al-Siyasa al-Shariyya fi Islah al-Rai wal-Raiyya
- Author died
- 728 AH
- Editions
- t Ataat al-Ilm · T al-Awqaf al-Saudiyya
al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya fi Islah al-Ra'i wal-Ra'iyya (Governance According to Islamic Law for the Rectification of the Ruler and the Ruled) is a treatise on Islamic political theory and governance by the Hanbali scholar Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE) . The book outlines the foundational principles of public administration, judicial authority, and social order grounded in the Quran and the Prophetic Sunna .
Background and Title
Ibn Taymiyya did not assign an explicit title in his introduction, referring to it simply as an abridged treatise containing comprehensive principles of divine governance and Prophetic guidance . The full title al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya fi Islah al-Ra'i wal-Ra'iyya was recorded by his student Ibn Abd al-Hadi and by al-Dhahabi, as well as in biographical dictionaries such as Kashf al-Zunun and Hadiyyat al-'Arifin . Variant titles appear in other sources and manuscripts, including al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya li-Islah al-Ra'i wal-Ra'iyya in Ibn Rushayyiq's list of the author's works, Jawami' min al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya fi Salah al-Ra'i wal-Ra'iyya in the primary manuscript, and simply al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya in the writings of Ibn Fadlallah al-'Umari .
According to a report cited by Ibn Rajab, Ibn Taymiyya composed the work over the course of a single night until morning in response to a request by the senior Mamluk commander Qays al-Mansuri during his encampment at Gaza, asking for an outline of public administration and the duties of rulers toward their subjects . While modern scholars previously assumed the treatise was written around 709 AH, the discovery of an extant manuscript copied in 705 AH established that it was completed prior to that date and before Ibn Taymiyya's departure to Egypt .
Structure and Contents
Unlike classical administrative manuals—such as al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya by al-Mawardi or Abu Ya'la al-Farra'—which systematically cover institutional details, Ibn Taymiyya framed his work around universal principles . The core framework is derived from two consecutive Quranic verses in Surat al-Nisa': the verse directing rulers to render trusts to their rightful recipients and judge justly ( إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تُؤَدُّوا الْأَمَانَاتِ إِلَى أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ أَنْ تَحْكُمُوا بِالْعَدْلِ ), and the subsequent verse directing subjects to obey God, the Messenger, and those in authority, while referring disputes back to God and His Messenger ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ ) .
The book is structured around two primary pillars:
- Discharging Trusts (Ada' al-Amanat): This pillar covers public appointments (al-wilayat) and public finance (al-amwal) . Ibn Taymiyya emphasizes that public offices must be granted to the most suitable candidates (al-aslah) rather than through nepotism or personal favor . Suitability is evaluated primarily by strength/competence (al-quwwa) and trustworthiness (al-amana), which vary depending on the post (e.g., military leadership versus financial administration or judicial office) . In public finance, he addresses state revenues—classified into spoils of war (ghanima), charitable levies (sadaqa), and non-combat revenues (fay')—and their lawful collection and disbursement .
- Ruling with Justice (al-Hukm bil-'Adl): This encompasses three main domains:
- Prescribed punishments (hudud) and general public rights, including highway robbery, theft, unlawful sexual intercourse, sodomy, alcohol consumption, slander, and discretionary penalties (ta'zirat) for offenses without fixed statutory limits .
- Specific personal rights and retributive justice (qisas) concerning homicide, physical injury, honor, and marital obligations .
- Financial adjudications, covering commercial honesty, the prohibition of fraud, and deceptive practices such as alchemy and sorcery .
The book concludes with chapters on mutual consultation (shura), the religious necessity of public authority to preserve people's faith and worldly well-being, and an analysis of human motives regarding power and corruption .
Reception, Commentaries, and Editions
During the Ottoman era, the scholar Pir Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-'Ashiq translated the treatise into Turkish under the title Mi'raj al-Iyalat wa-Minhaj al-'Adalat for Sultan Selim, adding extra sections regarding warfare and the public treasury (bayt al-mal) . In the nineteenth century, the Indian scholar Siddiq Hasan Khan personally transcribed an abridged manuscript of the work while in Mecca for his personal library . In modern scholarship, the French Orientalist Henri Laoust made Ibn Taymiyya's political and social doctrines, prominently featured in this work, the subject of his doctoral research at Paris .
The book has been the subject of modern commentary, notably by Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin under the title al-Ta'liq 'ala al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya . Its printed editions include a Cairo edition prepared by 'Ali Sami al-Nashshar and Ahmad Zaki 'Atiyya in 1951, an edition edited by Bashir Muhammad 'Uyun (1413 AH), and a critical edition based on the complete manuscript tradition edited by 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-'Umran .
Answer updated