Transformations and Constraints of Islamic Political Thought in the 7th Century AH / 13th Century CE: A Critical Comparative Study with the Western Political Experience

Abstract

This research explores the transformations of Islamic political thought in the seventh century AH within the broader political and social realities of the Islamic world, while critically comparing them to Western political theories of the thirteenth century CE. It highlights the consolidation of the view that the imamate could be established through conquest and the diminishing emphasis on Quraysh lineage, alongside Thomas Aquinas’s emerging theory in Europe, which sought to codify political authority and resist despotism. The study also examines the constraints on Islamic political thought, including structural limitations rooted in the relationship between jurists and rulers, the decline of consultation (shura), and the absence of mechanisms for its institutionalization—contrasting with England’s early parliamentary developments and the Magna Carta. Epistemologically, Islamic thought faced challenges from the waning role of philosophy and jurisprudential methodologies that neglected texts and historical precedents of advanced political practice. Together, these factors reveal both the internal pressures and external contrasts shaping the trajectory of Islamic political thought in this period.