The Arab Spring: Remembering Ibn Khaldun’s Notion of “Asabiyah”

Abstract

When one looks at Ibn Khaldun’s works and its relevance to the world we inhabit, his notion of ‘Asabiyah’ must be taken as a very significant theory that can be used to analyze our current situations. The notion of ‘Asabiyah’ or social cohesion is one of the paramount ideas in the works of Ibn Khaldun and the pivotal one through which the society can be understood from Khaldunian perspective. Furthermore, for Ibn Khaldun, ‘Asabiyah’ is the first principle for a well organized society and it is what unites the society together through a common language, customs and common ways of life and purposes. Thus, and from Ibn Khaldun prism, the integrity of any society is fused and connected with the level of its ‘Asabiyah’. Hence, this paper tries to investigate the real causes behind the Arab Spring using Ibn Khaldun’s notion of ‘Asabiyah’. More significantly, it endeavors to divulge the fact that Ibn Khaldun’s theory is still applicable on our current situations in the Arab and Muslim world and even beyond.

Keywords

• Ibn Khaldun
• Arab Spring
• Notion of Asabiyah