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Bust of Ibn Khaldoun. Image by Reda Kerbush-

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Ibn Khaldun

Ibn Khaldun鈥檚 full name was Abu Sayf Mohammed Ibn Ahmad Ibn Khaldun al-Ishbili al-Idrisi al-Kabyli. He was a Muslim Arab sociologist, philosopher, and historian widely acknowledged being one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages.

He focused on political history, as well as sociology and economics. He was instrumental in the development of ideas such as the social contract.

He is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age, with contributions in the fields of history, sociology, economics, demography, philosophy, and historiography.

He died in April 1374 and died at the age of 86 years.

1. He is the father of sociology

People have called him a sociologist because of his theories on social cohesion and sustainability. He is one of the most widely-read scholars of the Middle Ages.

He is known as the father of sociology, especially in his 鈥楳uqaddima鈥� and 鈥楰itab al-Ibar鈥�. There are many books written about him and his work.

He is also known as 鈥渢he Architect of History鈥� who founded and developed the model of history based on a universal, cyclic, and progressive process that can be observed in all societies 鈥� religion, language and culture, political organization, and economy. His theory is one of the most influential evolutionary models ever discovered.

2. Ibn Khaldun was born in North Africa

Tunis, Tunisia. Image by Sami Mlouhi-Wikimedia

He was born in Tunis between present-day Tunisia and Algeria. He grew up in a town called Ribat al-Nasrani. He was born in 1332 or 1300 A.D., to Umm Salam and Muhammad Khaldun.

From an early age, he was exposed to stories of world cultural and political history and even became a student of Islamic law. He later traveled around much of the Muslim world for six years, studying at Cairo University and eventually settling in Damascus.

3. Ibn Khaldun’s name means 鈥渢he father of history鈥� in Arabic

An imaginary sketch, Photo by unknown author-

His book was a source of inspiration to many other medieval Muslim philosophers, including al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Sina, and Ibn Khallikan. He is said to be the founding father of sociology, political science, economics, and historiography.

4. His parents died of Black Death Disease

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Ibn Khaldun was born shortly before the Black Death devastated Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. He lost both parents to the disease when he was sixteen and it was estimated that one-third of the population of Europe and the Middle East was wiped out.

During this period, much of the Islamic world was falling into decline. Regimes were rapidly changing and divisions among the people were appearing.

It is against this backdrop of social and political turmoil that Ibn Khaldun was influenced and rose to prominence.

5. His family was prominent

He was a descendant of a family that had for centuries served in high administrative posts in Spain and North Africa. He was born into a wealthy family that included members of the Berber elite class.

His father was an Islamic jurist who taught at the Nizamiyyah University in Baghdad, where Ibn Khaldun studied. He believed that knowledge was the light of human beings and under his influence, Ibn Khaldun began to study philosophy, science, history, and theology.

He was born in a society that had no formal education. However, he received an education in one of the most prestigious universities at that time in Fez where he studied astronomy, mathematics, physics, and music theory.

6. Ibn Khaldun started teaching at the age of 14

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In 793, he moved with his family to Kairawan, the capital city of Seville where he lived most of his life.

Due to his scholarly interests, Ibn Khaldun received a good education, learning Arabic and studying under various teachers until he started his teaching career at age 14.

After a short stint in teaching and writing stories on history and culture in Rai, he moved back to Kairawan where he spent the next 22 years as an advisor working with Berber chieftains who helped him build their civilization.

To support himself during these years, Al-Nafzawi stayed at a local inn where he traded books and manuscripts with travelers passing through Kairawan.

7. Ibn Khaldun wrote the Muqaddimah

Ibn Khaldun’s most significant work is the Muqaddimah. It translates to ‘Introduction’ in English. In this book, he discussed historical methods and provided the necessary criteria for distinguishing historical truth from error.

The Muqaddimah is considered one of the most phenomenal works on the philosophy of history ever written. It details all of human history for the past seven hundred years and looks at all of the different cultures throughout history and their trends.

He wrote the book while still a young man, which in many ways served as the foundation of all subsequent studies of his times.

8. He is also credited with being the first to develop a modern theory of societies

He looked at how societies change, how they reproduce themselves, and how their cultural values come about. His theories have been influential in history, sociology, political science as well as international relations.

He later worked as a jurist in Damascus until he decided to travel to Egypt in 1375. After returning to North Africa he became an advisor to some Ottoman sultans. He is well known for being a pioneer in the field of sociology.

9. Ibn Khaldun was jailed for two years

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Khaldun led a shrewd life as a political statesman. He had a sharp intelligence and a sense of self-preservation. He gained favor where possible and changed allegiances when necessary.

His career took him to government positions in Granada, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt. It nearly ended as quickly as it began when he was sentenced to a 22-month prison sentence at the age of 25 for scheming against his employer, the Sultan of Tunisia.

He was released with the next regime change, before again scheming against the new Sultan and rapidly escaping the Sultanate.

10. He lived in the desert among the nomadic Berber tribes

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He traveled across the kingdoms of North Africa befriending the nomadic Berber tribes. He served as a diplomat of African rulers keen to communicate with the Berbers.

This came in handy as he was tired of political life. He retired to the Sahara desert to live under the tribes鈥� protection. It was here that he began to meditate on the civilizations he had encountered and started to write his epic history of the Arabs.

The long introduction to this work was the Muqaddimah, upon which most of his reputation rests. It was in this work that he traced the development of civilization and demonstrated that as societies achieved stability they were able to benefit from the division of labor and begin producing culture and science.