Tackling Practical Problems Using Classical Islamic Scholarship




As an opportunist, Ibn Khaldun believed that the ends justified the means. He quickly learnt to navigate the real politic of the fourteenth century Maghreb. As Secretary, Chamberlain and later Chief Justice he moved from court to court and kingdom to kingdom. Ambition made Ibn Khaldun ride the vicissitudes of North African power struggles, so much so that he spent a lifetime discovering the dynamics of the rise and fall of nations. To do this, he personally underwent a roller coaster ride experiencing success and failure in his attempt to always side with the victorious North African monarchs.

As a man of letters he wrote extensively throughout his life. He was well versed in both poetry and prose so much so that as Secretary he introduced a new form of correspondence. The ease of rhetoric with which he could explain almost anything in writing facilitated the preservation and transmission of his ideas to our times.


His writings are influenced by his Islamic scholarship. At times, he relied on his study of Sufism to arrive at the kernel of truth which he attempted to explain. The fact that someone with a solid classical Islamic education used it to research practical problems they personally underwent to document so useful theories of human behavior based on them is remarkable.

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