The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History

This is a gem of a book that is not well enough known in the West. It is a brilliant account of the ordinary, things that take place around us that we often take for granted. Ibn Khaldun notices these things and explains them in an organized manner.His theory of 'asabiya' describes the rise and fall of tribes and nations as a very natural process, one that occurs and will occur repeatedly throughout history. His is perhaps the most coherent theory that I know of. It's perhaps a bit simplistic but sometimes Occam's razor, the simplest explanation being the correct one, is true.Many accuse Ibn Khaldun of leaving God out of the picture but, as a devout Muslim, God was the very being of everything he wrote. Just because nations rise and fall in a natural progression doesn't mean that God is not a part of the picture. God has given us free will and allows the world to operate on this free will, one side effect on a collective scale being the rise and fall of nations. This notion underpins his work. He also catelogues in great detail all kinds of events, both natural and human, in a very interesting fashion. It is a treasure trove of a book, one that you can revisit in bits and pieces and always come away with a feeling of having learned something you already knew. This book needs more recognition as it has influenced far more people than may be realized. The kicker is that this book was written over 600 years ago, long before the notion of 'science' as we know it today as an independent and 'objective' approach to the study of reality really existed.

I first read this book as part of a history course, but I only appreciated it when I read it later at a slower pace (the first time was just some pre-exam cramming!). I like to use the analogy of ibn Khaldun being the Isaac Newton of social sciences since their contributions were similar in a way: they both took a very ordinary happenings that people take for granted everyday (the falling objects in Isaac Newton's case, everyday social life in ibn Khaldun's case), researched them and gave some marvellous findings. ibn Khaldun shows how societies and people group together to form communities, cities and eventually countries and nations. He shows through logical reasoning the relationship between social and economic circumstances within a society, plus many other fascinating findings that show that the medieval Arabs must have had some very organized researchers and thinkers. Definitely one of the best books ever written on social sciences.

It is difficult to avoid overusing superlatives when thinking of or reviewing this work. 'Muqaddimah' means 'introduction'; this was ibn Khaldun's introduction to his volumes of world history. The introduction, however, is what has been entered into the library of the world's greatest written works. By those who read more than western books, he is called the father of sociology (westerners grant Weber that title). In addition to groundbreaking and still-relevant sociological ideas, his muqaddimah is filled with major contributions to political science as well. He includes his thoughts on the supposed 'state of nature' and goes on to describe the workings of civilizations, in Braudel's longue duree view.The book is worth reading for two reasons. First, it is a historical monument -- the birthplace of many important ideas. Second, the ideas are still not common knowledge. His ideas provide a useful and accurate representation of the world, suitable (after adaptation to the time period) to examining Chingis Khan's empire or the position of the United States in global political and economic regime.One caveat: I read the three-volume, unabridged version. This 300 page paperback version comprises only a small fraction of the complete (and compleat) work.Another reviewer mentioned the dated scientific theories in this book. In a three-volume 'introduction' to a seven-volume (if memory serves) 'history of the world', ibn Khaldun covered a wide array of topics, including both the social and the natural sciences. The dated natural science is kept strictly seperate from the more lastingly-relevant social science; this makes it an easy job to seperate the wheat from the chaff.Obviously, I HIGHLY recommend the Muqaddimah to anyone with an interest in political science, anthropology, sociology, or history.

Hello.The English interpretation of Ibn Khaldun's historical works should be read by all those who wish to gain a better understanding into the currents that drive human civilization. The scholar's words, although they were written down over six hundred years ago, contain insights that are remarkable and wisdom that will provide the reader with a fresh outlook on the world around them. The work deals with the various conditions that underly the rise, maintenence, maturity and decline of civilization and of the political entities that are created by people. The role of the "dynasty" (government) in the economy, the effect of taxation, the circulation of wealth, and other aspects of the political economy are set down in great detail. Ibn Khaldun describes the stages that every civilization passes from the turmoil of the inception of political entities, through the stability of the "middle period," to the "senility" and decline. Where the pursuit of luxury and ease in a sociey dominates and results in the eventual death of the dynasty. His parallel of the life of a society and with the life of an individual is a thing that is thought provoking.I hope more people will read this book and thereby experience the genius of Ibn Khaldun.Peace,Sharif M. Sazzad