Faculty of Law, Farabi College, University of Tehran
Abstract
The characteristics and duties of the ruler have long been of interest to philosophers. The Islamic philosophers' studies of the political thoughts of Ibn Sina are of interest in this article due to his personal characteristics and political activities. This article attempts to answer these questions: What characteristics should a ruler have? And what duties are his? Avicenna is the heir to the wisdom of Masha, but with his genius he founded Eastern philosophy. The basic element of this philosophy is the proximity of reason to revelation. In his view, the ruler of Medina is a prophet. After the prophet, he believes in the succession of the infallible Imam. However, in the absence of the Imam, the Caliph who is elected by consensus is considered the ruler of Medina. The characteristics of the ruler, according to Ibn Sina, are in the form of the specific characteristics of the prophet-ruler, the sage-ruler, and the Imam or Caliph. Since the ruler holds the "triple powers," that is, the executive, legislative, and judicial, he naturally has the duties of all of them. The duties of the ruler include: political-legal, economic, social, and family, legislative, religious, and moral, judicial, and relations between nations.