IBN KHALDUN
IBN KHALDUN, Wali al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman b.
Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Abi Bakr Muhammad b. al-Hasan (732-84/1332-82), one
of the strongest personalities of Arabo-Muslim culture in the period of its
decline. He is generally regarded as a historian, sociologist and philosopher.
Thus his life and work have already formed the subject of innumerable studies
and given rise to the most varied and even the most contradictory
interpretations.
The
wealth of the ideas provided in the Muqaddima - Ibn Khaldun's most important
book - has enabled several specialists to find in it the early beginnings
of a number of disciplines which have become independent sciences only very
recently. There is of course no argument about Ibn khaldun's quality as a
historian. Y. Lacoste writes: 'If Thucydides is the inventor of history, Ibn
khaldun introduces history as a science' (Ibn Khaldoun, 187). But he has been
regarded also as a philosopher, and it is surprising in particular to discover
in his Muqaddima a very elaborate system of sociology. His 'new science', his 'ilm
al-'umran, the discovery of which dazzled even himself, is basically, strictly
speaking, nothing but a system of sociology,--conceived it is true as an
auxiliary science to history. He considers that the basic causes of historical
evolution are in fact to be sought in the economic and social structures. He
therefore set himself to analyze them, elaborating as he did so a certain number
of new operative concepts, the most pregnant of which is incontestably that of 'asabiyya
[q.v.]. It should be mentioned that this concept of 'asabiyya, and that of 'umran,
have given rise in modern times to many discussions--which cannot be enumerated
here--regarding their interpretation (see M. Talbi, Ibn khaldun et le sens de
l'histoire, in SI, xxvi (1967), 86-90 and 99-112). He was interested
particularly in the influence of the way of life and of methods of production on
the evolution of social groups. In a famous sentence, he states: 'The
differences which are seen between the generations (adhyal) in their behaviour
are only the expression of the differences which separate them in their economic
way of life' (210). This sentence is often compared with an equally famous one
of Marx: 'The method of production in the material matters of life determines in
general the social, political and intellectual processes of life'. The
similarity is indeed striking, and it is not the only one between them. Thus Ibn
khaldun's thought is often interpreted, particularly in recent years, in the
spirit of dialectical materialism. But, in spite of the undoubted similarities,
it would be difficult to regard Ibn khaldun as a forerunner of materialism.
Moreover the explanation he gives is not exclusively a socio-economic one but
also psychological. 'The Prolegomena do not contain only a general sociology but
also a very detailed and subtle social psychology which may be divided into
political psychology, economic psychology, ethical psychology and general
psychology. The intermingled and closely linked elements of this social
psychology and this general sociology form a whole complex which it is difficult
to disentangle' (N. Nassar, op. cit., 178).
There have been identified also, in this complex, economic doctrines
sufficiently detailed to justify a study devoted to them, and a philosophy of
history to which M. Mahdi has devoted an important work. It also provides
ethnographic, anthropological and demographic information of real value.
Thus the atypical figure of Ibn khaldun in Arabo-Muslim culture has been
unanimously considered, since his discovery in Europe, as that of an authentic
genius, 'un penseur genial et aberrant' (Brunschvig, op. cit., ii, 391), whose
Muqaddima represents 'one of the solemn moments of human thought' (Bouthoul).
Certainly a 'solitary genius', he does not belong to any definite current of
Arabo-Muslimqthought, since his works are in fact the product of a multitude of
agonizing enquiries. His thinking represents a radical change, which
unfortunately remained as unproductive as his political misadventures. 'Just as
he had no forerunners among Arabic writers, so he had no successors or emulators
in this idiom until the contemporary period. Although he had a certain influence
in Egypt on some writers of the end of the Middle Ages, it can be stated that,
in his native Barbary, neither his Muqaddima nor his personal teaching left any
permanent mark. And indeed the systematic lack of comprehension and the resolute
hostility which this nonconformist thinker of genius encountered among his own
people forms one of the most moving dramas, one of the saddest and most
significant pages in the history of Muslim culture' (R. Brunschvig, op. cit.,
ii, 391).
(M. Talbi)
Asabiyya:
Social
glue (voluntary to coercive).
A society or civilization works because people believe in it. They do not
have to be forced to do "the right thing," they do it because they see
value in it. They experience a better set of social conditions - human
rights - that causes them to feel that participating in the system is for the
general good. If a civilization loses this voluntary participation - this
culture of belief in the system - then it is in trouble. A civilization
that loses asabiyya may well last, but it does so because its institutions force
the people to do what it takes for the social system to continue. A
society can be evaluated on how it provides human rights. It can be
diagnosed by how coercive its institutions are.
The
idea is to identify psychological, economic, environmental and social factors
that contribute to the advancement of human civilization and the currents of
history. In this context Yemenite historian and sociologist, Ibn Khaldun
analyzed the dynamics of group relationships and showed how group-feelings, al-'Asabiyya,
give rise to the ascent of a new civilization 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.
His contribution to history is marked by the fact that, unlike most earlier
writers interpreting history largely in a political context, he emphasized
environmental, sociological, psychological and economic factors governing the
apparent events. This revolutionized the science of history and also laid the
foundation of Umraniyat (Sociology).