The Political Aspects of Ibn Khaldun's Study of Culture and History

Abstract

The fourteenth-century scholar 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn Muhammad Ibn Khaldun proclaims in his Muqaddima the establishment of a new science called the science of culture ('ilm al-'umran). The primary subject of investigation of this science is aspects of human social organization. The ostensible purpose of this science is to provide historians with new analytical tools to verify historical reports. This dissertation provides a critical analysis of Ibn Khaldun's original introduction to his Kitab al-'Ibar. Though my primary focus will be on the original introduction, my analysis will be informed and supported by the main text of the Muqaddima. The purpose of this analysis is to point out the political aspects of Ibn Khaldun's science of culture and hence to explain the political objectives behind his concern with the study of history.