Abu Bakr al-Turtushi
'Abu Bakr Muhammad at-Turtushi , better known as At-Turtushi was one of the most prominent Andalusian political philosophers of the twelfth century. His book Kitāb Sirāj al-Mulūk was one of the most important works of political theory to be produced in the medieval Islamic world. At-Turtushi was also an accomplished jurist in the Maliki school.Life
ِAbu Bakr was born in Tortosa in 1059 in the northern region of Al-Andalus at the Ebro Delta, at a time when the region had become increasingly fragmented and was divided into various taifa kingdoms. He first traveled to Zaragoza, where he became a student under Abu al-Walid al-Baji, a famous scholar and poet. While in Spain, he also familiarised himself with the philosophical and political treatises of the Andalusian polymath Ibn Hazm.
He travelled for knowledge, seeking to educate himself from various scholars in different part of the Muslim world and went as far east as Baghdad. On his way he also stopped at Damascus, Aleppo, Cairo, and Alexandria. He eventually settled in Fatimid Alexandria, where he taught at a madrassa. At-Turtushi strongly opposed the Ismaili ideology of the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt. He also issued a fatwa for Yusuf Ibn Tashfin, the Almoravid ruler of Al-Andulus that allowed him to invade Spain and depose of the divided Taifa kingdoms. His most famous work was Siraj al-Muluk an important treatise on political theory.
