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Wali al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman b. Mohamed Ibn Khaldun

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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