IBN KHALDUNS THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE AND ITS …

IBN KHALDUN’S THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE AND ITS

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

BY

KHALED M. A. AL-HALABI

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for

the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education

Institute of Education

International Islamic University Malaysia

JULY 2013

ii

ABSTRACT

Many researchers studied Ibn Khaldun’s thought in different scientific fields; few of

them, however, shed the light comprehensively on his theory of knowledge and

epistemological background which supported him writing his great works. In this

study, the researcher brings up Ibn Khaldun’s theory of knowledge and highlights

some of its main issues such as the nature of knowledge and source of knowledge:

their fields and characteristics. In addition, the researcher explores how Ibn Khaldun’s

theory of knowledge affects his method of analysis in the Muqaddimah and suggests

many educational implications. A brief historical analysis is used in this study to

highlight the stages of Ibn Khaldun’s life that shaped his thought and theory of

knowledge. The descriptive and analytic methods provide the researcher a lens that

leads him deeply to arrive to the following results: Ibn Khaldun’s theory of

knowledge is based on Islam and it is closely related to his view of the worlds of

existence and human nature. Knowledge has a nature covers both seen and unseen

worlds. It is all acquired and evidenced based. Knowledge is obtained mainly from

senses, intellect, revelation and inspiration. The seen world is the field of senses and

intellect while the details and secrets of unseen world are made known only by

revelation. Ibn Khaldun rejects doubt and skepticism and makes certainty his criterion

of knowledge. Ibn Khaldun’s theory of knowledge plays a direct role in delineating

his new conception of history; direct observation and rational analysis are his main

tools in proving and arriving at new concepts. Ibn Khaldun’s theory of knowledge

suggests several educational implications. It implies formulating comprehensive

educational aims, such as producing a Muslim, whose is a firm believer in Allah and

his spiritual, intellectual, and physical growth is well balanced, and supporting a

system of life where the religious and worldly affairs are inseparable and integral parts

of one whole. In addition, Ibn Khaldun’s theory of knowledge suggests building

various learning theories: the early stages of learning must be based upon the

education of the senses, learning moves from concrete to the abstract and it is

individual, collaborative and social. Ibn Khaldun’s theory of knowledge generates

effective teaching method, which prepare students to acquire a strong habit in

different fields of knowledge, begins gradually with the simple exposition of the

subject and ends with revealing all of its secrets. His theory of knowledge suggests,

also, curriculum organizations. It implies multidisciplinary approach, where barriers

between subjects are broken down and connections among curricula are made, and

discipline-based content where one of the disciplines has a priority more than others

and the students do not suffer from the problem of knowledge fragmentation. Theory

of knowledge helps us to understand reality and use the knowledge to promote our

lives and goals. It is worthy of study specially if it holds for different times, aims at

happiness in this life and hereafter and belongs to remarkable scholars such as

Ibn Khaldun.

iii

البحثخلاصة

ير من الباحثين بدراسة فكر ابن خلدون في عدة مجالات علمية ولكن قليل من سلط ثقام ك كانت له سندا في كتاباته وأعمالهالضوء بشكل شامل على نظرية ابن خلدون المعرفية التي

الضوء على نظرية ابن خلدون في المعرفة مركزا على الباحث العظيمة. في هذه الدراسة، يسلطقضايا رئيسية منها طبيعة المعرفة، مصادرها، مجالاتها وخصائصها. علاوة على ذلك، استكشف الباحث مدى تأثير نظرية المعرفة لدى ابن خلدون على كل من: منهجه التحليلي

التحليل التاريخي وصياغة كثير من الممارسات التربوية. اعتمد الباحث على في كتابة المقدمة، بن خلدونيساعد على فهم العوامل المؤثرة على فكر افي دراسته لأنه -بشكل موجز-

التحليلي للوصول بعمق إلى الوصفي و على المنهج الباحث كذلك اعتمدو .ونظريته في المعرفةة ابن خلدون في المعرفة على إيمانه بالدين الإسلامي؛ فهي لصيقة النتائج التالية: تستند نظري

الصلة بتصوره للوجود وطبيعة الانسان. فالمعرفة لها طبيعة تتعاطى مع عالمي الغيب والشهادة وهي كلها مكتسبة مبينة على دليل. كما ان مصادرها تتنوع لتشمل الحس والعقل والوحي

عالم الشهادة كما أن تفاصيل الغيب لا تعلم بغير الوحي. هو والإلهام. فمجال الحس والعقليرفض ابن خلدون الظن والشك ويجعل اليقين معياره في المعرفة، لذا لعبت نظرية المعرفة لدى

والتحليل العقلاني لاحظةفالم .ابن خلدون دورا مهما في رسم ملامح مفهومه الجديد للتاريخنظرية المعرفة لدى ابن خلدون تحوي بات هذا المفهوم.في اكتشاف وإث تينرئيس اتينا أدتكان

صياغة أهداف تربوية شاملة وتصميم فهي تساعد على في جنباتها تضمينات تربوية عديدة.طرائق تدريس فاعلة، صالحة حتى زمننا المعاصر. إن نظرية المعرفة و نظريات تعلم متعددة

إذا -خاصة –فنا، وهي جديرة أن تدرس هداوأتساعدنا على فهم الواقع والارتقاء بحياتنا مختلفة وتهدف إلى السعادة في الدنيا والآخرة وتخص عالما متميزا كابن عوالمكانت تتعاطى مع

خلدون.

iv

APPROVAL PAGE

The thesis of Khaled M. A. Alhalabi has been approved by the following:

___________________________

Rosnani Hashim

Supervisor

____________________________

Ssekamanya Siraje Abdallah

Internal Examiner

____________________________

Saeda Siraj

External Examiner

____________________________

El-Fatih Abdullahi Abdesalam

Chairman

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except

where otherwise stated. I also declare that is has not been previously or concurrently

submitted as a whole for my other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.

Khaled M. A. Alhalabi

Signature……………………… Date……………………..

vi

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION

OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH

Copyright © 2013 by International Islamic University Malaysia. All rights reserved.

IBN KHALDUN’S THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE AND ITS EDUCATIONAL

IMPLICATIONS

I hereby affirm that The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) holds all

rights in the copyright of this work and henceforth any reproduction or use in any form

or by means whatsoever is prohibited without the written consent of IIUM. No part of

this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted, in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording

or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Affirmed by Khaled M. A. Alhalabi

.................................... .....................................

Signature Date

vii

To my mother, wife, and children words cannot express the gratitude I hold in my

heart, you gave me hope when I thought there was none. . Thank you for the support,

encouragement and sincere prayers.

viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is pertinent to take a moment and recall the help and guidance of several people who

have paved the way for me and made it possible to complete this study. But before all,

I thank Allah for his countless blessings.

My deepest appreciation and gratitude goes to the greatest supervisor ever

Prof. Dr. Rosnani Hashim. Thank you for your continuous support and your sincere

encouragement. It is an honor to have been under your supervision as I have learnt so

much from your expertise. Your unique style suited me perfectly and the pace was

more than suitable. Thank you for making me feel positive and giving me the

confidence to tackle an otherwise unfamiliar topic.

My most sincere gratitude goes to all of my amazing lecturers; thank you for

the knowledge and for the relationships that we have built solely for the sake of Allah.

May Allah bless you all with a life full of happiness and Baraka.

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ………...................................................................................................... ii

Abstract in Arabic……………………………………………………………....... iii

Approval Page……………………………………………………………………. iv

Declaration ………………………………………………………………...…….. v

Copyright Page ………………………………………………………………....... vi

Dedication …………………………………………………………………..…… vii

Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………...……. viii

List of Figures ………………………………………………………………..….. xii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION……………………………...………….. 1

Background……... …………………………………………………….... 1

Statement of the Problem……………………………………...…………. 8

Purpose of The Study………………………………………………..…... 14

Definition of terms……….………………………………………………. 15

Previous Studies………………………………………………………….. 15

Significance of The study…………………………………...…………… 22

Methodology……………………………………………...……………… 24

Delimitation……………………………………………...………………. 26

Thesis Organization………………………………………………...……. 27

CHAPTER TWO: NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE……………...……………. 28

Introduction………………………………………………….….……….. 28

A Brief Biography………………………………………….………..…… 28

His Education…………………………………………….…………... 31

His Political Life……………………………………….………..….... 34

Nature of knowledge…..…………………………………….…..……...... 41

Conclusion……….……………………………………………...……….. 52

CHAPTER THREE: SENSES………………………………………..……….. 54

Introduction ……………………………………………….…….………. 54

Sensitive Faculty……………………………………………..………….. 54

Classification of Senses………………………………………...………... 56

External Senses……………………………………………...……….. 57

Internal Senses…………………………………………..….………... 59

Common Sense………………………………………...………… 60

Imagination………………………………………...……………. 62

Estimation…………………………………………………...…... 66

Memory…………………………………..………………...……. 68

Sensual Perception……………………………………………...………... 69

The Role of Senses……………………………………………..………... 72

Human Cognition………………………………………………………… 75

Characteristics of Sensual Knowledge and Its Fields……………………. 78

Conclusion…………………………………………………………...…... 82

x

CHAPTER FOUR: INTELLECT……………………………………..……… 85

Introduction………………………………………………………..…….. 85

Meaning of Intellect………………………………………………...……. 85

Blank Slate……………………………………………………………….. 95

Intellectual Perception Theory………………………………………...…. 97

Characteristics of Intellectual Knowledge…………………………..…... 101

Fields of Intellectual Knowledge……………………………………..…. 104

Conclusion………………………………………………………….…..... 108

CHAPTER FIVE: REVELATION…………………………………..….…… 110

Introduction …………...………………………………………….…….. 110

The Necessity of Revelation………………………………………..…… 110

Spiritual Needs……………………………………………….……. 112

Belief and Faith……………………………………………….…… 113

In Law…………………………………………………………..….. 114

Truth of Prophethood………………………………………………..…... 116

Historical background of Prophethood theories………………...….. 117

Ibn Khaldun’s Theory of Prophethood………………………………..… 124

Meaning of wahi……………………………………………….…...….… 131

The Procedure of wahi…………………………………………………… 133

Characteristics of Revelation……………………………………...……... 134

Divine Source…………………………………………………..…... 134

Stability and Comprehensiveness………………………………...… 136

Practicability…………………………………………….……...…... 137

Privacy……………………………………………………..…….…. 139

Fields of Revelation…………………………………………..…….…… 139

Conclusion…………………………………………………………...….. 142

CHAPTER SIX: INSPIRATION (Al- kashf)………………………..…......... 145

Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 145

Definition of Inspired Knowledge……………………………………….. 146

The Source of Inspired Knowledge………………………………...……. 152

Precondition For the State of Inspiration…………………………..…….. 152

Field of Inspired Knowledge……………………………………...……... 156

Criticism of Contemporary Sufism………………………………...…...... 159

Characteristics of Inspired Knowledge………………………………….. 162

Conclusion………………………………………………………...……... 164

CHAPTER SEVEN: SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE AND RESEARCH

METHOD……………………………………...………...

167

Introduction ………………………………………………….….……….. 167

Method of Analysis……………………………………………..………... 168

Procedure of Analysis…………………………………………………... 173

xi

Verifying events and reported stories aligned with the constitutive principles

underlying them.…………………………………….…...

176

Comparing events and reported stories with similar material….….… 180

Investigation by the yardstick of philosophy…………………….….. 181

Exploring intensely with the help of knowledge of what actually

exists in civilization…………………………………………….....…..

183

Probing profoundly through speculation and critical insight…………. 188

Conclusion…..……………………………………………………...……. 190

CHAPTER EIGHT: EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS………………… 192

Introduction…………………………………………………………..….. 192

Aims of Education………………………………………………….…..... 193

Formation of Mind…………………………………………………..….... 198

Learning Theories……………………………………………………....... 200

Curriculum Organization……………………………………………...…. 206

Teaching Methods……………………………………………………..… 214

General Conclusion...…………………………………………………..... 226

BIBLIOGRAPHY ………..……………………………………..……………… 229

xii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Page No.

3.1

Ventricles of human brain and location of internal senses

69

3.2 Ibn Khaldun’s Theory of sensual perception 79

4.1 Definition of Human Intellect 103

1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

Ibn Khaldun is one of the great Muslim scholars who had achieved prominence in

different parts of the world. In the east, Ali Al-Wardi, a well-known Iraqi professor

declares that Ibn Khaldun is one of the greatest thinkers in the world. His fame came

from being the first who studied the human community in a realistic manner1; and his

great creativity arose from the fact that he had managed to free himself from the old

logic and take for himself a new logic2. Mohammed Abid Al-Jabri, a Moroccan critic,

and a professor of philosophy and Islamic thought in Mohammed V University in

Rabat,points out that Ibn Khaldun is a real creative thinker who rationalizes the

Islamic history till his era; his attempt is truly unique not seen in the whole Islamic

legacy3.

In the west, George Sarton, a historian of science from Harvard University, did

not see him as” the greatest historian of the middle ages, towering like a giant over a

tribe of pygmies”4 but as “one of the first philosophers of history, a forerunner of

Machiavelli, Bodin, Vico, Comte and Cournot”5. Sarton believed that “among

Christian historians of the middle age there are but one or two whom we perhaps

compare to him, to wit, Otto von Freising and John of Salisbury, and the distance

between them and him is great indeed, far greater than the distance between him and

1 Ali Al-Wardi, Manṭiq Ibn Khaldūn (London: Dar Kufan, 1994), 11.

2 Ibid., 13.

3 Mohammed Abid AlJabiri, (Beirut: Markaz dirasat

al wahda alarabiya, 5th ed., 1992), 11. 4 George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, vol. III (Florida, USA: Robert E. Krieger

Publishing Company, 1975), Part III: 1262. 5 Ibid.

2

Vico”6. The British philosopher Robert Flint went further than this when he described

him "as a theorist on history he had no equal in any age… Plato, Aristotle and

Augustine were not his peers”7. For the British historian, Arnold Toynbee, Ibn

Khaldun was ‘the one outstanding personality’ of Islamic thought; he calls his

philosophy of history “the greatest work of its kind that has ever been created by any

mind in any time or place”8.

He has been a wide range theoretician and remarkably contributed and filled

the human life with great works in different fields; he excels in history, politics, law,

sociology, economy, philosophy and education. He is “a deep student of human

affairs, anxious to analyze the past of mankind in order to understand its present and

future”9. His works have been studied and analyzed by orientalists, historians, social

scientists and others who work in the interdisciplinary border areas between the

traditional academic subjects10

.

His fame is based on his scholarly book, the masterpiece which is of unrivalled

value, the Muqaddimah11

. Arnold Toynbee, in his book Growth of Civilizations,

classified it as “a piece of literature which can bear comparison with the work of a

Thucydides or the work of a Machiavelli for both breadth and profundity of vision as

well as for sheer intellectual power”12

. Saleh Faghirzadeh expresses his admiration for

the Muqaddimah and considers it “the most logical extraction of all human sciences

written at that time”13

. Mohammed A. Al-Jabri sees it as a pyramidal and unified

6 Ibid.

7 Michael Gerli, “Encyclopedia of Medieval Iberia” (New York: Routledge, 2003), 148.

8 Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History, vol. 3 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1962), 321.

9 George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, III:1262.

10 Ronald L. Nettler, “Theology in the Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun” (MA Thesis, McGill University,

1967)., 1. 11

Walter J. Fischel, Ibn Khaldun in Egypt, His Public Functions and Historical Research (1382-1406).

A Study in Islamic Historiography (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), 1. 12

Toynbee, A Study of History, 3. 13

Saleh Fagherzadeh, Sociology of Sociology, In Search of Ibn Khaldun’s Sociology Then and Now

3

construct and developed thought in its content14

. It provides a condensed version of

his ideas about various branches of knowledge during his time. It is composed of

encyclopedic knowledge about different domains. Charles Issawi confirms its

extensive coverage of various sciences and being of large scope by describing it as

“the most comprehensive synthesis in the human sciences ever achieved by the Arabs

and gives the modern non-specialist reader a vivid and accurate picture of the range of

knowledge available to the medieval Muslim world”15

.

Saleh Faghirzadeh believes that Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah is the first book

“in which the science of Sociology emerged as an independent science and Ibn

Khaldun as a social thinker who made society the subject matter of a distinct

science16

. In sociology, Ibn Khaldun put theories that are all pearls of wisdom to the

extent that sociologists in particular frequently have claimed him as the precursor, if

not the founding father, of their discipline17

. James Conyers affirms that “Ibn Khaldun

has as much claim as any other one person to be called the Father of Sociology”18

.

Luduik Gumplowicz explains this claim and justifies by saying that “ long before

August Comte, even before Vico, whom the Italians regard as the first European

sociologist, an Islamic scholar ,Ibn Khaldun, studied, with accurate good sense of

moderation, the social phenomena and advanced highly valuable views on matter”19

.

Ibn Khaldun is the first to state and apply some basic principles, on which

(Tehran: the Soroush Press, 1982), 180. 14

Mohammed A. Al-Jabri, Al-Assabiya and the State in Ibn Khaldun’s Thought. (Beirut: Dar Attalia

Publisher, 1982), 118. 15

Charles Issawi, An Arab Philosophy of History. Selections from the Prolegomena of Ibn Khaldun of

Tunis (1332-1406) (London: John Murray publishers Ltd, 1969), 2. 16

Saleh Fagherzadeh, Sociology of Sociology, In Search of Ibn Khaldun’s Sociology Then and Now, 17. 17

Pitrim A. Sorokin, Charle C. Zimmerman and Charles J. Gaplin, A Systematic Book in Rural

Sociology (New York: Russel and Russel, 1969), 55. 18

James E. Conyers, “Ibn Khaldun: The Father of Sociology,” International Journal of Contemporary

Sociology 9, no. 4 (1972): 179. 19

Yazid Isa Soraty, “Ibn Khaldun’s Views on Man, Society and Education” (Ph.D Thesis, University of

Pittsburgh, 1985), 8.

4

sociology must rest. Charles Issawi studied and enumerated them in his book An Arab

philosophy of history as follows

First, those social phenomena seem to obey laws which are sufficiently

constant to cause social events to follow regular, well defined patterns

and sequences. Hence a grasp of these laws enables the sociologist to

understand the trend of events around him. Second, those laws operate

on masses and cannot be significantly influenced by isolated

individuals. Third, that these laws can be discovered only by gathering

large numbers of facts and observing concomitances and sequence.

Fourth, that much the same set of social laws operates in societies with

the same kind of structures, however much these societies may be

separated by space or time. Fifth, that societies are not static, that is to

say that social forms change and evolve. Lastly, that these laws are

sociological and not a mere reflection of biological impulses or physical

factors20

.

Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah has also left an undisputedly remarkable mark on

modern economics21

by constructing “very fundamental analysis for modern

economics development”22

. Charles Issawi indicates that it was Ibn Khaldun’s views

on pure economics that have earned him the title of pioneer economist. He believes

that Ibn Khaldun’s modernity lies in part in the fact that more clearly than many

modern economists, “he saw the interrelation of political, social, economic, and

demographic factors”23

. James Conyers rightly suggests that “Ibn Khaldun should be

read in sociological theory courses along with some of the much, much later founders

or fathers of sociology (Comte, Marx, Spencer, Sumner, etc.) and given his proper

place in the field, i.e., the founder”24

.

J.D.C. Boulakia attributes the origin of the economic growth to Ibn

20


Tunis (1332-1406), 7–9. 21

Mohammad Tahir Sabit Mohammad, “Principles of Sustainable Development in Ibn Khaldun

Economic Thought,” Malaysian Journal of Real Estate 5, no. 1 (2010): 5. 22

Irfan Syauqi Beik and Laily Dwi Arsyianti, “Ibn Khaldun’s Contribution on Modern Economics

Development:An Analysis Based on Selected Economic Issues”, n.d., 16,

http://www.uned.es/congreso-ibn-khaldun/pdf/06IrfanBeik.pdf. 23


Tunis (1332-1406), 16. 24

James E. Conyers, “Ibn Khaldun: The Father of Sociology,” 180.

5

Khaldun25

while Mohammed Tahir affirms that Ibn Khaldun “preceded Adam Smith in

the theory of labor as a purchase price or commodity, Karl Marx in necessary and

surplus labor, and David Ricardo in arbitrarily choosing gold and silver as invariable

unit of measurement and as a commodity”26

. A.S. Soofi has confidence to assert that

“One of the most prominent contributions of Ibn Khaldun to economics is his theory

of income, expenditure, and multiplier which establishes Ibn Khaldun as a precursor

to Malthus, Khan, and Keynes”27

.

Besides, he has great contributions on the concepts of agriculture, demand and

supply, and price interdependence28

. A.S. Soofi listed a number of economic ideas

discussed in the Muqaddimah by this great Muslim scholar, Ibn Khaldun; they include

prices, growth, development, distribution, money, value, public finance, inflation,

business cycles, benefits of trade demand and rent29

. While Irfan Syauqi Beik

highlighted other economic ideas attributed to Ibn Khaldun in his Muqaddimah, they

are: “difference in two different countries as the basis for the existence of international

trade, people’s desire and government spending’ as ‘the variable affecting aggregate

demand, and product scarcity, and production cost’ as the variables affecting

aggregate supply”30

.

Not only was Ibn Khaldun recognized as a prominent sociologist or economist

but also as a pioneer historian. The Muqaddimah is still a source of reference;

25

J.D.C. Boulakia, “Ibn Khaldun: A fourteenth-Century Economist,” The Journal of Political Economy

79, no. 5 (1971): 1105–1118. 26

Mohammad Tahir Sabit Mohammad, “Principles of Sustainable Development in Ibn Khaldun

Economic Thought,” 5. 27

A.S. Soofi, “Economics of Ibn Khaldun Revisited,” History of Political Economy 27, no. 2 (1995):

387. 28


Development:An Analysis Based on Selected Economic Issues,” 15. 29

A.S. Soofi, “Economics of Ibn Khaldun Revisited,” 387. 30


Development:An Analysis Based on Selected Economic Issues,” 15.

6

incomparable in value by no other work specialized in the History subject31

.

Abdussalam Cheddadi highlighted the importance of Ibn Khaldun in historiography,

he says:

We can, without exaggeration, state that Ibn Khaldun is both the best

source of information for modern European historians working on North

Africa, and their theoretical guide. His periodisation of history, the main

problems he deals with and the global meaning he extracts from them

have had a decisive influence. In more general terms, whilst it is true

that his synthetic history of the Arab world as a whole has not really

been exploited, the Muqaddimah’s accounts of political and religious

institutions, of the emblems of power, of the history of the sciences and

of education have been exploited to the full. In a word, we can therefore

say that the modern history of Islam is enormously indebted to Ibn

Khaldun32

Grace Cairns believes that, in his great Muqaddimah, “Ibn Khaldun almost

four centuries before Vico explicitly calls history a science and a social science”33

.

Harry Elmer Barnes points out that Ibn Khaldun’s importance as a philosopher of

history lies in the fact that he rationalized the subject of history and reflected on its

method and purposes. Thus, he was the Roger Bacon of medieval historiography. He

believed that history should be a science and that of social development34

. That’s why

there is a “dispute between historians and sociologist for the honor of claiming him as

their own”35

.

George Sarton regards “Ibn Khaldun as the greatest theoretician of history, the

greatest philosopher of man’s experience, not only of the middle ages, but the whole

period extending from the time of the great classical historians down to that of

Machiavelli, Bodin, and Vico”36

. His historical approach is distinguished from utopia

31

Ibid., 2. 32

Abdesselam Cheddadi, “Recognising the Importance of Ibn Khaldun”, November 11, 2005, 10. 33

Grace Cairns, Philosophies of History (New York: Philosophical Library, 1962), 322. 34

Harry Elmer Barnes, A History of Historical Writing (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1962), 92. 35

Hyden V. White, “Ibn Khaldun in theWorld of Philosophy of History,” Comparative Studies in

Society and History 2, no. October,1959 (1959): 112. 36

Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, III:1262.

7

of the Greek philosophers whose ideal city is something rare and remote; and he

discussed it as a hypothesis37

, while Ibn Khaldun “always tried to show the relation or

the link between the economic, social, and political events through careful review,

examination, and analysis of historical events”38

.

Education is another main field discussed in Muqaddimah. Fahri Kayadibi

states that Ibn Khaldun’s “education-teaching views which shed light on current

educational systems and consequently provide a text from which we may take

benefit”39

. One of the most influential points of Ibn Khaldun's pedagogy is that “he

did not neglect to connect education and learning to both human psychology and to

the prevailing social conditions”40

.

He dissertated in a scientific way many other subjects and propositions:

philosophy, logic, physics, astronomy, astrology, alchemy and numerology. Ibn

Khaldun's influence on these subjects has remained paramount ever since his life. He

contributed and filled the Islamic life with great works in different fields. Rather, his

books have been translated into many languages, both in east and west, and have

inspired subsequent development of these sciences. These contributions in different

fields of knowledge confirm what some researchers claim that Ibn Khaldun’s strong

theoretical foundation and various sources of knowledge led him to his great works41

.

Many theses and publications were written to demonstrate Ibn Khaldun’s

presence, remarkable thoughts, and works42

. Despite the fact that he lived in the 14th

37

Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University

Press, 2nd ed., 1967), II:137. 38


Development:An Analysis Based on Selected Economic Issues,” 3. 39

Fahri Kayadibi, “Ibn Khaldoun and Education,” Http://www.monthly-

renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=544, 2001. 40

A. M. Al-Araki, “Ibn Khaldun: Discourse of the Method and Concepts of Economic Sociology”,

1983, http://home.online.no/~al-araki/arabase2/ibn/khald0001.html. 41

Zaid Ahmad, Epistemology of Ibn Khaldun (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003), 2. 42

Mohammed Abid Al-Jabiri, , 3.

8

and 15th centuries, his thoughts are appropriate for discussion even today and have

become a source of scientific and political judgments43

.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Ibn Khaldun’s great works reflect his own personal philosophy; they provide “insights

into the workings of his mind”44

and they are a manifestation of a great theory of

knowledge. Some researchers attribute his famed works and theory of knowledge to

the fact that he was Ghazalian, while others claim that he was a Rushdian45

. It might

be perplexing in view of the fact that Al-Ghazali and IbnRushd were in opposition to

each other due to their philosophical orientation. Whilst Ibn Rushd was a passionate

follower of Aristotelian philosophy, Al-Ghazali was its bitterest opponent46

.

Although Ibn Khaldun has adopted from Al-Ghazali his hostility to the

Aristotelian logic, and has taken on the favorable attitudes of IbnRushd who indicated

that the masses' ways of life are worthy of being attentively taken care of by the

philosophers as against the dictation of their superior logic47

. In fact, Ibn Khaldun is

essentially different from both Al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd. That is, despite the major

similarities between the inferences of Ibn Khaldun and Al-Ghazali, some foundations

for arguments used by Ibn Khaldun and the components upon which he established his

thought, over and above those conclusions arrived at in the name of philosophy, are

diverse from those of Al-Ghazali.

43

Taghi Azadarmaki, “Ibn Khaldun’s Social Theory and Iranian Society”, n.d., 2,

http://azadarmaki.ir/papers/en_ibn-khaldun.pdf. 44

Franz Rosenthal, “Translator’s Introduction,” in The Muqaddimah: an Introduction to History, vol. 1,

2nd ed. (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1967), xxx. 45

Ali Husayn Al-Wardi, “Sociological Analysis of Ibn Khaldun’s Theory: A Study in the Sociology of

Knowledge” (Ph.D Thesis, University of Texas, 1950), 259. 46

Ibid., 260. 47

Ibid.

9

In his Shifa' al-sa'il, Ibn Khaldun answers the question as to whether it is

achievable to arrive at mystical knowledge without the help of a Sufi shaykh guiding

the learner along the path. Ibn Khaldun is inclined to follow Al-Ghazali in reconciling

mysticism with theology, but “he goes further than the latter in bringing mysticism

completely within the purview of the jurisprudent (faqih) and in developing a model

of the Sufi shaykh, or master, as rather similar to the theologian”48

. Indeed, Ibn

Khaldun here opposed the distinction made by Al-Ghazali between the jurisprudent

and the Sufi. Al-Ghazali was also an advocate of Sufism, though he argued that Sufi

experiences were outside the domain of jurisprudence, requiring a more expansive

gauge than the criteria employed by Islamic jurisprudence.

Again, in spite of the seeming resemblance between the efforts of Ibn Khaldun

and Ibn Rushd towards bifurcating the scopes of religion and philosophy49

Ibn

Khaldun criticized the notion of a hierarchy of being, according to which human

thought can be gradually cleansed until it goes completely around and comprehends

the first intellect which is identified with the God. He argued that “this process is

inconceivable without the participation of revelation, so that it is impossible for

human beings to achieve the highest level of understanding and happiness through the

use of reason alone”50

. The foundation of his argument here rests on the base that

logic cannot be applied to metaphysics and theology, because the empirical nature of

our knowledge of facts cannot be transferred into abstract and pure ideas at a higher

level of human consciousness51

.

48


Tunis (1332-1406), 35. 49

Ömer Türker, “The Perception of Rational Sciences in the Muqaddimah: Ibn Khaldun’s Individual

Aptitude Theory,” Asian Journal of Social Science, no. 36 (2008): 466. 50


Tunis (1332-1406), 36. 51

Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, III:251.

10

Logic, for Ibn Khaldun, is an instrument that cannot deal with different

realities directly, whether they exist in the mind or outside it or are external to these

two realms of existence52

. Logic, according to Ibn Khaldun, contributes to the

construction of different unreal metaphysical worlds and responsible directly or

indirectly for erroneous claims such as emanation theory, the concept of active

intellect53

and the claim that the heavenly spheres possess a soul and an intellect 54

– a

clear reference to the Neo-platonic view of reality popularized in Islam by Al-Farabi

and Ibn Sina.

Ibn Khaldun’s critique of the intellect is similar to great extent to Al-Ghazali’s,

both believe that the intellect cannot be trusted in acquiring metaphysical knowledge,

but Ibn Khaldun goes further than the latter in indicating that the intellect is incapable

of understanding the social and political issues as well55

. That’s why; Ibn Khaldun had

little respect for the social and political theories of some philosophers, with their ideas

of rational government due to the fact that they are founded on a rational ideal law. He

refused Al-Farabi’s ideal city as a simple hypothesis not worth arguing56

. For Ibn

Khaldun “the religious government is far more comprehensive than rational politics

and political utopianism”57

because “the lawgiver knows the ultimate interest of the

people and is concerned with the salvation of man in the other world”58

. Ibn Khaldun,

in addition, saw little point in using theories which dealt with ideals that have nothing

to do with the practicalities of life.

52

Ibid. 53

Ibid., III:254. 54

Ibid., III:253. 55

Ali Al-Wardi, Mant Ibn Khaldūn (London: Dar Kufan, 1994), 64. 56

Seyyed Hossien Nasr and Oliver Leaman, The History of Islamic Philosophy, vol. 1 (New York:

Routledge, 2002), I:359. 57

Ibid. 58

Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, II:138.

11

This solid position against the political philosophy can be anticipated from

such “an empiricist who is more interested in political reality as it was and as it is than

in what it ought to be ideally or in the future”59

. Epistemologically, instead of

depending merely upon the intellect in constructing social, political and historical

theories, Ibn Khaldun was a pioneer in subjecting historical data to the intellect and

social and physical laws. His position opened the gate for a unique approach integrates

the intellect and senses in new fields, i.e. sociology and history. It led him to discover

a new method of analysis and a new science- 'ilm al-'umran.

Unlike earlier philosophers or writers interpreting history mainly in a political

context, Ibn Khaldun adopted a method led him to the process of collecting empirical

facts to recognize and abstract patterns and relations between events to devise general

propositions and laws. He called attention to environmental, sociological, and

economic factors directing the visible events. In this context, he provided an analytical

study of human civilization, its beginning, factors contributing to its development and

the causes of decline. Ibn Khaldun's exceptional approach and unusual contribution

became a masterpiece in literature on philosophy of history and sociology. It revealed

most clearly both his insightfulness and the uniqueness that distinguish him from his

Muslim predecessors.

A theory of knowledge of a man of mastermind such as Ibn Khaldun which

can easily combine diverse trends and come up with new ideas and insights,

really deserve our appreciation and direct attention. Researches, however, have not

served enough to highlight his own theory of knowledge; few of them bring it up and

his epistemological background which led him craftily to write his great works in

different branches of science. Ibn Khaldun’s theory of knowledge is noteworthy; its

59

Seyyed Hossien Nasr and Oliver Leaman, The History of Islamic Philosophy, 1: I: 359.

12

excellence is not constrained only in referring to different sources of knowledge, but

rather creating new fields of investigation for these sources and investing them to

formulate new theories and applications60

. His deep thinking, within his relationship

with the past, with his present, and with the future of human civilization61

reflects a

distinguished theory of knowledge that holds different times, and aims happiness in

this life and hereafter62

. Due to the fact that although he lived during the 14th century

his thoughts, based on various sources of knowledge, still manage to shed light on

events of current times. His ideas have not lost their relevance despite the passing of

time63

.

Nowadays, Muslims face many crises. One of the most serious crises is the

crisis of undermining the epistemological and theoretical foundation of Muslim

intellect due to different factors, most crucially is the intellectual invasion of Muslims

by the western theories of knowledge in the past two centuries64

. Thus alien

intellectual trends had appeared among some affiliates to Islam who were responsible

for disseminating many issues and ideas contradicting Islamic faith and thought.

Those affiliates to Islam were faded shadows of the west by adopting the western

theories of knowledge as the unique way of salvation for the Islamic nation from its

present situation65

. They followed different approaches to preach their alien ideas;

they sometimes used the Islamic heritage by focusing on the theory of knowledge of

the philosophers of the Abbasid era, which stranded the mind away from the text of

60

- īr,” in Ibn Khaldun Wa Alfikr Alarabi

Almu’asir (Cairo: Dar al-’Arabiyah lil-Kutub, 1982), 68. 61

Melhem Korban, Khaldūniyyāt. -ma’rifah Fī Muqaddimat Ibn Khaldūn: Dirāsāt

Manhajiyyah Nāqidah Fī Al’ijtima’ Al-siyāsī (Bayrut: Mu’assasah al-Jami’iyah, 1985), 10. 62

’Imad al-Din Khalil, Ibn Khaldūn ’Islāmiyyān (Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir, 2005), 19–20. 63

Fahri Kayadibi, “Ibn Khaldoun and Education,” Http://www.monthly-

renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=544, 2001. 64

The intellectual crisis had developed during the western occupation of Muslim countries in the last

two centuries. 65

AbdulRahman Al-Zunaidi, -ma’rifah Fī Al-fikr Al-dīnī Wa-al-falsafī: Dirāsah

-Islam (alriyadh: maktabat almo’ayyad, 1992), 20.

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