The Foundations of Nizam al-Mulk’s Politics: The Link Between Reason and Faith

Abstract

The Seljuk era holds special significance in the historical destiny of the Iranian nation. This Turkic-origin dynasty, after a period of fragmentation, managed to reestablish the territorial unity of the Iranian empire, which had long been disrupted. Remarkably, the Seljuks were quickly assimilated into Iranian civilization. Undoubtedly, the rapid formation of a centralized Seljuk government can be attributed to the fact that, by that time, Iran had retained its linguistic and ethnic identity. The Iranian society in the 11th century CE (5th century AH) was deeply chaotic, insecure, and unstable. This society was afflicted both by the anarchy caused by the aggression of the nomadic, non-Muslim Ghuzz tribes and by the radicalism of religious ideologues, inflamed by the extremist tendencies of the Batiniyya and Hanafi schools. Through his wisdom and astute statesmanship, Nizam al-Mulk managed to elevate the Seljuk state to a level of considerable grandeur. Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk was a distinguished vizier and statesman who left behind a remarkable legacy in both scholarly and administrative domains. During his thirty years of service as vizier, he laid the foundation of a stable society. His strategy of moderation played a pivotal role in the success of the Seljuk government, fostering peace and security within society. This article, based on a discourse-analysis approach aligned with Michel Foucault’s definition—which conceptualizes discourse as a vast network of events, actions, statements, and writings that shape historical reality—aims to explain and analyze the topic. The central research question is: What are the indicators and characteristics of Nizam al-Mulk’s strategy of moderation? The objective is to elaborate and clarify key components such as realism, rationalism, tolerance, moderation, and avoidance of extremism, which together form the core of his moderate political strategy.