it was seen as intertwined with both political and spiritual life. Ibn Taymiyyah argued that the establishment of the state was necessary from both rational and religious perspectives, asserting that it is a fundamental requirement for even the smallest human gatherings, extending to the highest levels in the formation and establishment of the state hierarchy.