Great Mmuslim Scienst and Scholars IV:Ibn Khaldum1332-1406CE

Today, I wish to introduse to you a great Muslim intellectual and philosopher whoes work has greatly influnced Muslim political though. As we all know,"political thought in Islam" has been hijacked by the religious conservative class lately. In this context it is critical that we rekindle this field within the Muslim societies and states are gover- ning them selves, require rethinking and reformation . Ibn Khaldun, a 14th century Arab historiographer and historian, was a brilliant scholar and thinker now viewed as a founder of modern historiography and sociology. Living during very turbulent times, he observed first hand such desicive events as the bith of new ststes,the death throes of Al-Andulus ,the advance of the christain reconquest, the expansion of the Ottomon Empire and decline of the Byzantine. There can be no better tribute to him then what was said by a great Western historian Arnold Toynbee.Toynbee in his famous " study of history " while ommenting on Khaldun's book " Muqadama " Writes : In the Prolegomena (Muqaddimat) to his universal History he has concived and formulated a philosophy of history which is undoubtedly the greatest work of its kind that has ever yet been created by any mind in any time or place."Ibn Khaldun's life history is full of advantures and tragedies and besides his scholarly pursuits re -mined active in political sphere as an advisor to many important political figures of the times. He also spent time in prison, held higest administrative offaces and had to live in exile. Given his very intresting life experiences, first a brief sketh of his life is in order here. Ibn Khaldun was born in Tunis on Radan1, 732 (May 27,1332). He reci -veda traditional eduaction that was typical of his memorised the Qu'ran by heart, learned grammar, Jurisprudence, Headith, rhetoric, philology, and poetry. Then great scholar AlAbili introduced him to mathematics, loic and philosphy. At age 17 a tragetly struck him when he lost both his parents to an epidemic of the plague which hit Tunis. Still in his teens, he entered the Sultan Barqaq. His thirst for advanced knowledge and a better acadmic setting soon made him leave this servise and migrate to fez. This was followed by a long period of unrest marked by contemporary political rivalries affecting his carrer. This turbulent period also included a three year refuge in a small village Qalat Ibn Salama in Algeria, which provided him with the opportu -nity to write Muqddimah, the first volume of his world history that won him an imm -ortalplace among historians. The uncertainly of his carrer 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 him apponment as the Cheaf Malakite Judge and lecturing at the Al-Azhar University, but his high judicial office as many as five times he was quite persistent in his ambitions. He planed to write a world history and its premble was aimed at an analysis of historical events.This preamble commonly kno -wn as Muqaddimah or 'Prolegomena', was based on IbnKhaldun's unique appr oach and orignal contribution and become a masterpiece in political literature. In this volume, He analyzed the Dynamics of group relation ship 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 genral civilization invities the advent of still new 'Asabiyyain its pristine form. He identified an almost rhythmic repetition of rise and fall in human civilization, and analyzed factors contributing to it. His contri -bution to history is marked by the fact that, unlike many of the earlier writers who interpreted history largely in a political context, he emphasized environmental, sociological psychological and economic factor governing the apperent events.T -his revolutionized the science of history and also laid the foundition of Umraniyat (Sociology). IbnKhaldun's influence on the subject of history, sociology, political science and eduaction has remined paramount ever since his life. His books have been translated into many languages, both in the East and the west, and have inspi -red subsequent develpment of these sciences. For instance, Prof. Gum Ploughs and Kolosio consider Muqaddimah as superior in Scholarship to Machiavelli,s The Prience.