Applying Ibn Khaldūn: The Recovery of a Lost Tradition in Sociology

Routledge Advances in Sociology

by Syed Farid Alatas

The writings of Ibn Khaldun, particularly the "Muqaddimah (Prolegomenon)" have rightly been regarded as being sociological in nature. For this reason, Ibn Khaldun has been widely regarded as the founder of sociology, or at least a precursor of modern sociology. While he was given this recognition, however, few works went beyond proclaiming him as a founder or precursor to the systematic application of his theoretical perspective to specific historical and contemporary aspects of Muslim societies in North Africa and the Middle East. The continuing presence of Eurocentrism in the social sciences has not helped in this regard: it often stands in the way of the consideration of non-Western sources of theories and concepts. This book provides an overview of Ibn Khaldun and his sociology, discusses reasons for his marginality, and suggests ways to bring Ibn Khaldun into the mainstream through the systematic application of his theory. It moves beyond works that simply state that Ibn Khaldun was a founder of sociology or provide descriptive accounts of his works. Instead it systematically applies Khalduns theoretical perspective to specific historical aspects of Muslim societies in North Africa and the Middle East, successfully integrating concepts and frameworks from Khaldunian sociology into modern social science theories. "Applying Ibn Khaldun "will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology and social theory.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, Islam

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2011

About the author

Syed Farid Alatas (Arabic: سيد فريد العطاس‎ Sayyid Farīd al-ʿAṭṭās) is a Malaysian author and educator, serving as a professor in the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore. He also headed the Department of Malay Studies at NUS from 2007 to 2013. He lectured at the University of Malaya in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies prior to joining NUS. His areas of interest are the sociology of Islam, social theory, religion and reform, and intra- and inter-religious dialogue. He is currently researching on Salafism in the Malay world.

Reviews

[Mohammed Ismail · Rating 4 out of 5]

طرح إجمالي مفيد للمواضيع المتناولة في مقدمة كتاب العبر لابن خلدون. الكتاب جاد، وباعتقادي موجَّه لذوي الاختصاص، لكنه أيضًا ملائم للقارئ غير المختص بالعلوم الاجتماعية، إذ يمنحه فرصة للاطلاع، كما يقدّم بديلًا أسهل لقراءة مقدمة كتاب العبر.

يتناول الكتاب العديد من القضايا المتعلقة بابن خلدون وكتابه. يعرض الكاتب السياق التاريخي لابن خلدون ونشأة منهجه في دراسة التاريخ، ثم يستعرض بعض التفاصيل المرتبطة بالنظرية الاجتماعية والاقتصادية التي طوّرها. كما يذهب إلى نقد البيئة الأكاديمية في العلوم الاجتماعية، التي تعاني من التذبذب بين النزعة المركزية الأوروبية ونقيضها المتمثل في الإفراط غير المبرر في الاستشراق ومحاولات الأسلمة، وهي مقاربات قد تؤدي إلى صرف التركيز عن المحتوى الفكري لابن خلدون، وتحصره في كونه جزءًا من الدراسات الشرقية أو الإسلامية، بدلًا من اعتباره مادة أساسية تحاذي النظريات الغربية.

وأخيرًا، يقدّم الكتاب عرضًا لبعض تطبيقات نظرية ابن خلدون، سواء لدى علماء من حقبٍ سابقة أو في حالات معاصرة تُقدَّم فيها قراءات اجتماعية جديدة لبعض القضايا التاريخية والسياسية.