The issue of succession and legitimacy and its theoretical foundations in the Seljuk period

Succession wars began from the very moment that the Seljuks state was formed. Seljuks had a tribal insight about power. By this way of thinking, power belonged to all members of the tribe and the ruling family who controlled all the power was a representation of the members of the tribe. This system was useful in tribal life or living in a steppe, but it did not help to preserve the unity of a great empire such as the Seljuk empire, which feared civil war every time a successor was about to be chosen. This article is devoted to answering this question: How do Islamic and Iranian political thoughts, help to solve the succession crisis and legitimacy in the Seljuk era? This study claims that Seljuks considered two models of Islamic and Iranian political thought to solve the succession crisis. It seems that in the period under study, Islamic theoretical foundations found great importance in the matter of succession and were effective in maintaining the political order and stability of Seljuks, hence we will discuss its components and the opinions of Muslim thinkers in that matter