A Critique of Rosenthal's View about Political Philosophy in Islam

The present essay is centered on criticizing E. Rosenthal’s view about political philosophy in Islam. Rosenthal’s main concern is to understand and explain the relationship between Islamic political philosophy and Greek and Islamic doctrines. Rosenthal sees that although Islamic political philosophy is influenced by both Greek and Islamic doctrines, there is no agreement and harmany between Greek doctrines and Islamic doctrines at all and so a Muslim political philosopher cannot be influenced by the doctrines which are not in harmony with religious principles because of his being a devout Muslim. Therefore, the main problem of Rosenthal’s way of thinking is that his understanding of Greek doctrines is wider than his understanding of Islam and Islamic doctrines. Influenced by modern western approaches, he introduces a picture of Muslim and Greek political philosophers that does not correspond with their original texts and doctrines.