Ibn Khaldūn

BORN: May 27, 1332 • Tunis, Tunisia

DIED: March 17, 1406 • Cairo, Egypt

Arab historian; legal scholar

Abdahl-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldūn, better known simply as Ibn Khaldūn, is generally considered to be one of the greatest Arab historians. Although he was a devout Muslim, or follower of the Islamic faith, Ibn Khaldūn did not focus on religion in his work. He applied reason and logic to his study of history. He has been called the father of modern sociology (the study of the origin and development of human society) because he was the first to examine how social and historical factors combine. Instead of examining history through the major battles fought by armies, or through the reigns of kings, he studied how common people have shaped the world. He also developed a theory for the rise and fall of nations and empires that is still used in the twenty-first century.

"Whoever takes someone's property, or uses him for forced labor, or presses an unjustified claim upon him, it should be known that this is what the Lawgiver had in mind when he forbade injustice."

Ibn Khaldūn believed civilizations rise and fall in constant cycles. He claimed that hard work and cooperation create a civilization and bring wealth and luxury to it. But then people become lazy, selfish, and dishonest, and the civilization declines. This theory was presented in his most famous work, the Muqaddima (Introduction), the first volume in his seven-volume history of the Arab world, Kitab al-ʾibar (Universal History).

Childhood and early career

Ibn Khaldūn was born in Tunis, the capital of modern-day Tunisia in North Africa, in 1332. His family was well educated and had been part of the intellectual class for several generations. His clan, or family, originally came from Yemen, and was part of a tribe called the Hadhramaut. These people moved to Spain in the eighth century, at the start of the Muslim settlement in that region. The Khaldūn family settled in the city of Seville, where they stayed until the thirteenth century when the Islamic empire in Spain started to decline. The family then moved to the region of northwest Africa known in the Arab world as Ifriqiyah (modern-day Tunisia and eastern Algeria).

Ibn Khaldūn received a good education as a youth, studying Arabic and the holy book of Islam, the Qur'an. He was also schooled in fiqh, or Islamic law; hadith, or the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632; the founder of Islam; see entry); mathematics; logic; and philosophy. He read the works of famous Muslim scholars who had come before him, such as Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd.

When he was seventeen, Ibn Khaldūn's parents died during an outbreak of the plague, a deadly infectious disease that struck Tunis. After his parents' deaths, he took a post in a government office in Tunis. His job was to write the introductory notes to official documents. Despite this opportunity to see for the first time the inner workings of government, Ibn Khaldūn longed to leave his hometown for other parts of the Muslim world. He was given the opportunity to do so when a rival ruler, the emir, or governor, of Constantine (a city in Algeria) invaded Tunis. Ibn Khaldūn left the city and headed for Fez, Morocco, in the section of North Africa known as the Maghrib, or modern-day Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria. Fez had been the capital city of several dynasties, or ruling families, and reached its high point under the Merinid sultans, or rulers, in the mid-fourteenth century.

Ibn Khaldūn soon earned a position as a writer of royal proclamations (announcements) for the Merinid sultan, Abu Inan, but he felt that the job was not worthy of him. He spent more time attending lectures at the Islamic madrassa, or college, in the city, where great scholars from all over the Muslim world came to speak. At the same time, he was suspected of plotting against the sultan and was imprisoned for two years, until the death of Abu Inan. Ibn Khaldūn was released from prison in 1358 and made the secretary to the new sultan. He also became a judge in the Islamic court in Fez. Again, however, jealous new enemies arose, and Ibn Khaldūn decided to move to Spain, where his family had once lived.

Spain and Africa

During his time in Fez, Ibn Khaldūn had befriended the sultan of Granada, Spain, Nasrid Muhammad V, who had been exiled (forced to leave) from his homeland. Ibn Khaldūn had helped Nasrid to regain his position, so he knew he would be welcome in Granada. He found a post at court with the ruling family and by 1364 had become important enough to be sent as a representative of Granada to sign a peace treaty with the Christians they had been fighting. He traveled to Seville, the original home of his family, where he went to speak with the King of Castile (a region of central and northern Spain).

The king was known as Pedro the Cruel (1334–1369) because of his harsh treatment of the enemies he fought. Ibn Khaldūn was successful in securing a peace treaty between Pedro's people and Granada, and Pedro was so impressed with the Muslim scholar and official that he offered to return his family estates if Ibn Khaldūn would join his court. Ibn Khaldūn politely refused and returned to Granada. After his return, the sultan's main advisor became mistrustful and jealous of him, so Ibn Khaldūn left Spain.

He moved back to North Africa and settled in Bougie (modern-day Bejaia, Algeria), an important port and cultural center at the time. In Bougie Ibn Khaldūn encountered an old friend, Abu Abdallah, who had been in prison with him in Fez. Abu Abdallah was now the sultan, and he made Ibn Khaldūn his prime minister, or chief political administrator. In his new position Ibn Khaldūn gained the trust of many of the Berber tribes, the native people of northern Africa. These Berbers had become Muslims when Islam spread into North Africa, but they resisted Arab rule, maintaining their independence. Ibn Khaldūn managed to collect taxes from them, which was a major accomplishment. Again, however, a change of leadership in Bougie forced Ibn Khaldūn to alter his political loyalties. He was growing increasingly tired of all these disruptions in his political career. He longed for peace and the ability to pursue scholarly intellectual goals.

The years at Qalat ibn Salama

Ibn Khaldūn found an opportunity for such scholarly pursuits while he was working for yet another prince in the region. He was sent on a mission to a tribe of nomadic Arabs, people who had no permanent homes but who instead traveled with their herds of animals in search of food and water. On this mission he was welcomed by a branch of the tribe and decided to accept the hospitality they offered. He and his family were invited to live at an isolated castle called Qalat ibn Salama. For the next four years Ibn Khaldūn lived in the castle and began a large study on the history of the world and the Arab people. This was a turning point in his life, and his focus shifted from the chaos of political involvement to the creation of the Muqaddima.

Berbers

The subject of several volumes of Ibn Khal-dū n's Kitab al-ʿibar, the Berbers are non-Arabic tribes native to North Africa, where they number about twenty million. Berbers are also found outside the African continent. There is a large concentration of Berbers in Morocco and Algeria, and an estimated one million in France.

The Berbers speak their own language, called Tamazight, in addition to the languages of the regions they inhabit. No one is sure where the Berbers originally lived, but they have been in North Africa as long as any records show. They are Caucasoid, or white, as opposed to the black Africans who live south of the Sahara Desert.

When Islamic armies came into North Africa in the seventh century ce, the Berbers, many of whom were Christian at the time, quickly converted to Islam. Berbers then joined the armies and helped spread Islam, particularly in Spain where they created two strong Muslim dynasties. The Almoravids ruled Morocco and Muslim Spain in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and the Almohads ruled the same areas in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

After the fall of these dynasties, the Berbers who lived on the plains gradually became part of the mainstream Arab culture. Other Berber tribes refused to conform and migrated to mountainous areas such as the Atlas Mountains. They have maintained their traditions for centuries. In the early twenty-first century Berber and Arab relations continue to be tense at times in Morocco and Algeria.

In this work Ibn Khaldūn developed his theory for the rise and fall of civilizations. He based his conclusions on the concept of asabiyya, or group feeling and group solidarity (togetherness). Asa-biyya can be examined in nomads such as the Bedouin tribes. These Bedouin ("desert dwellers" in Arabic) are of the same racial and ethnic background as other Arabs and are strong believers in Islam. Their lifestyle, however, isolates them from most of the population. Group loyalty is all-important for them, as they rely on each other to survive in the desert. According to Ibn Khaldūn, civilization was an eternal conflict between the "Bedouin" type and the city dweller, or the desert versus the town. For Ibn Khaldūn, the Bedouin type represented the principle of disorder and restlessness, while the city dweller represented the idea of orderly behavior. Civilization is always a battle between these two elemental forces, he believed.

Ibn Khaldūn believed group solidarity was what made the establishment of dynasties possible. The group, family, or tribe with the strongest sense of such solidarity takes control. This solidarity can be increased by a commonly held religion, as with Islam, or with common social or cultural characteristics. Then cooperation makes division of labor in the society possible, and different people take on different jobs. The labor creates goods and services beyond the daily need of each person. This in turn leads to more free time and the growth of intellectual pursuits such as the sciences, arts, and music.

Ibn Khaldūn, however, went on to say in the Muqaddima that the production of such luxuries also creates a situation that causes the destruction of group solidarity. Individuals break away from the group, some people become nonproductive or lazy, and the civilization begins to fall apart. Eventually the empire is taken over by another group, usually a less civilized one with more group solidarity and energy. Then the process begins again.

This theory made Ibn Khaldūn the focus of much attention, because it traces the importance of people, rather than events, in the creation of history. Furthermore, he looked at the organization of society with relation to politics; city life; and economics, or the production, distribution, and use of goods and services in a society. This analysis of the importance of economics in history was one of the first such examinations.

Final years

Ibn Khaldūn finally left the castle and returned to his native city of Tunis in 1378, where he could find more resources to complete the next six volumes of his Kitab al-ʾibar. While the Muqaddima served as an introduction to the entire work, the next volumes concentrated on world history and on the history of the Berbers. For this Ibn Khaldūn needed libraries where he could do research. In Tunis he stayed out of politics and concentrated on his writing. By 1382 he had completed most of the work, but his influence with the ruler and his popularity with students caused jealousies at court, which put him in danger.

He accepted the invitation of the Egyptian sultan Barquq to come and live in Cairo. For the first time in his life, Ibn Khaldūn experienced a stable Islamic state, ruled by the Mamluke dynasty (1250–1517), who were former slaves and soldiers. In Cairo Ibn Khaldūn found peace, a high level of culture, and economic wealth. He became a professor at one of the major Islamic colleges and was appointed the qadi, or judge of Islamic law, several different times during his fourteen years in the city. Yet his later years were also filled with sadness. His wife and daughters died in a shipwreck off Alexandria, Egypt, on their way to join him.

After the death of Barquq in 1401, the sultan's son, Faraj, came to power. Soon thereafter, there was an invasion of the Middle East by the Mongols, warriors from Central Asia, led by the great conqueror Timur (c. 1336–1405). Timur and his Mongol soldiers were marching to Damascus, Syria, and the Egyptians feared that the troops would also attack their country. Faraj took his army to help defend Damascus, and the sixty-nine-year-old Ibn Khaldūn accompanied him as a diplomat. Once in Damascus, however, Faraj received word of a planned revolt against him in Cairo and hurried home, leaving Ibn Khaldūn and a small group behind. When Timur and the Mongols arrived, Ibn Khaldūn acted as a negotiator between the people of Damascus and the Mongol warrior, gaining a favorable peace for the city. He stayed in Timur's camp for five weeks, conducting talks and taking notes on life among the Mongols. Once back in Cairo, he wrote a description of this experience.

The next five years of Ibn Khaldūn's life were relatively peaceful, as he served as a judge and worked on various scholarly projects. He died in Cairo on March 17, 1406. His works have remained relevant throughout the centuries, and his theories on history and society bear many similarities to those discussed by modern-day historians and sociologists.

For More Information

BOOKS

"Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldn." In Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1998.

Enan, Mohammad A. Ibn Khaldun: His Life and Works. New Delhi, India: Kitab Bhavan, 1979.

Ibn Khaldūn. The Muqaddimah. Translated by Franz Rosenthal. Edited and abridged by N. J. Dawood. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967.

Lacoste, Yves. Ibn Khaldun: The Birth of History and the Past of the Third World. Translated by David Macy London, England: Verso, 1984.

Lewis, Bernard. The Arabs in History. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002.

WEB SITES

Hozien, Muhammad. "Ibn Khaldūn: His Life and Work." MuslimPhilosophy.com. http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ik/klf.htm (accessed on June 2, 2006).

"Ibn Khaldūn (1332–1406)." Religion & Liberty. Acton Institute. http://wwwacton.org/publicat/randl/liberal.php?id=197 (June 2, 2006).

Talbi, M. "Ibn Khaldun." Encyclopedia of Islam Online. http://wwwmuslimphilosophycom/ei/KHALDUN.htm (accessed on June 2, 2006).