Moral Legitimacy and Authority in Islamic Governance: ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, ʿulamāʾ Autonomy, and Modern Muslim Polities

This study examines religious legitimacy during the reign of Caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (717–720) and compares this historical model with contemporary Muslim states. Using a comparative-historical approach, it analyzes early Islamic chronicles alongside Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Jordan, focusing on relations between political authority and the ulamā. The article argues that ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz’s governance was characterized by justice, ethical restraint, consultation, and scholarly moral accountability. By contrast, modern state institutions often incorporate religious authority in ways that constrain scholarly autonomy. The study conceptualizes moral legitimacy as a normative dimension that conditions the operation of Weberian forms of authority through ethical responsibility and accountability. The findings show how changing institutional arrangements reshape the relationship between religious authority, political legitimacy, and moral critique, offering an analytical framework for reconsidering religion–state relations in contemporary Muslim polities.