Ibn Khaldu

Ibn Khaldun, also known as the Father of History and Sociology, is an author and scholar from Northern Africa. Khaldun was born in Tunis, Tunisia on May 27, 1332 and lived most of his life in Northern Africa after his parents moved slowly before the Spanish reconquest. His family is of southern Arab origin and he comes from a family of politicians and scholars. Khaldun has gone down as the greatest Arab historian and is also known as the most important figure in Muslim History. He is most known for his writing of the Muqaddimah and for pioneering the scientific understanding of history. 

Throughout his early life he studied and became familiar with very many areas of study. Some of these included grammar, rhetoric, philology, and poetry. Along with this he received certification in Jurisprudence which was the philosophy of Law and the Hadith which was a compilation of the sayings of Mohammad. The most remarkable fact of all includes his memorization of the Quran, he was a prestigious learner who learned most of what he knew from his father who was unlike his ancestors and was solely a scholar. He attended the Maliki school where he was introduced to the subject of philosophy by one of his teachers named Al-Alibi. At this school he studied many traditional religious sciences and really expanded his knowledge. Muslim Philosophy

Later in life, he would go on to say many things that have gone down in history and shown that he is the pioneer of history. Khaldun proposed a theory that divided history into multiple parts, two to be exact. These two parts include the historical gist and the historical manifest. Philosophy Now Here we see the intersection of his influence in the subject of Sociology as well as History. He believed that social conflict was something worth paying attention to and studying when reflecting on our history. Which he states in this quote, ”True history exists to tell us about human social life, which is the world’s environment, and the nature of that environment as it appears from various events.” (Philosophy Now) This same knowledge is shared through his writing of the Muqaddimah, which translates to ”The Introduction.” This piece of text consists of a number of topics including history, chemistry, astrology, numerology, and many others. This would later be used by those around him to understand civilization. 

Painting of Ibn Khaldun — courtesy of Muslim Heritage

Ibn sustained a rocky journey during his professional career, mainly a rough beginning. He started working under the ruler of Tunis at the time at the position of Hafsid. After only two years he leaves to Morocco to work with Al-Alibi to work under the professor who introduced him to the subject of philosophy. He was always involved in very political environments, but didnt find much enjoyment in these fields therefore he decided to step away from that environment and began his teaching career. His professional career caused him to travel from Northern Africa, to Spain, and eventually end up in Egypt. Egypt will eventually be the place where Ibn’s teaching and research will end. He lived until the age of 74 and he is now buried in Cairo, Egypt at the Sufi Cemetery. Muslim Philosophy