Ibn Khaldun: Selections from the Muqaddimah

Selections from Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah by the scholar and founder of sociology Abd al-Rahman ibn Khaldun: an exceptional intellectual and philosophical volume of 254 pages, published in an annotated and simplified edition by the General Authority for Cultural Palaces (also available from major publishers such as Dar wa Maktabat Al-Hilal). The book is an investigative examination and an intelligent selection of the essence and distillation of Ibn Khaldun’s celebrated historical thesis; its pages are devoted to unpacking the general laws governing the rise and decline of states and civilisations. It delves, with rigorous intellectual analysis, into the topics of human civilisation (umran), the theory of tribal solidarity (asabiyyah) as the basis of rule, and the dialectical relationship between Bedouin and urban life, while dissecting economic efficiency and the effect of deteriorating levies and taxes on the fall of kingship. The guide is designed in an accessible style, with careful preservation of terminology, to protect students’ awareness and make it easier for them to grasp the philosophy and jurisprudence of history.