An investigation on the Transition of Muslim's Political Thought in the Medieval Islamic Era

Dispute over the succession of the Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) is prelude to scatter that reached a peak with the murder of Uthman and the civil war in Imam Ali’ period. Accordingly, the research issue consists of identifying the sects of political thought throughout the history of Islam, which have theorized about the governing. Questions: 1 - In terms of textual, which sects were in cluded in the thought of Muslims about the caliphate, were? 2- Considering the political - social conditions (external fields), what periods has passed the political thought in the Muslim world? Hypothesis: using the historical - analytical approach and by adopting Skinner's methodology, the Muslims political thought can be divided into two periods: traditional and modern. In terms of textual, three main groups were distinguished in the traditional period: A- Kharijites, B- Shiite and C- Sunni. From the perspective of context, four stages can be identified: A) the stage of theological disputes, B) the stage of the genesis of jurisprudence-theological schools, C) the stage of the consolidation of jurisprudence-theological schools, D) the stage of post-Abbasid. This research attempts to identify the extesionaliy of Imam or Caliph befor each sect, and tasks of the Imam, as well as the concepts associated with that.