Information AboutMuqaddimah |
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CONTENT Ibn Khaldun starts the ''Muqaddimah'' with a thorough criticism of the mistakes regularly committed by his fellow Historian s and the difficulties which await the historian in his work. He notes seven critical issues:
Against the seventh point (the ignorance of social laws) Ibn Khaldun lays out his theory of human Society in the ''Muqaddimah''. Sati' Al-Husri suggested that Ibn Khaldun's ''Muqaddimah]]'' is essentially a sociological work, sketching over its six books a general sociology; a sociology of politics; a sociology of urban life; a sociology of economics; and a sociology of knowledge. SOCIOLOGY 'Asabiyyah The concept of "'asabiyyah" ( Arabic "tribalism, clanism, modernly used for nationalism too" , a concept difficult to translate to English ) is one of the most well-known aspects of the ''Muqaddimah''. Ibn Khaldun argues, effectively, that each dynasty has within itself the seeds of its own downfall. He explains that ruling houses tend to emerge on the peripheries of great empires and use the unity presented by those areas to their advantage in order to bring about a change in leadership. As the new rulers establish themselves at the center of their empire, they become increasingly lax and more concerned with maintaining their lifestyles. Thus, a new dynasty can emerge at the periphery of their control and effect a change in leadership, beginning the cycle anew. Khaldun's central concept of ''asabiyah'', or " Social Cohesion ", seems to anticipate modern conceptions of Social Capital arising in Social Network s: This cohesion arises spontaneously in tribes and other small kinship groups; and it can be intensified and enlarged by a religious ideology. Khaldun's analysis looks at how this cohesion carries groups to power but contains within itself the seeds - psychological, sociological, economic, political - of the group's downfall, to be replaced by a new group, dynasty or empire bound by a stronger (or at least younger and more vigorous) cohesion. Interestingly, Khaldun's concept is instinctive and does not involve any Social Contract or explicit forms of Constitution or other Instructional Capital that would provide a basis for appeals, in law or otherwise. Conflict theory Ibn Khaldun conceived both a central Social Conflict ("town" versus "desert") as well as a theory (using the concept of a "generation") of the necessary loss of power of city conquerors coming from the desert. Similarities to modern sociology The sociology of the ''Muqaddimah'' is more similar to the theories developed by Hegel or Marx in emphasizing Dialectic or Feedback Loop s, or Systems Theory as applied to fields such as Corporate Social Responsibility , than to the theories of Durkheim and others who emphasized structures. There is a remarkable similarity between modern economic ideas and some ideas developed by the thinkers evoked here, especially Ibn Khaldun. ECONOMICS A similar Dialectic approach was taken to describe the sociological implications of tax choices, which is now of course part of Economics : "In the early stages of the state, taxes are light in their incidence, but fetch in a large revenue...As time passes and kings succeed each other, they lose their tribal habits in favor of more civilized ones. Their needs and exigencies grow...owing to the luxury in which they have been brought up. Hence they impose fresh taxes on their subjects... And sharply raise the rate of old taxes to increase their yield...But the effects on business of this rise in taxation make themselves felt. For business men are soon discouraged by the comparison of their profits with the burden of their taxes...Consequently production falls off, and with it the yield of taxation." This analysis anticipates the modern economic concept known as the Laffer Curve . HISTORIOGRAPHY The ''Muqaddimah'' further emphasized the role of Systemic Bias in affecting the Standard Of Evidence . Khaldun was quite concerned with the effect of raising standard of evidence when confronted with uncomfortable claims, and relaxing it when given claims that seemed reasonable or comfortable. He was a jurist, and sometimes participated reluctantly in rulings that he felt were coerced, based on arguments he didn't respect. Khaldun had few successors in his thinking about history until Arnold J. Toynbee , a 20th century British historian. BIOLOGY Ibn Khaldun wrote the following on the Biological theory of Evolution :''Muqaddimah'', p. 74-75. HADITH Some of the content is related to the " Hadith of Persians and belief": SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINK REFERENCES |
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