Foundations of an Islamic Art of Warfare: Mukhtaṣar fī Siyāsat al-Ḥurūb and the Making of the Abbāsid Military Doctrine

Abstract

Objectives: This article examines the ninth-century treatise Mukhtaṣar fī Siyāsat al-Ḥurūb (A Compendium on the Management of Warfare), attributed to Abū Saʿīd al-Ḥarthamī al-Shaʿrānī (3rd century AH/9th century CE), as one of the earliest Muslim manuals of governance and warfare. It situates the text within the vibrant era of the early ʿAbbāsid rule and demonstrates how creed, law, and politics intersect in the articulation of military doctrine. Methodology: The study employs a multidisciplinary approach, combining philological analysis of the Mukhtaṣar with historical contextualisation. Doctrinal comparison with Abū Ḥanīfah’s Al-Fiqh al-Akbar identifies shared principles of agency. A comparative framework situates the treatise within the “Mirror for Princes” tradition, contrasting it with al-Māwardī’s Al-Aḥkām al-Sulṭāniyyah and Niẓām al-Mulk’s Siyar al-Mulūk. Finally, secondary scholarship establishes its unique contribution to Muslim military thought. Findings: The Mukhtaṣar frames warfare not merely as a technical enterprise but as both a strategic discipline and a creedal duty. It grounds military command in taqwā (God-conscious piety), justice, and discipline; rejects excess, vengeance, and plunder; and attributes victory to qadar (divine decree) while affirming human accountability through kasab (human acquisition of divinely created acts). Originality: The study positions the Mukhtaṣar as a distinctively Sunnī articulation of military thought and a doctrinal turning point in Islamic intellectual and military history, challenging the marginalisation of Islamic military writings as derivative and highlighting their contribution to the broader tradition of theology-based political and strategic thought.