Legitimacy sources of political power in islam: Religious – theoretical basis and historical practice samples

Political powers in all societies around the world base their legitimacy on a traditional or modern source. This is a necessary condition for governments to be stable. In Islam, although the legitimacy of political powers is different in some periods, the main sources of loyality is the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Although some periods ruled the powers in contradiction with the principles of shura and merit, basically legitimacy became Qur'an. The powers of administrators, the power relations between different tribes or communities and the ideological and bureaucratic ties played an active role in the elevtion of the political powers. In this sense, it is seen that after the periods of the Prophet and the Four Caliphs, which can be regarded as the best model, there is transformation in the sources of legitimacy. The purpose of this study is to examine the legitimacy sources of political power in Islam on the basis of religious practices from the Prophet to the present. First, concepts related to political power and legitimacy were addressed and then the sources of traditional and modern legitimacy were discussed. In the fourth part, the sources of legitimacy of political power in Islam are examined and in the last part tried to put forward the bases of development of legitimacy in traditional and modern period practices. Key Words: Political power, Legitimacy, Authority, Islam, Shura, Bay'ah