The Question of Just Ruling in Siyasatnamas: Ethical Argument and Self-interest Argument

This study analyzes Siyasatnama tradition in Sunni political thought in terms of exploring the problem of just ruling. In the relevant literature, the dominant approach considers Siyasatnamas as ethical advice in general and regards them as ineffective against an unjust ruler who has no ethical concern. This study criticizes this dominant view by claiming that in addition to the religious/ethical argument to promote a just rule, the Siyasatnama tradition develops a second argument designed specifically for an unjust ruler who ignores ethical advice. This second argument is ignored by the dominant position about the Siyasatnama tradition. I have called it self-interest argument in this study. An unjust ruler's self-interest is to maintain, empower, and hand down his power to his descendants. The self-interest argument tries to convince a ruler who dismisses ethical advice to adopt just ruling by revealing that even for an unjust ruler the best strategy is just ruling to reach for his worldly aims.