Nizam al-Mulk: Islamic Political Theory in the Age of States

This chapter studies Nizam al-Mulk’s opinions on politics in a detailed analysis of his Siyasatnama. Methodologically, as in the previous chapters, Nizam al-Mulk’s opinions are analyzed in connection with the political dynamics of the age, particularly the consolidation of the Saljuqi state/sultanate. In so doing, the chapter illustrates how politics is explained and justified in Siyasatnama in terms of political power, and religion is treated at best as a secondary reference. Nizam al-Mulk’s Siyasatnama symbolizes an apex in the evolution of statehood in Islamic history, which has its origins in the reign of Mu’awiya. That evolution culminated with the Saljuqis, and Siyasatnama is a testimony of the victory of political rationalism over theological-philosophical rationalism.