A Reflection on Abū Ḥanīfa's Political Thought through the Lens of Spriggens' Problematic Logic

This study aims to analyze Abū Ḥanīfa's political thought within the context of the political and intellectual crises of his era, and seeks to demonstrate how this thought was shaped in response to the turbulent and tense conditions of the Islamic world in the early centuries. The main question of the research is what analysis Abū Ḥanīfa offered regarding phenomena such as political despotism, lawlessness, the corruption of rulers, the lack of judicial independence, and intellectual and theological disorder, and how his political thought was formulated in reaction to this critical situation. Within this framework, the article attempts to clarify whether Abū Ḥanīfa's positions were merely a moral and individual reaction to the conditions of his time, or whether they can be interpreted as a coherent framework for understanding the relationship between power, justice, and human responsibility within the Islamic legal and political tradition. This research has been conducted using a descriptive-analytical method and employing Spriggens' problematic logic. The research data have been collected and analyzed based on historical sources, works attributed to Abū Ḥanīfa, and accounts and reports related to his political actions and positions. Within this framework, the political and intellectual crisis of Abū Ḥanīfa's era is first formulated, and then his theoretical and practical response to this situation is examined in order to clarify the relationship between the historical conditions and the formation of his political thought. The research findings indicate that Abū Ḥanīfa did not interpret the crisis of his time merely at the level of moral or social disorders, but regarded it as the result of unjust power structures, coercive and dominant rule, political corruption, and the spread of lawlessness. Within this framework, by critiquing deterministic tendencies, he emphasized the role of human will and choice in the formation of social order or disorder, thus highlighting human political and moral responsibility. Furthermore, in his thought, human freedom and rationality hold a fundamental place, and government should not interfere in matters pertaining to the choice and judgment of a rational person. An examination of Abū Ḥanīfa's practical positions also shows that he did not cooperate with the despotic governments of his time and adopted a critical stance against oppression and injustice. From this perspective, his thought can be seen as an effort to counter despotism, critique a political order based on coercion and domination, and defend rationality and human responsibility in the sphere of politics. In sum, the research results show that Abū Ḥanīfa's political thought was a coherent response to the political and intellectual crises of his era—a response shaped by critiquing tyranny and despotism, defending rationality and human freedom, and emphasizing human responsibility vis-à-vis political power. This rereading can be significant for the historical understanding of the relationship between jurisprudence and politics in the Islamic tradition, as well as for rethinking the foundations of justice and political legitimacy in the Islamic world.

کلیدواژه ها:

Abū Ḥanīfa ، Political thought ، Spriggens' Problematic Logic ، Political Crisis ، despotism ، Rationality ، Human freedom