Sunday, March 6, 2011

The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History by Ibn Khaldun

ibn khaldun, muqaddimahThe Muqaddimah (An Introduction), or The Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun (Arabic: مقدّمة ابن خلدون) is a book written by the North African historian Ibn Khaldun in 1377 which records an early Muslim view of universal history. Many modern thinkers view it as the first work dealing with the philosophy of history and the social sciences of sociology, demography, historiography, and cultural history, and as one of the forerunners of modern economics in ancient times. The work also deals with Islamic theology and the natural sciences of biology and chemistry.


1. Partisanship towards a creed or opinion...
2. Over-confidence in one's sources...
3. The failure to understand what is intended...
4. A mistaken belief in the truth...
5. The inability to place an event in its real context

Against the seventh point (the ignorance of social laws) Ibn Khaldun lays out his theory of human society in The Muqaddimah.



