IBN
KHALDUN
(1332-1395 CE)
Abd al-Rahman Ibn Mohammad is generally
known as Ibn Khaldun after a remote ancestor. His parents,
originally Yemenite Arabs, had settled in Spain, but after
the fall of Seville, had migrated to Tunisia. He was born in
Tunisia in 1332 C.E., where he received his early education
and where, still in his teens, he entered the service of the
Egyptian ruler Sultan Barquq. His thirst for advanced
knowledge and a better academic setting soon made him leave
this service and migrate to Fez. This was followed by a long
period of unrest marked by contemporary political rivalries
affecting his career. This turbulent period also included a
three year refuge in a small village Qalat Ibn Salama in
Algeria, which provided him with the opportunity to write Muqaddimah,
the first volume of his world history that won him an
immortal place among historians, sociologists and
philosophers. The uncertainty of his career still continued,
with Egypt becoming his final abode where he spent his last
24 years. Here he lived a life of fame and respect, marked
by his appointment as the Chief Malakite Judge and lecturing
at the Al-Azhar University, but envy caused his removal from
his high judicial office as many as five times
Ibn Khaldun's chief contribution lies in
philosophy of history and sociology. He sought to write a
world history preambled by a first volume aimed at an
analysis of historical events. This volume, commonly known
as Muqaddimah or 'Prolegomena', was based on Ibn
Khaldun's unique approach and original contribution and
became a masterpiece in literature on philosophy of history
and sociology. The chief concern of this monumental work was
to identify psychological, economic, environmental and
social facts that contribute to the advancement of human
civilization and the currents of history. In this context,
he analysed the dynamics of group relationships and showed
how group-feelings, al-'Asabiyya, give rise to the
ascent of a new civilisation and political power and how,
later on, its diffusion into a more general civilization
invites the advent of a still new 'Asabiyya in its
pristine form. He identified an almost rhythmic repetition
of rise and fall in human civilization, and analysed factors
contributing to it. His contribution to history is marked by
the fact that, unlike most earlier writers interpreting
history largely in a political context, he emphasised
environmental, sociological, psychological and economic
factors governing the apparent events. This revolutionised
the science of history and also laid the foundation of Umraniyat
(Sociology)
Apart from the Muqaddimah that became
an important independent book even during the lifetime of
the author, the other volumes of his world history Kitab
al-I'bar deal with the history of Arabs, contemporary
Muslim rulers, contemporary European rulers, ancient history
of Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Romans, Persians, etc., Islamic
History, Egyptian history and North-African history,
especially that of Berbers and tribes living in the
adjoining areas. The last volume deals largely with the
events of his own life and is known as Al-Tasrif.
This was also written in a scientific manner and initiated a
new analytical tradition in the art of writing
autobiography. A book on mathematics written by him is not
extant
Ibn Khaldun's influence on the subject of
history, philosophy of history, sociology, political science
and education has remained paramount ever since his life.
His books have been translated into many languages, both in
the East and the West, and have inspired subsequent
development of these sciences. For instance, Prof. Gum
Ploughs and Kolosio consider Muqaddimah as superior
in scholarship to Machiavelli's The Prince written a
century later, as the forrner bases the diagnosis more on
cultural, sociological, economic and psychological factors
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