AL-FĀRĀBĪ’S CONCEPTION OF POLITICAL LEADERSHIP: GUIDING THE EXCELLENT CITY TO FELICITY

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 12 Sayı: 4, 61 - 69, 31.10.2025

Murat Poyraz

Öz

This study aims to succinctly explore Abū Nasr al-Fārābī’s conception of political leadership with particular attention to his three key works addressing this subject. Al-Fārābī is among the earliest thinkers in Islamic intellectual history to place significant emphasis on political leadership and to offer a distinct account of it. Although he lived in a pre-modern period before the emergence of the modern nation-state and the institutionalization of domestic political systems, he envisioned an ideal political community – the excellent city (al-madīna al-fāḍila) – led either by a perfect leader or, in his absence, by an individual or a group of individuals who collectively possess the necessary qualities for rulership. These leaders must embody both innate and acquired virtues that enable them to guide the citizens of the excellent city toward felicity (al-saʿāda), which is defined as the highest human perfection. The article examines al-Fārābī’s understanding of felicity, the qualifications for rulership, and the ideal execution of political leadership. It argues that while al-Fārābī’s views on political leadership are highly idealistic and even utopian by contemporary standards, they nonetheless offer a distinctive synthesis of Islamic principles and Greek philosophical thought.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Al-Fārābī , Political Leadership , Collegial Leadership , Felicity

Kaynakça

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