The Legacy and Legendary of Ibn Khaldun as a Fore-Runner Scholar in Sociology

Abstract

The paper attempts to establish the fact that, though sociology is regarded as purely a Western enterprise but a further examination of some non-western intellectual piece would reveal the opposite. General assessment was made of Ibn-Khaldun ideas in the Muqodimat with the aid of previous scholarly works that have assessed the masterpiece. Further effort was made in the paper to specifically show topical sociological issues raised by Ibn-Khaldun. Effort was made to compare and contrast his scholarly explanations with that of notable western sociologists. This paper shows that Ibn-Khaldun is a prominent classical sociological figure that should be accorded a legendary position and that his masterpiece is a legacy for present and future social engineers. Based on the relevance of Ibn-Khaldun work to the discipline of sociology, modern sociologists should put vested interest in studying Ibn Khaldun as one of the fore runners of the discipline.

Keywords

• Classical Sociology
• Group-Feelings
• Civilizations
• History
• Legacy
• Arabs