Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology And Religious Inquiry

The eleventh and twelfth centuries were a formative period in Islamic history, during which the Great Saljuqs, a Turkish-speaking group from Central Asia, ruled much of the eastern Islamic world. In his study, Omid Safi examines how the Saljuqs sought to legitimize their authority by aligning with religious scholars and Sufi saints under state patronage. By promoting a state-defined orthodoxy through institutions like madrasas and khanaqahs, they connected religious loyalty with political allegiance. Safi challenges conventional narratives, offering new insights into the complex relationship between political power and religious knowledge in premodern Islam.