Ibn Khaldun Settles Down In Egypt


At 52 years of age, Ibn Khaldun was dazzled by the magnitude, population, hustle and bustle of Cairo. It was nothing like the small towns he had witnessed in North Africa. It was the center of the Arab world and a magnet for scholars and students. His fame had preceded him as the intellectual and scholarly circles rated his Al Muqaddimah highly for its eloquently expressed original thought on social philosophy.

He was appointed as a Professor of Maliki Fiqh in an institution of Islamic learning. Students used to flock around him to learn as teaching came naturally to him. They were impressed by his knowledge, research, style, logic and fluency. He was paid well and lived in relative luxury doing what he loved to do. 


Eventually, the Sultan appointed him as a Maliki Chief Judge, even though he did not  want the position. Throughout the rest of his life, he was appointed and dismissed many times to the powerful position of Chief Judge of Egypt. As a foreigner many Egyptian ulema were jealous of him and conspired against him every time he was appointed. When their influence was strong they had the Sultan dismiss him and when it was weak Ibn Khaldun was reappointed. This continued till the historians death at age 78.


It was towards the end of the struggle with his first appointment as Chief Judge that he learned that the ship that was bringing his family and property sank. He immersed himself in study, research and teaching getting appointed to great institutions including the prestigious Sufi Institute of Baybars (Khankah) as a Shaykh. He taught Hadith, Fiqh and concepts in social philosophy he described in Al Muqaddimah such as vitality (Al Assabiyyah), foundations of sovereignty, the rise of nations, and other matters of the state. 


It seems Ibn Khaldun devoted these years of his life to serious research and study as there are few recorded events in his autobiography during this time.

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