ABSTRACT
While “constitutional authority” is an anachronistic expression that we should not expect to find translated literally in premodern works of law and theology, there is a range of endogenously developed concepts in Islamic legal, theological, and political writing and practice that reflect the core ideas behind constitutionalism: legal and moral limitations on executive powers, standards of legitimacy for assuming offices of authority, an idea of an ultimate source of authority external to the rulers’ own claims, and some separation of powers and authorities. The term “constitutional” will be used below to refer to the family of concepts pertaining to political legitimacy and the limitations on executive political power.
