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HEAD OF STATE ACCORDING TO AL-FARABI (ALPHARABIUS)

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 Düzce Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, Yıl: 11, Sayı: 2
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Makale Türü/Article Type: Araştırma Makalesi/Research Article

HEAD OF STATE ACCORDING TO AL-FARABI (ALPHARABIUS)

Cüneyt TELSAÇ1

Abstract
For Farabi, one’s desire for happiness; is in line with the desire for political administration. If a society or
nation strives for a common goal, it can qualify to be a virtuous society. One of the important features of the virtuous
state is the harmony, cooperation, and purpose between the administration and the governed. Contrary to popular belief,
Farabi evaluates the concept of happiness within the scope of politics, not morality. The first stage of the political
concept in Farabi's world of thought is a virtuous person, the second stage is a virtuous society, and the third stage is a
virtuous head of state who knows philosophy and has achieved happiness. Of course, the most important actor in this
trilogy is the head of state. Farabi attaches great importance to the person who will rule the state. The virtuous society
that Farabi envisioned in his thoughts, his ideas about the first head of state and other Melik’s (ruler) who would follow
him; although theoretically influenced by Plato, in practical terms it is a synthesis of Islamic state politics and Turkish
state tradition of the age in which he lived.
In this article, the importance given to the state administration and the head of state by the Turkish-Islamic
thinker Farabi, who has not lost its currency even today, and the qualifications that a president should have were tried to
be brought to the agenda.

Key Words: Al-Farabi, Head of State, Politics, Virtue, Society.

FARABİ’YE GÖRE DEVLET BAŞKANI

Öz
Farabi için insanın mutluluk arzusu; siyasal yönetim arzusuyla uyumludur. Bir toplum veya millet, ortak bir
amaç için çabalıyorsa, erdemli bir toplum olmaya hak kazanabilir. Erdemli devletin önemli özelliklerinden biri de
yöneten ile yönetilen arasındaki uyum, işbirliği ve amaçtır. Farabi, sanılanın aksine mutluluk kavramını, ahlakın değil
siyasetin kapsamında değerlendirir. Farabi'nin düşünce dünyasındaki siyasi kurgunun ilk aşaması erdemli bir insan,
ikinci aşaması erdemli bir toplum, üçüncü aşaması ise felsefeyi bilen ve mutluluğa ulaşmış erdemli bir devlet
başkanıdır. Elbette bu üçlemenin en önemli aktörü devlet başkanıdır. Farabi, devleti yönetecek kişiye büyük önem verir.
Farabi'nin düşüncelerinde tasavvur ettiği erdemli toplum, ilk devlet başkanı ve onu takip edecek diğer Melikler
hakkındaki fikirleri; Teorik olarak Platon'dan etkilense de, pratikte İslam devlet siyaseti ile yaşadığı çağdaki Türk devlet
geleneğinin bir sentezidir.
Bu makalede, günümüzde dahi değerini kaybetmemiş olan Türk-İslam düşünürü Farabi'nin devlet yönetimine
ve devlet başkanına verdiği önem ve bir başkanın sahip olması gereken nitelikler gündeme getirilmeye çalışılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Farabi, Devlet Başkanı, Siyaset, Erdem, Toplum.

1
Doktorant, Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi, İİBF Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü, cuneyttelsac@gmail.com, Orcid: 0000-0002-4133-4846
Bu Yayına Atıfta Bulunmak İçin/Cite as: Telsaç, C. (2020), Head of State According to Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Düzce
Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 11(2), 333-342.

Makale Geliş Tarihi:20/08/2021 Makale Kabul Tarihi:29/12/2021 Makale Yayın Tarihi:31/12/2021

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1. Introduction
The great Turkish-Islamic thinker Farabi says that the main purpose of human is to reach
happiness and virtue. According to him, human beings are civilized by nature and are socially
inclined to live together. People cannot survive on their own because people have countless needs
and limitations. Only as a society can people overcome these problems. Established societies can be
perfect, incomplete, or flawed. When people combine reason and right goals, they can form a happy
city, and when they come together in line with bad goals, they can create a sinful city. Farabi states
that the main purpose of people should be to create a happy and virtuous city. He establishes this
aim on the ground of justice in terms of politics and management philosophy.
Farabi gave great importance to the person who would rule the state. According to him, the
qualifications that a head of state should have are quite detailed. The quality and character of the
person who will rule the state also determines the fate of the people. If the head of state is a virtuous
and good person, he is good in the state. If the head of state is bad, the state is bad. A good head of
state is the one who embodies all the good qualities of a prophet and a philosopher. While stating
this, Farabi is aware of the difficulty of finding such a candidate and, if not found, recommends that
several people be brought to the presidency to complement each other. This inference is in the form
of a whole formed by those who administer the state by working in their fields of expertise.
While Farabi theoretically revealed the main elements of politics in his works, he did not
express an opinion in practice. It is understood from Farabi's works that the main idea about politics
and the head of state is to create the political framework. For example, al-Madine al-Fadila does not
begin with the subject of political theory, but with a discussion of metaphysical issues.
The organismic understanding of society applied by both Plato and Aristotle is a metaphor
frequently used in Islamic philosophy and Islamic societies, especially after Farabi. While Farabi
defines the perfect city; he tried to explain all the organs by analogy to a human body helping to
keep it alive and perfect. According to him, the virtuous city is like a full and healthy human body.
When all organs perform their duties together and in cooperation, the body will be able to become
perfect. He states that the first organ to be formed is the heart, therefore it undertakes the most
important task. In this case: Those who are close to the head of state do the most honorable works,
those who are lower do less honorable works, and thus those who do the lowest kind of less
important works are reached (Farabi, 2016:101-102).
In this study, which was prepared by using the literature review and observation method, it
is aimed to bring to light the ideas of Farabi, who is an important intellectual in terms of politics
and philosophy, in the eyes of politics and the head of state.
2. Ebu Nasr Al-Farabi El Turki
Farabi, who tried to reconcile classical Greek political philosophy and Islam, is a Turkish-
Islamic philosopher who lived between 870-950. Abu Nasr al-Farabi al-Turki, known as
"Alfarabius" by the Latin world, is a Turk, as his name suggests. In all classical sources, it is told
that he always wore Turkish clothes, he was born in Farab (Otrar) city of Turkestan, around 870, he
came from a noble family of soldiers and commanders and the names of three or four known
generations proves. It is known that Farabi, who completed his primary education in his homeland,
served as a judge for a certain period, then resigned from his official position and traveled to
Baghdad towards the age of 40. Farabi first took philosophy lessons from the Christian philosopher
Yuhanna Ibn Haylan from Harran (Urfa). Afterwards, he received training on the famous trivium
(grammar, rhetoric, and logic) and Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music) of the
Middle Ages and made discoveries, especially by giving important works in the field of music. In
addition to the training he received; he improved himself by taking medicine, mathematics, and

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logic lessons from Muhammad Ibn Cellad and Ebu Bisr Metta Ibn Yunus in Baghdad, which was
the center of Greek philosophy of the period (Hammond, 1947:128). Although Fârâbî is known as
“Muallim-i Sânî” (second teacher) in the world of philosophy, he has been accepted as “Muallim-i
Evvel” (first teacher) by many historians and music theoreticians in the field of music. Fârâbî
formed his music theory from the works of famous scholars such as Aristotle, Themistius and
Euclid translated into Arabic (Internet-1).
The efforts of Farabi to reconcile political philosophy’s of Plato and Aristotle, who are
prominent names of ancient Greek philosophy, with Islam, also deeply affected other Islamic
philosophers who came after him. The virtuous society he envisioned in Farabi's thoughts and his
ideas about the first president and the next head of state, which he gave the most importance, was
theoretically influenced by Plato. However, this situation is in the form of a synthesis consisting of
the accumulation of Islamic state politics and Turkish state tradition in the era in which it is in
practice.
When we examine Farabi's works, we can clearly see that he has a specialization in almost
all of the sciences he is interested in, the breadth of his ideas and understanding, the subtlety of his
views and intuitions. Farabi, who showed great humility by saying, "If I had come in the time of
Aristotle, I would have been one of his good students," has never been just an Aristotelian infuse
into, he often surpassed him with his comments on Aristotle. This result can be easily reached by
making comparative studies of Aristotle and Farabi texts. Although Farabi himself was Turkish, he
wrote his works in Arabic. This situation; Just as the language of science in medieval Europe was
Latin, it is due to the fact that the language of science in the Eastern world was Arabic in the times
of Farabi (Hammond, 1947:128). Farabi's reputation is rightfully a result of his work in the field of
logic. In the field of philosophy, benefiting from the accumulation of previous commentators, he
pondered on every book included within the boundaries of Aristotle's Organon, and prepared their
commentaries, tafsir or concise notes, and revealed them in a way that would not leave any
unexamined point of this corpus (Internet-2). Farabi has an extremely large corpus for the period in
which he lived. Although the works he wrote are far ahead of his time, he created new perspectives
by putting commentaries on many known cults of Greek philosophy. To exemplify some of them in
categories (Hammond, 1947:135):
• On logic; he wrote the works "Introduction to Logic" and "Summarizing The Logic". In
the natural sciences, he wrote commentaries on Aristotle's books on Physics,
Meteorology, On the Sky and the Earth (De Co-elo et Mundo). At the same time, he
wrote a work in this field, "On the Movement of the Celestial Spheres".
• He wrote a commentary on Aphrodisiash Alexandros' book De Anima in Psychology.
On the Spirit; Power of Spirit, Unity and One; he wrote treatises on various subjects
such as reason and the intelligent.
• He wrote treatises on time, space and measure in metaphysics and various treatises
titled “Jewel of Wisdom”, “Letter of Answer to Some Problems”, “Sources of
Problems”, and Knowing the Creator.
• In Ethics, he writes an annotation to Aristotle's Nicomachean Alilakt. The best known
of his original works are: “Encyclopedia”: Gives a brief description and introduction of
all branches of science and art. “Political Regime”; is known as the Book of Principles.
A tribute to the book of Principles is quoted by Maymoni-des as follows: “You do not
need to read any other book on logic than those of Abu Nasr al-Farabi. Everything he
wrote, especially the Book of Principles, is like finely ground flour”.

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2.1. Farabi's World of Thought

Plato and Aristotle, the political pioneers of the Greek heritage, are philosophers who
influenced Farabi's world of thought. Considering that the concepts of justice and morality are
frequently included in the works of these two thinkers and the thesis that moral values cannot be
considered separately from the political context in Islamic societies, it becomes easier to understand
this connection. Plato's virtue; The idea that it is possible to find inner peace and maintain order in
society with justice, which he accepts as knowledge, basically points to a common note. According
to Farabi, only the virtuous are those who pursue moral goals and fight for this cause. Morality is a
prerequisite for the correct interpretation of politics. It is impossible to separate psychology from
morality, and morality from politics. Because psychology and morality to be happy are to be happy
in politics. The purpose of human's creation is to meet Allah, to live to know Him, that is, to be
blissful. In this respect, happiness is spiritual. Happiness in the world is possible with the art of
politics to be applied in the virtuous city. Farabi argues that there is no conflict between classical
political philosophy and Islam. Understanding religious beliefs and activities in a rational way also
mean understanding religion with the language of politics. Thanks to such an understanding, the
people of the virtuous city can reach happiness (Aydın, 1976:305-306). Concepts such as avoiding
mistakes and goodness come later. In order to achieve happiness, he gathers philosophy and
imamate in one person, that is, in the head of state. Thanks to the mind, the material world and the
divine world are consolidated together. The philosopher imam, on the other hand, prevents human
from losing contact with the divine world. In this way, unity in the universe is achieved. The imam,
reinforced by Farabi, is the prophet, and the philosopher is Plato. If we want to achieve happiness,
high political science and a virtuous society are needed. Ethics, as the field in which people acquire
the power to both know and do, is in the position of an assistant that develops the power of
discrimination of politics. Because Farabi expresses how necessary the concepts of virtue and
justice are in achieving goodness (Farabi, 2012a:14-16).
According to Farabi, all people agreed to come under the rule of a chief, that is, a state, as a
result of a natural need, that is, to come together within the framework of common needs. The will
of the single individual who is the chief also represents the will of the state. If the chief is bad,
ignorant, mistaken or immoral the state is also bad. On the other hand, the state in which the
philosophers dominate is the good state. Farabi draws a president profile which synthesized
philosophy with all the virtues of humanity in his mind. In Farabi's words, this ruler must be like a
holy Plato wearing the Prophet's cardigan. This synthesis of Farabi is called "prophet theory". This
situation is understood from Farabi's works that he tried to reconcile the principles of "revelation"
and "inspiration" of Islam with philosophy (Hayajneh, 1987:521). Virtue in Farabi's world of
thought; indispensable for political philosophy. Farabi evaluates the concept of happiness within the
scope of politics, not within the scope of morality, contrary to what is thought. In Farabi's world of
thought, the first level of the steps that make up the political fiction is a virtuous person, the second
level is a virtuous society, and the third level is a virtuous head of state who knows philosophy and
has achieved happiness. Of course, the most important actor in this trilogy is the head of state. The
quality and character of the person who will rule the state also determines the fate of the people. If
the head of state is a virtuous and good person, the better he is in the state. If the head of state is
bad, then the state is bad in that way. The head of state is the source of good or evil. Good morals,
good virtues, and good politics can only be possible with a correct philosophy. This science ensures
that the source of happiness is taught through a correct policy. Two factors are of great importance
to ensure happiness. These; an art that shows how to learn and achieve happiness (he states it as
politics) and a place where this art can be applied as (Fazil City) virtuous city (Farabi, 2012a:16).
For Farabi, human's desire for happiness; is in line with the desire for political
administration. If a society or nation strives for a common goal, it can qualify to be a virtuous

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society. One of the important features of the virtuous state is harmony, cooperation, and purpose
between the administration and the governed (Aydınlı, 2008:37). Two phenomena come to the fore
in Farabi's world of thought. The first of these is the view that there can be no serious differences of
opinion among real philosophers, and the other is, that there will be no conflict between rightly
understood religion and true philosophy. Farabi's aim in this thought is to present philosophy as a
method in order to understand and comprehend Islam in a superior and perfect way. According to
Farabi, philosophy first emerged among the Chaldeans in Iraq and then passed on to the Egyptians
and Greeks, then to the Assyrians and finally to the Arabs again. In this case, philosophy, which has
become a tradition, does not belong to a society or anyone, on the contrary, it belongs to everyone.
Because this tradition offers the best solution in terms of ethics-politics that enables people to
understand their essence. In this regard, Farabi; tries to reconcile the importance of the concept of
ethics-politics in terms of the ethical-political concern, which is seen as the main element of the
Platonic philosophy, and the Islamic revelation in a common pot. Although it is accepted that Plato
developed the ideal state philosophy in the ancient Greek period, Farabi was the name who did the
same job in Islamic geography. Both philosophers accepted the phenomenon of justice as the most
important virtue that a statesman should have in terms of the system they constructed (Farabi,
2017).
2.2. Fazil City (al-Madina al-Fadila)
The categorization of the types of political administration made by Farabi has been shaped
according to the understanding of happiness, which is the purpose of all activities. A person's ideas
about happiness also make it clear what kind of government that person wants. If a person interprets
happiness as knowing Allah and His first commandments, that person will want the City of Fazıl
anyway. At the same time, this person is considered a virtuous person. If a society or nation makes
an effort to achieve the same goal, that society or nation will progress towards being virtuous. If all
the people in the world turn their faces towards that goal, then the whole world becomes virtuous
(ma'mura al-Fadila). From this point of view, a virtuous person resembles a virtuous city, and a
virtuous world resembles the entire universe. Farabi states that in the time of city-states, there was
an alliance that the ideal site was the place where happiness would be achieved. In the virtuous city,
human happiness and social happiness are in the same direction. Not only the first goal (worldly
bliss), but also the ultimate goal (otherworldly bliss) can only be achieved in this city. Virtuous
politics can only be practiced in the Virtuous City. This city is the only place that makes it possible
for both the ruler and the ruled to achieve the happiness of both worlds. Happiness is a social
portrait of success that includes both the ruler and the achieved. To achieve this success, the people
of the virtuous city come together for a common goal (Aydın, 1976:306; Farabi, 2012a:18-19).
The most important way to create the ideal state is by the president. People led by an
excellent head of state are virtuous and happy people. If these people form a nation; the virtuous
nation is formed. If these people gather in a settlement area, the place that unites them under such
management becomes a virtuous city (Farabi, 2012a:93). Farabi took the ignorant cities into a
categorical evaluation in terms of the concept of happiness. What these ignorant cities have in
common is that they are subject to old and wrong ideas. Farabi considers only the Democratic city
(al-Camii Ciyya) as an exception among these cities. Essentially, this city is also considered in the
category of ignorant, but at least it is different because it is a unity about the "purposes" to be
achieved (Aydın, 1976:312). According to Farabi, cities that are not virtuous are in the form of an
ignorant state, a Fasiq state, and a delalette (false) state. While explaining these, he discussed the
ignorant state in 6 categories. These are (Farabi, 20212a:28-3; Hammond, 1947:187):
▪ Al-Madina ad-daruri: According to the people of this city, happiness, in the supply of
essential things such as clothing and shelter.

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▪ Al-Madina an-nazzala: According to the people of this city, they are worldly assets such as
happiness, health and wealth.
▪ Al-Madina aş-şıkva: According to the people of this city, happiness consists of games and
sensual pleasures.
▪ Al-Madina al-karrama: According to the people of this city, happiness consists of honor and
dignity. Farabi also states that this city is relatively better than the others.
▪ Al-Madina at-tağallup: According to the people of this city, happiness is to dominate others,
that is, to establish a despotic order. They wants to conquer peoples and nations with fire
and sword.
▪ Al-Madina al-cama’iyya: According to the people of this city, happiness is freedom.
Freedom is necessary to achieve various goals. It is the state that does not know what true
happiness is and is in constant search.
The fasiq state continues to behave like an ignorant state, although it knows what true
happiness and perfection are. The people of the fasiq state are theoretically similar to the prosperous
state, but practically to the ignorant state. The incorrect state is that; has wrong ideas about God and
happiness. Farabi holds the ruler responsible for the position of the wicked and faulty state. The
ruler is punished in the next world as well as in the world, and the souls driven into error have to
share the fate of the ignorant state people. However, for the virtuous city, this situation is not like
this. They are to the extent that their knowledge in this life is superior, they will also determine their
position after death with this knowledge (Hammond, 1947:188).
3. Head Of State According To Farabi
Farabi states that people are born in different natures and that their innate characteristics
differentiate them in terms of a will. Of course, as a natural consequence of this imagination, the
roles that people assume will be different from each other. In this case; He emphasizes that in terms
of the heart being the first organ to form in a newborn human, it is necessary for someone with the
skills and qualifications to be a master for the establishment of a virtuous city. Farabi expresses the
importance of virtuous works to be in a certain order between cities, and nations and to be fulfilled
in unity for the society to achieve real happiness and states that the said unity is only possible
thanks to a rightly will choose the head of state (melik). For Farabi, this presidency finds the
establishment of order between him and them possible only through a profession and sufficient
inclination. Farabi's meaning in this profession is the rulership. The execution of this profession is
also politics (Farabi, 2012a:92; Farabi, 2016:80).
Farabi classifies societies according to the status of their leaders, whether they are virtuous
or not. According to Farabi, the presidency consists of two parts. The first of these is the type of
presidency that carries out the practices aimed at achieving real happiness, the activities carried out
with prudence and a strong will, and the type that should be is this presidency. Because the cities
and nations that accept this real presidency are also virtuous cities and nations. Another type of
presidency is; it is the administration established to achieve what is thought to be happy even
though there is no happiness, and it is called the ignorant presidency (Farabi, 2012a:93; Farabi,
2016:81). Farabi pronounced names such as Philosopher, Melik, Reis-i Evvel, Lawgiver and Imam
for the first rulers to be the head of the virtuous state. He preferred the name Meliku's-Sünne for the
person or persons who would ensure his continuation after the first Melik to take over. Meliku's-
Sünne is the head of state who manages the state with the written laws that have been going on
since the previous presidents and tries to continue his tradition (Karakuş, 2020:190-191).
3.1. Qualifications of the First Head of State (ar-ra'is al-avval)
When we look at the history of political philosophy in general, it would not be wrong to say
that the person who put forward the idea that the most important actor in the state structure is the
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head of state is Farabi. In his imagination, Farabi; draws an image of a perfect state like Plato and
places the head of state at the base of this design. All powers should be in the hands of the head of
state. As long as the head of state is just and merciful, the state will survive and people will
continue to live in prosperity. But if the head of state is an oppressor, immoral and unable to resist
himself, the structure that emerges; becomes a state in which the state is not well-administered and
the people are devastated by difficulties and sorrow. For the people not to be persecuted and for
justice to be provided, the person who will preside over the virtuous city should not be an ordinary
person. Because the head of state comes with two qualities. The first of these depends on the fact
that he is suitable and capable of being a manager in terms of his creation and nature, and the
second is that his situation and willingness to be a manager should be at a sufficient level. These are
only possible in people who are suitable for the presidency due to their nature (Farabi, 2012a: 96-
97; Levend, 1963:168-169).
The existence and authority of Fazil city can only be possible with the existence of someone
or a group who knows what happiness and divine values are and tells what they know to the public.
By nature, some people were born to rule and some to be ruled. This is a natural situation for a
prosperous city, as the head of state must be in the highest position in terms of will, talents, and
knowledge. According to Farabi, both the theoretical mind and imagination should be perfect in an
ideal head of state. Farabi's philosophy fiction shows the highest point of itself here. At this point,
Farabi; unites the president, the philosopher, and the prophet. (Farabi, 2017:22):
• The head of state cannot comprehend what happiness is without philosophy,
• Without imagination, it cannot enact the laws necessary for the realization of happiness, that
is, create the political framework,
• Without politics, happiness cannot be transferred to others.
According to Farabi, the person who will lead is the first head of state of the virtuous city.
He is the ruler of the virtuous nation and only a person who can combine the twelve traits that he
has innate in his personality can reach this rank. According to Farabi, the qualities that the ideal
head of state should have are as follows (Farabi, 2012a:107-108):
1. Physically healthy and every limb must be complete. There should be no restrictive body
barriers when the person moves.
2. It is very important that he understands and comprehends everything that is told or said to
him. For whatever purpose a subject has been told to him, he must truly understand the
subject.
3. He must have a strong memory, he must not forget almost anything, and he must have a
mind that can keep in mind everything he sees and needs.
4. He should have high awareness, be alert, and intelligent to all the evidence and events he
sees around him.
5. He should have the ability to speak well and should be able to express everything he/she
wants to tell easily to the other party in case of need.
6. He should not be bored with gaining knowledge, teaching and learning. He should not avoid
the difficulties that may arise while learning. “Farabi says about Plato; He complains about
the situation Aristotle authored books and brought the sciences into a certain system and
made them attainable by reaching the maturity he aimed for in his works. States that Plato
protested this situation by writing a letter. In response to the letter he received, Aristotle
sends a letter to Plato expressing his opinion. In the letter he sent: Although I wrote these
sciences and philosophy, I put them in such an order that only the competent can
understand; I used such an expression that only connoisseurs can grasp it”. Although it is
thought that Farabi was influenced by Plato and Aristotle; the recommendations of the
president that he should not avoid teaching what he knows in terms of his qualifications
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point to a divergence. This separation is a clear indication of the value Farabi attaches to
education and the dissemination of knowledge (Farabi, 2012b:227). The following sentence
is remarkable in terms of explaining the value he gives to education by Farabi (Hayajneh,
1987:522): "Those who govern the state in a superior way and those who are governed in
this way will not only enter a "pure spirit realm", but will also reach high degrees in the
hereafter, depending on the level of knowledge they have attained in this world and they will
taste equally high “taste of happiness” together.
7. By nature, he should love both truth and truthful people, and should not take pleasure in lies
and liars.
8. He should not show weakness for eating, drinking, pleasure and women. He should refrain
from gambling and avoid such requests.
9. He should be an honorable person, should care about greatness and honor.
10. He should not incline towards worldly goods. He should not care about precious metals and
valuables that are worldly.
11. He should be just in line with his nature and love what is just, be fair and merciful to those
he governs, without oppression, and should encourage the people in this direction. It should
support and protect good, truth and justice. He must stand strong against injustice and resist
when something bad or wrong is asked of him.
12. He should not show fear and weakness while acting on issues he deems appropriate. When
necessary, it should maintain its decisive and determined structure.
It is very difficult to collect all these features in just one person. If a person with these
characteristics, which can only be seen once, is found in an era, and if that person fulfills six of the
twelve above features or can fulfill five other than foresight, that person will be head of state. If
such a person cannot be found or impossible to be found, in line with of old the laws, rules and
traditions before now set by the person or people who previously ruled the city with these
qualifications are preserved (Farabi, 2012a:108).
Farabi's definition of the organization of the exemplary state is very striking (Ham-mond,
1947:186):
“Just as the world is a harmonious whole governed by the supreme authority
of God; just as the stars, moon and earth line up and follow each other; just as the
human soul is one with its various powers; just as the human body is an organized
whole driven by the heart, so the state should be shaped and regulated in the same
way according to these noble examples.”
3.2. Qualifications of the Vice President (Meliku's- Sun-ne')
To the person who will replace him after the first head of state; He used the expression
Meliku's- Sun-na. Meliku's- Sun-ne is the person who manages the state with the written laws that
have been going on since the previous head of state and continues the tradition left to him.
According to Farabi, the person who will deputize instead of the first ruler should have the twelve
characteristics in question both from birth and throughout his childhood and that person should be
superior and distinguished in terms of six characteristics even after he grows up. Farabi expresses
these six features as follows (Farabi, 1987:50-51; Farabi, 2012a:109):
a) First of all, the person who will rule the city must be a philosopher.
b) The second head of state should learn very well the laws, rules, and traditions set by the
person or people who previously ruled the city and protect them. He must follow the path of
the rulers before him in everything he will do.

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c) If he has to decide on a matter that the previous administrators have not clarified by law, he
should evaluate the previous decisions and jurisprudence very well and guide him in the
decisions he will take.
d) If the existing laws are not sufficient in line with the new needs and demands of the society,
they should act in enacting new laws.
e) Both the laws of the old president and the new laws that he enacted with their inheritance
and by following the path they followed; should have the ability to verbally explain to the
society, to have a strong addressing ability and to guide them.
f) The person who will be the president must not have a physical problem that will prevent him
from serving the society, managing society and acting in case of possible war.
Farabi realistically accepts the difficulty of having all these features he envisions in only one
person. In this regard, if the wanted manager cannot be found; he says that only someone who is a
philosopher and someone who can meet the other conditions can rule the state together. Even
further, If philosophy is in one person, the second trait is in another person, the third trait is in
another person, the fourth trait is in another, the fifth trait is in another, and the sixth trait is in
another person... In this case, provided that all these people if can agree with each other, all can be
supreme rulers together. Thus, the rule of a single person becomes an aristocratic republic
(Hammond, 1947:187). Of course, if philosophy, which is the most important criterion in a virtuous
city, ceases to be an element of management and is abandoned, the state will remain without a
president, despite the existence of all the other qualifications and features sought. If the president of
the state or a philosopher to be subordinate to him cannot be found, the future of that city cannot be
saved from darkness and destruction (Farabi, 2016:109).
Farabi says very important advice on political science not only to the person who will rule
but also to all the citizens of the city. Because this advice also explains his philosophy of life.
According to this (Atay et al., 1974:21): Human should start his/her science and research what and
how the purpose for which human was created, that is, the maturity he/she had to achieve. One must
define what and how each of them is, why, and what it is for until they are all known, understood,
and distinguished from one another. This is political science. It consists in knowing the objects with
which the inhabitants of the city attain happiness through political society, to the extent that the
innate ability affords each one.
4. Conclusion
The main idea that can be extracted from Farabi's works on political theory, is understood
that it is in the form of forming the political framework. In this respect, Farabi begins to work with
dealing with metaphysical concepts, not with political theory. Farabi states that people are born in
different natures and that their innate characteristics differentiate them in terms of a will. As a
natural consequence of this, the roles that people assume should be different from each other. In this
case; Based on the fact that the heart is the first organ to form in a newborn human, he emphasizes
that the "Melik" who will replace the heart must be someone with the necessary skills and
qualifications for the establishment of a virtuous city. The organismic understanding of society,
applied by Plato and Aristotle, is an analogy that is frequently used in Islamic Philosophy and
Islamic societies, especially after Farabi. According to him, a perfect state should exhibit unity and
integrity like a single body, and individuals should ensure that the wheel runs smoothly by doing
the jobs that fall within their skills and expertise. In this case: The heart is the first organ to be
formed, therefore it undertakes the most important task, and the other organs close to the heart
perform less important duties by nature, while the organs below them perform the lowest duties.
Those close to the ruler of the city perform the most honorable acts of will. states that those under
them will perform less honorable voluntary acts, and thus, it will reach those who do the lowest

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volitional acts. Farabi describes this hierarchical structure as: "Just as the heart, which is the chief
organ of the body, is the most perfect and most complete of all organs in terms of its special
qualities, it commands the lower organs and they also command other organs, then all organs are
the superiors of the lower ones, in terms of degree." It is very clear that Farabi sheds light not only
on the period in which he lived but also on the generations to come after him. It is very clear that for
the first time, Turkism and Arabism were synthesized into Hellenism, and Hellenism was fused into
Arabism and Turkism. He further developed many of Aristotle's theories by examining them,
solving problems that could not be solved until then, and put comments on some views. Farabi has a
great influence on medieval thinkers. It opened the door to the examination and discussion of Greek
philosophy in terms of the Islamic world. Farabi's political theory is a mixture of Platonic and
Aristotelian elements. But, it's not just that. Farabi creates a synthesis by rearranging Plato's ideal
state with some Aristotelian elements such as private property and the monarchical form of
government. He fills the missing parts in the synthesis Platon's created.
Farabi presenting a very realistic view for the head of state is aware that it is very difficult to
collect all these features in a single person. If the wanted president cannot be found, he expresses
that only someone who is a philosopher and someone who can meet the other conditions can rule
the state together. Even further, If philosophy is in one person, the second trait is in another person,
the third trait is in another person, the fourth trait is in another, the fifth trait is in another, and the
sixth trait is in another person... In this case, provided that all these people if can agree with each
other, all can be supreme rulers together. Thus, the rule of a single person can become with ease an
aristocratic republic. This last sentence, which almost refers to today's democratic management
systems, is a good reflection of this farsightedness that makes Farabi unique. When all these views
are evaluated, it becomes clear how important the criteria of merit and qualification are. It is clearly
stated that the state administration must be carried out by educated and competent people. The
philosopher's condition, which Farabi insists on, is actually a clear indicator of how much he
attaches importance to education. These recommendations on state administration are still up-to-
date even today.
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