Encyclopedia of Islam

Ibn Khaldun, Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad

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brilliant understanding of society and religion. It is 

divided into a preface and six substantive chapters. 

The chapters address the following subjects: society 

and nature, tribal society, politics and government, 

urban society, economics, and religious knowledge 

and the sciences. In these chapters, he proposes 

what he calls a “new science” of history and civili-

zation. Ibn Khaldun argues that at the beginning of 

human culture, kin-based groups banded together 

to overcome the forces of nature, with the most 

successful ones developing a strong feeling of 

group solidarity, which he called asabiyya. Compe-

tition and conflict between groups in time ended 

with some groups becoming more powerful than 

others, forming political states. Eventually this led 

to the establishment of the institutions of govern-

ment, the building of great cities and civilizations, 

and the development of learning. Ibn Khaldun 

acknowledges that the laws established to restrain 

human violence and ensure justice could be either 

natural (man-made) or God-given. Revealed law, 

he argues, especially in a religion such as Islam, not 

only contributes to worldly security but also offers 

salvation in the 

aFterliFe

. Drawing on his own life 

experience and knowledge of history, however, 

Ibn Khaldun also recognizes that ruling dynasties, 

cities, and civilizations fall and that morality and 

justice become corrupted. Indeed, he believes that 

civilizations possess the seeds of their own destruc-

tion, for with prosperity and luxury, the bonds of 

social solidarity weaken, leaving them vulnerable 

to collapse from within and invasion from without. 

Tribal groups possessing a more profound degree of 

group solidarity then arise and form new states and 

civilizations, thus inaugurating another phase in 

the cycle of history. Ibn Khaldun sought to convey 

to the rulers under whom he served the secrets of 

history that, if mastered, would assure long-lasting 

peace and security for their subjects and preserve 

the civilizational heritage they enjoyed.

Ibn Khaldun’s philosophy of history had a 

mixed reception in his own time and was favor-

ably viewed by reform-minded Ottoman histo-

rians in the 18th century. However, it has been 

most deeply appreciated by modern scholars in 

the West and in Muslim countries; many see it as 

an exemplary attempt to explain history, society, 

and religion in terms of human reason.