Factors affecting a society's life span, according to Ibn Khaldun

Abstract

Islam is a world religion with adherents far beyond the lands of the Arabs. That is also the case with Islamic thinkers who lived in different Islamic lands. lbne Khaldun is one of those scholars whom not only is honored in Islamic countries bur also the world respects to him as a scholar who profoundly studies the history with social science. (Sheikh, 1984:196). He is among those of few scholars that the rise and decline of societies and civilizations were their concern. His "Muqaddimah" is a kind of prolegomenon to the study of history and offers a general perspective on the rise and decline of human societies. lbn Khaldun's primary subject of study had been the Bedouin societies of North Africa; but he generalized his knowledge of Islamic history, society and civilization. Societies, he argued, are held together by a cohesive force, which he called "asabiya" (means; asaba, to bind, asab, a nerve, ligament, or sinew). According to lbne khaldun's idea asabiya is one of the main factors for enhancing the lifetime of a society.