Ancient Greek Philosophy and the Islamic Tradition : The Origins of Social Life, Diversity, and Political Authority

Abstract

The interplay between a naturalistic understanding of social origins and the vision of the ruler as God’s representative on earth is a major aspect of medieval and early modern Islamic political discourse. The ancient Greek tradition had a formative influence on Islamic meditation regarding the origins of human society, the role of government, justice, and the qualities of the good ruler. The aim of this article is to revisit the impact of the Greek legacy on various theories about the emergence of human society and political authority that were propounded medieval Islamic authors. In the first section of this article, I review the reception of ancient Greek sources in the Islamic world and reconsider their influence on subsequent debates about the nature and foundation of human society, especially during the ‘Abbāsid era. I will focus on Plato, Bryson, Themistius, and Nemesius, who depict human society as the corollary of human frailty and the need to procure the necessities of life. These authors articulate a naturalistic explanation of the origins of organized human society which reverberates in the philosophical and administrative literature of the ‘Abbāsid period. In addition, I will show how Qudāma B. Ja‘far and al-Fārābī facilitated the dissemination of Greek political ideas in the Islamic world and coupled Themistius’ rationale about communal association with the notion that rulership is related to a divine mandate for the sake of upholding social harmony. I will also demonstrate how these ideas reached their culmination in al-Ghazālī, who embraces a naturalistic approach to the creation of human society while proclaiming the ruler to be God’s shadow on earth in charge of maintaining order and implementing the ordinances of the sharī‘a.