Ibn Khaldoun Founder of Sociology and Philosophy of History

24 May 1332 17 March 1406
His name is Abu Zeid Abdel Rahman Ibn Muhammad Abu Bakr Ibn Muhammad Ibn Khaled Ibn Othman Al Andalusi Al Hadrami. He was born in Tunis on the 1st of Ramadan 732 A.H., i.e, May 1332.

He descends from a noble family whose origins root back to "Hadramout" south of Yemen. His family moved to Andalusia and settled in Seville in the tenth century where it became one of the three major clans who revolted against the Ummayad Rule.

His clan then moved to "Sabtah" on the Moroccan coast, then finally resided in Tunisia, thanks to their strong relations with the Hafsids, and assumed high ranking political and administrative posts there.

His Early Life.. Ibn Khaldoun's father taught him the rules of the Arabic language. He also learnt by heart the seven modes of recitation of the Holy Quran at the hands of many Imams specialised in this field.

Hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and even poetry were no exception.. Ibn Khaldoun was majorly influenced by Abu Muhammad Ibn Abdel Muhaimin Al Hadari, the prominent scholar of prophetic tradition (Hadith) and grammarian of Morocco by whom he was introduced to the field of Hadith,.

the six major books of that field together with the book of "Al Muwatta" and the "Biography of Prophet Muhammad" by Ibn Isac. Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim al-Ably furnished Ibn Khaldoun?s knowledge about philosophy, ( In technical language, a mode of the written text which corresponds to the oral recitation of the Quran as well as the punctuation of the written text which corresponds to the oral recitation) logic and science concerned with planets, animals, plants and solids in addition to geometry, music and astronomy.

High Ranking Posts After completing his education in 1352, Ibn Khaldoun assumed high ranking posts. His frequent official missions allowed him to visit many Islamic countries where he increased his knowledge about state affairs; politically, socially and economically.

Additionally, his ability to face up to challenges was highly developed. The Book of Al-Ebar and its Introduction In 1378, Ibn Khaldoun compiled the notes he jotted down during his tours in his book; the book of Al-Ebar which he wrote in 7 volumes.

The most significant part of this book is its 600-page-introduction which came to be known as Ibn Khaldoun's Muqadima Introduction to History.

Ibn Khaldoun's Muqadima "Introduction to History" Of his several writings, Ibn Khaldoun?s Muqadima was his masterpiece and a turning point in historiology. It was widely deemed as the principal precursor of sociology.

Ibn Khaldoun's Muqadima consists of six chapters: Ch. I tackles general sociology; Chs. II and III sociology of politics (tribal life, state, caliphs and ruling hierarchy); Ch. IV sociology of urban life; Ch. V sociology of economics and Ch. VI sociology of knowledge.

Ibn Khaldoun resorted to seven branches of knowledge to support his theory: historical research, ecology, nomad sociology, political sociology, urban sociology, industrial and economic sociology and sociology of knowledge.

Ibn Khaldoun is the founder of sociology or what he called the "Science of Society". It is an independent science that studies urban life and human society. The "Science of Society" is based on the notion that social phenomena are governed by fixed laws and are related to cause and effect.

Each phenomenon, he explains, has a cause and it is, in turn, the cause of a subsequent phenomenon. To Ibn Khaldoun, the concept of urban life comprises all social, political and cultural phenomena, where man cannot live in isolation.

In his Muqadima, Ibn Khaldoun also examined the political life , ruling hierarchy, rise and fall of states and the tribalism (or tribal spirit) underlying all of them. He stated that each state must experience 5 phases only which he explains in detail.

Ibn Khaldoun was not confined to sociology and history, he also studied the principles of economics. He stated in his Muqadima that generations vary according to their surrounding economic circumstances.

He studied some economic facts that became a corner-stone in modern economics like production methods in successive human societies transformation, as these societies developed from nomadic to urbanized societies, and from agriculture to trade and industry. Ibn Khaldoun hailed industry as the underpinning of urban development.

He also studied the concepts of division of labour and the added value. The Philosophy of History Hershaw, the English historian states that Ibn Khaldoun contributed majorly to renovating historiology.

To Ibn Khaldoun, historical events are not governed by coincidence nor by an unknown external force, they are rather the outcome of latent factors in human societies. History may seem to be no more than a series of figures and events.

However, a precise analysis of corresponding causes and effects underlies such figures. Ibn Khaldoun, thus, founded the science of history that has a philosophy and a critical scientific method that shifted it from a mere superficial description and unjustified narrations to rational analysis of justified events known as historical inevitability.


Hence, Ibn Khaldoun became a pioneer in the history of civilization or comparative history. Egypt... Ibn Khaldoun?s Final Sojourn Ibn Khaldoun came to Egypt where he acted as the royal judge in 1314.

When the Tatar Ruler Tamerlane invaded Syria and was on the brink of occupying Egypt, Egypt's Sultan sent Ibn Khaldoun for negotiations with the enemy. Tamerlane was deeply impressed by Ibn Khaldoun's rich knowledge and diplomacy and received him as an honoured guest. Ibn Khaldoun was even offered to join the former's council.

On his return to Egypt he was welcomed as a hero. He lived there until he passed away in Ramadan 808 AH, March 1406 Ibn Khaldoun in the Eyes of Western Scientists and Intellects Ibn Khaldoun's Muqadima had a major impact on western scientists who built on theories therein and introduced various developed approaches to interpreting history such as; the periodical interpretation, the religious interpretation and the geographical interpretation.

Moreover, Freud's interpretation of dreams through psychology showed similar results to those of Ibn Khaldoun's endeavors: dreams allow people to realize their aspirations while sleeping.

Montesquieu founded his theory of geographic interpretation of history on the same pillar noted by Ibn Khaldoun in his Muqadima.
Arnold Toynbee, the great historian stated that Ibn Khaldoun introduced a philosophy of history which is undoubtedly the best outcome of human thought throughout different ages.

Yves Lacoste defined Ibn Khaldoun's work itself as the science of history and called it the Arab miracle. George Moss described Ibn Khaldoun's Muqadima as one of the most significant outcome of human thought.

Maxim Gorki's letter to the Russian intellect Anotshin that dates back to September 21,1912 testifies that Ibn Khaldoun, in the fourteenth century, was the first to discover the role of economic factors and production relations.

The French Intellect Roger Garoudi said Ibn Khaldoun as early as the fourteenth century, personified the study of social structure as he was a scientist, an artist, a jurisprudent, a philosopher and a diplomat just like his genius renaissance counterparts in our society Dr. Taha Hussein, prepared his thesis in Paris in 1917 on Ibn Khaldoun's methodology and compared it to Descartes.

Thus, Ibn Khaldoun's Muqadima can be classified as the first encyclopedia of human sciences and it rather heralded the age of encyclopedias which appeared five centuries later. Four centuries later, European scientists exploited Ibn Khaldoun's ideas in sociology and philosophy of history to formulate new theories to impose western domination of the world.