Personality and Politics: Nehcü’s-Sülûk fî Siyaseti’l-Mülûk as an Example of Leader Centrality in Islamic Political Thought

Abstract

One of the levels of analysis used in Political Science studies is the individual. Analyzes at the individual level are carried out based on the personality of the political decision-makers, and in this direction, the individual characteristics of the decision-makers are the main factor taken into account in interpreting the quality of politics. This is also valid in the political books that constitute the main source of Islamic political thought. There is a leader-centered political narrative in the policy books written for state administrators. In these works, the issues of which personal characteristics a leader should have and which behaviors should be avoided are especially discussed. A vision is built around these personal characteristics, from the ideal leader to the ideal politics. In this context, the ruler who is the chief executive of politics is not only an actor to whom advice is given but also the main element in politics. Therefore, examining the emphasis on the personal characteristics of the ruler in Islamic political thought becomes important in interpreting the leader-centered political narrative. In this context, in this study, it is aimed to examine the leader-centered political conception in Islamic political thought within the framework of Ebü’n-Necîb Şeyzerî’s Nehcü’s-Sülûk fî Siyaseti’l-Mülûk. The method of discourse analysis was used in the study and it was concluded that the personality of the leader, who is accepted as the founding element of the state and politics in Islamic political thought, directs politics and that the way to reach the ideal politics is to build the ideal leader.