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IBN KHALDUN, Wali al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman
b. Mohamed b. Mohamed b. Abi Bakr
Mohamed b. al-Hassan (732-84/1332-82),
one of the most prominent figures of
Arab-Muslim culture.
He is universally recognized as the
founder and father of Sociology and
Sciences of History. He is best known
for his famous 'Muqaddimah,'
(Prolegomena).
His life is divided into three parts,
the first of which (20 years) was
occupied by his childhood and education,
the second (23 years) by the
continuation of his studies and by
political adventures, and the third (31
years) by his life as a scholar, teacher
and magistrate. The first two periods
were spent in the Muslim West and the
third was divided between the Maghrib
and Egypt.
Khaldun 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 phase 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 gave 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 people
started to envy which resulted in his
removal from his high judicial office.
Ibn Khaldun's chief contribution lies in
the fields of philosophy, 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.
By this work, Ibn Khaldun aimed at
identifying psychological, economic,
environmental and social facts that
contribute to the advancement of human
civilization and the currents of
history. In this context, he analyzed
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 analyzed factors
contributing to it.
Unlike most earlier writers interpreting
history largely in a political context,
Ibn Khaldun's emphasised environmental,
sociological, psychological and economic
factors governing the apparent events.
This revolutionized 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
initiated a new analytical tradition in
the art of writing autobiography.
Ibn Khaldun's great contributions in
history, philosophy of history,
sociology, political science and
education have remained dominant and
significant ever since his life. His
books have been translated into many
languages, both in the East and the
West, and have inspired other figures to
develop these sciences and add to them.
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