A History of Social Justice and Political Power in the Middle East

Order as a chronotope of Ottoman political writing

“…The circle of justice, formerly thought to be a schema inherited from classical Islamic and particularly Persian political literature, yet proven by Linda Darling (2013) to be as old as ancient Mesopotamian agrarian societies, establishes the circular and reciprocal set of responsibilities, duties, and obligations between the ruler and the tax-paying subjects. The famous sixteenth century Ottoman moral philosopher Kınalızade Ali Efendi, whose commentary on Greek ethics as it came down through Persian and Arabic commentators was canonical for Ottoman scribes, presents the circle of justice as the will of Aristotle to Alexander and a summary of what the order of the world is about (2007 [1565], p. 532):…”

Missing Non-Western Voices on Social Justice for Education: A Postcolonial Perspective on Traditions of Humanistic Marginalized Communities

“…The Islamic tradition of social justice is a combination of Islamic principles and cultural constructions for justice that were carried from ancient Mesopotamia through to modern times, reflected in a fundamental idea of the Circle of Justice adopting an interdependent reciprocal relationship between state and society carried in many social institutions, which Darling (2013) describes as follows:…”

Missing non-Western Voices on Social Justice for Education: A Postcolonial Perspective on Traditions of Humanistic Marginalized Communities

“…The Islamic tradition of social justice is a combination of Islamic principles and cultural constructions for justice that were carried from ancient Mesopotamia through to modern times, reflected in a fundamental idea of the Circle of Justice adopting an interdependent reciprocal relationship between state and society carried in many social institutions, which Darling (2013) As a concept of societal balance and equilibrium arising from agrarian societies, its principles were easily adopted into empires in the Islamic medieval period in the political, economic, legal and agricultural sectors and evident in modern societies. The Circle of Justice was dependent not only upon the proper functioning of social institutions but also in the public's access to the ruler through which petitions could be made, and seen today in the modern majlis meetings, usually on a weekly basis, during which anyone should be able to approach a ruler to register a complaint or make a request.…”

“…The Circle of Justice was dependent not only upon the proper functioning of social institutions but also in the public's access to the ruler through which petitions could be made, and seen today in the modern majlis meetings, usually on a weekly basis, during which anyone should be able to approach a ruler to register a complaint or make a request. However, the principles and practice of the Circle of Justice were undermined to a large extent by the introduction of modern capitalism which produced an association of capitalism with injustice (Darling, 2013) although some forms of modernisation like the adoption of constitutions was argued to be consistent with circles of justice (Darling, 2013).…”