About Ibn Khaldun

What Muslim historians and modern thinkers said about Ibn Khaldun--a compilation

Waliyy al-Din Abu Zayd Abd al-Rahman Ibn Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Jaber bin Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim bin Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khalid (Khaldun) al-Hadrami was born in Tunisia on the first of Ramadan 732 AH / May 27, 1332 AD, and he grew up in a house of ancient knowledge and glory. He memorized the Qur’an early in his childhood, and his father was his first teacher. He also studied with established scholars of his time, among the Andalusian scholars who left for Tunisia after suffering from accidents. He studied recitations, the sciences of interpretation, hadith, Maliki jurisprudence, principles, and monotheism. And he also studied linguistic sciences, grammar, morphology, rhetoric, and literature; he also studied logic, philosophy, natural sciences, and mathematics, and in all of these sciences he was admired by his teachers and sheikhs. Among the most prominent of these professors and sheikhs are: Muhammad bin Abdul Muhaymin al-Hadrami, Muhammad bin Saad bin Baral al-Ansari, Muhammad bin al-Shawashi al-Zarzali, Muhammad bin al-Arabi al-Hasairi, Ahmed bin al-Qassar, Muhammad bin Jaber al-Qaisi, Muhammad bin Suleiman Al-Shadhi, Muhammad bin Ibrahim al-Abali, and Abdullah. Bin Youssef al-Malqi, Ahmed al-Zawawi, Muhammad bin Abdul Salam and others.

When the plague epidemic occurred, which spread in the year 749 AH / 1348 AD and ravaged most parts of the world, east and west, this event had a great impact on the life of Ibn Khaldun. It eliminated his parents, just as it eliminated many of his sheikhs from whom he was learning in Tunisia. As for those who survived, he migrated to Morocco in the year 750 AH / 1349 AD, and there was no longer anyone to receive education from him or continue his studies with him. So he went to public jobs, and began to follow the path that his ancestors had taken before, and he joined a clerical position in the court of the Beni Marin, but it did not satisfy his ambition, and Sultan Abu Inan - the king of Morocco - appointed him as a member of his academic council in Fez, so he was allowed to resume his studies. On its notable scholars and writers who migrated to it from Tunisia, Andalusia, and the Maghreb.

But the situation quickly changed when Sultan Abu Anan learned that Ibn Khaldun had contacted Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Hafsi - the deposed Emir of Bejaia - and that he had hatched a conspiracy with him to restore his kingship. Abu Annan imprisoned him, despite Ibn Khaldun’s efforts of intercession. The Sultan turned away from him; so he remained in prison for about two years until the Sultan died in the year 759 AH / 1358 AD. When the new Sultan assigned the authority to “Abu Salem Abi al-Hasan,” he gained great favor and position in his office. The Sultan appointed him to write his secrets and transmit them on his behalf. Ibn Khaldun sought to free the letters from the restrictions of rhyme that prevailed in his time. He also composed poetry at that stage.

Ibn Khaldun remained in that position for two years until Sultan Abu Salem assigned him the plan of grievances, in which he demonstrated justice and competence that made his status great until many of his peers and contemporaries vented against him the fame and status he had achieved, and they sought to slander between him and the Sultan until he changed his mind. . When the statesmen revolted against Sultan Abu Salem and deposed him, and replaced him with his brother “Tashfin,” Ibn Khaldun took the initiative to join him, approving him of his duties and increasing his salaries. But his ambition was stronger than those jobs; He decided to travel to Granada in Andalusia in the early part of the year 764 AH / 1362 AD.

In Granada, Ibn Khaldun received a great deal of hospitality and honor from Sultan Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn al-Ahmar - the Sultan of Granada - and his minister, Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib, with whom he had an old friendship, and the Sultan was entrusted with the embassy between him and the King of Castile. He invited Batrah ibn al-Hansha ibn Adqunish to make peace between them, and Ibn Khaldun carried out his mission with great success. The Sultan rewarded him for the good conduct of his embassy by granting him a large plot of land and granting him a lot of money, so he became prosperous in living under the care of the Sultan of Granada. But his happiness did not last long with this bliss, as the snitches of the envious and enemies pursued him, until they spoiled what was between him and the minister, “Ibn al-Khatib,” whom he in turn sought with the Sultan, and then he realized that he no longer had a position in Granada, or even in all of Andalusia. In the meantime, “Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Hafsi” - the Emir of “Bejaia” who was able to regain his throne - sent him an invitation to come to him, and offered to appoint him as the veil in fulfillment of his old covenant with him. So he left Andalusia for Bejaia, arriving there in the middle of the year 766 AH / 1365 AD, so its prince and its people received him warmly in an official procession in which the Sultan, his senior statesmen, and crowds of people from the country participated.

Ibn Khaldun continued to enjoy a comfortable life, plenty of livelihood, and power until Abu Abbas Ahmad, the owner of Constantine, invaded the kingdom of his cousin, Prince Abu Abdullah, killed him, and took control of the country. He appointed Ibn Khaldun to the position of chamberlain for a while, and then did not He was soon removed from it. So Prince “Abu Hammou” - the Sultan of “Tlemcen” - offered him the position of governor on the condition that he would help him seize “Bejaia” by inciting the tribes and attracting them to him. Because he knew of his influence and influence, but Ibn Khaldun apologized for accepting the job, and offered to send his brother Yahya instead of him, but he responded to what he asked of him to mobilize the tribes and win them over to him. But things ended with Abu Hammu’s defeat and his escape, and Ibn Khaldun fled again after being pursued by all his allies.

Ibn Khaldun left his family in Fez and went to Andalusia again, where he was hosted by its Sultan “Ibn al-Ahmar” for a while, then he returned to “Morocco” again, determined to leave the affairs of politics and devote himself to reading and classification. He went with his family to his friends from Beni Arif, and they put him in one of their palaces in Qal’at Ibn Salamah - in the Oran province of Algeria - and he spent with his family in that far-off place for about four years, during which he was blessed with calm and stability, and he was able to compose his well-known book. “The Book of Lessons and the Diwan of the Beginning and the News in the Days of the Arabs, the Persians, and the Berbers, and Those of Their Contemporaries of the Greatest Authority,” which he published with his famous introduction that dealt with the affairs of human society and its laws. He finished writing it when he was about forty-five years old, after his experiences had matured and his knowledge and observations had expanded.

Ibn Khaldun wanted to return to Tunisia, so he wrote to Abu Hammou asking for his permission and asking for his forgiveness. The Sultan granted him permission, so he returned to his hometown, and remained devoted to research and study until he completed the revision and refinement of his book. He feared that the Sultan would push him into the field of politics, which he had become fed up with and decided to stay away from. He decided to leave Tunisia, and on his Hajj trip he found a suitable pretext to plead with the Sultan to release him and allow him to leave. He arrived in Alexandria on the first of Shawwal 784 AH / December 8, 1382 AD. He stayed there for a month to prepare for the journey to Mecca, and then he headed - after that - to Cairo. 

He was taken by that charming city with all its manifestations of civilization and development. He described his thought of it this way: “I saw the presence of the world, the garden of the world, the gathering of nations, and the seat of the king, the palaces and halls looming in its atmosphere, the palaces and schools blooming with its horizons, and the floods and planets of its scholars illuminating, and on the shore of the Nile Sea it represented the river of paradise, and the cannon of the waters of the sky.” He gives them drink and water from the rain, and brings to them fruits and good things in abundance. I passed through the city’s highways crowded with traffic, and its markets full of blessings...” 

He received warmth and honor from the people of Cairo and its scholars, and students gathered around him, drawing on his knowledge. He took Al-Azhar as a school where he met his students and disciples. A large number of notables and scholars learned from him, including Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. “. He also received the appreciation and respect of al-Zahir Barquq - the Sultan of Egypt - who appointed him to teach Maliki jurisprudence at the Qumsiyya School. He also appointed him to the position of judge of Maliki judges, and bestowed upon him the title of “Wali al-Din.” 

So Ibn Khaldun spared no effort in reforming what had befallen the judiciary - in That era was filled with corruption and turmoil. He showed rigor and justice to which many historians have attested. He was keen on equality, keen on precision, and abstained from favoritism. This brought him the hostility of many, in addition to his envious people who were aroused by his favor and position with the Sultan, and the demand of students of knowledge towards him. He did not show resistance to the efforts of those who sought against him, as he renounced himself in positions, especially after he lost his wife, children and money when the ship that carried them from Tunisia sank. “To “Egypt” near “Alexandria”, and a short distance before they reached it.

When news came of Timur Leng’s armies attacking the Levant and his seizure of Aleppo, and the intimidation, killing, and sabotage that accompanied that, Al-Nasir Faraj went out with his armies to confront him, and took with him Ibn Khaldun, among the judges and jurists he had taken. Skirmishes and fighting took place between the two groups, then peace negotiations began, but a dispute arose between the princes of Al-Nasir Faraj, and the Sultan learned that they had hatched a plot to depose him, so he left Damascus and returned to Cairo. Ibn Khaldun went to meet Tamerlane, bringing him gifts and asking him to provide security for the judges and jurists in their homes and sanctuaries.

When “Ibn Khaldun” returned to “Egypt,” he sought to import the position of chief judge, until he succeeded in his endeavor, then he was dismissed from it a year later in Rajab 804 AH / February 1402 AD, but he returned to assume it again in Dhul-Hijjah 804 AH / January 1402 AD. Ended He died on 26 Ramadan 808 AH / 16 March 1405 AD at the age of seventy-six years.

Ibn Khaldun is considered the first founder of sociology, and his famous introduction attests to his pioneering of this science, in which he dealt with what he now calls “social manifestations” - or what he called “the realities of human urbanization,” or “human social conditions.” In his research, he relied on observing social phenomena in the peoples with whom he had contact, and life among their people, and tracing those phenomena in the history of these same peoples in previous eras. Ibn Khaldun - in the research of his introduction - was ahead of his time, and a large number of sociologists who came after him were influenced by him, such as: the Italian “Vico,” the German “Lessing,” and the Frenchman “Voltaire.” He was also influenced by the famous French scholar “Jean Jacques Rousseau, the English scholar Malthus, and the French scholar August Kant.

Ibn Khaldun’s originality and innovation in the science of history appear clear in his huge book, “The Lessons and the Diwan of the Beginner and the News,” and his scientific methodology and his critical and conscious mentality are evident in it, as he extrapolates historical events, in a rational, scientific way, and verifies them and excludes from them what turns out to be fabrication or inconsistency. As for the innovation that Ibn Khaldun approached, it was in organizing his work according to a new approach that differed greatly from the historical writings that preceded it. He did not follow its pattern, arranging events and facts according to the years of separation of countries and countries. Rather, he adopted a new, more precise system. He divided his work into several He wrote, and made each book into several connected chapters, and dealt with the history of each country separately in an integrated manner. He is distinguished from some of the historians who preceded him in this approach, such as Al-Waqidi, Al-Baladhuri, Ibn Abd Al-Hakam, and Al-Masoudi, by his clarity and accuracy in arrangement and tabulation, and his skill in coordination, organization, and linking between... Events. But he is accused of transmitting weak narrations that have no reliable support.

Likewise, Ibn Khaldun is considered a pioneer of the art of self-translation - autobiography - and his book “Introducing Ibn Khaldun and His Journey to the West and the East” - is considered one of the first sources for this art, despite the fact that it was preceded by several attempts at the art of self-translation, such as “Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani” in his book “Lifting the Pressure on Judges of Egypt” and Lisan al-Din Ibn al-Khatib in his book “Al-Ihata fi Akhbar Gharnata,” and Yaqut in his book “Dictionary of Writers.” He was distinguished by being the first to write an extensive translation about himself, containing many details of his life, childhood, and youth until just before his death.

Ibn Khaldun composed poetry in his youth and youth, and he continued to compose it until he was over fifty years old, so he devoted himself to science and classification, and he rarely composed poetry after that. Ibn Khaldun’s poetry varies in quality. Some of it is distinguished by its sweetness, quality, precision of words, and sublimity of meanings, which places him in the ranks of the great poets. However, there is little of his poetry. Some of it is considered to be poetry devoid of the spirit of poetry. Some of it is considered a middle ground between both schools of thought, and it is the majority. On his hair. Moreover, he was an example of a diligent scientist, an accomplished researcher, and a pioneer innovator in many sciences and arts. Ibn Khaldun left a legacy and clear imprints not only on the civilization and history of Islam, but also on human civilization in general, and his works and ideas continue to be a beacon for researchers and scholars throughout the days and ages.

The pioneer of sociology, the scholar and polymath historian Abdul Rahman Ibn Khaldun, died on the 26th of Ramadan 808 AH, corresponding to March 16, 1401 AD, in Cairo, at the age of 69 years.

[Last updated by Research Assistants, Oct. 23, 2023]

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RA Notes: Information about Ibn Khaludn was compiled from a number of Arabic and French sources.