lbn Kaldun's rational method of approaching socio-historical notions

Abstract

Ibn Khaldun's conception of society and government differs from Muslim traditional thought in respect to the content as well as the method of approaching socio-historical notions. lbn K.haldun's point of departure in al-Muqaddimah is "society" and the manner in which man forms social authority and urbanizes the community. The phrase he uses to define the human conduct is "knowledge of the nature of things" to which "akhbar" or historical information should be related and with which tradition-report (hadith) may be checked. 1. Throughout his work Ibn Khaldun recurrently applies the notion of nature to the civilization (tabi 'at al- 'umran), to the society and to the development of sciences. It is believed that his conception of nature is philosophical (often Aristotelian) as he specifies in the case of human nature. 2. Nevertheless, his overall accounts in this work point to the fact that he wished to perceive '"the nature" in a par with the Qur'anic concept of fitra (lit. creation, innate nature).