Ibn Khaldun

Ibn Khaldun, full name Abu Zayd 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldun al-Hadrami (عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي), May 27, 1332/ah732 to March 19, 1406/ah808) was a famous Tunisian historiographer and historian born in what is modern day Tunisia, and is widely acclaimed as a forerunner of modern historiography, sociology and economics. He is best known for his Muqaddimah (Prolegomena).

Biography

Ibn Khaldun's life is relatively well-documented, as he wrote an autobiography (al-ta`rîf bi-ibn khaldûn wa-rihlatuhu gharban wa-sharqan, published by Muhammad ibn Tâwît al-Tanjî, Cairo 1951), in which numerous documents regarding his life are quoted word-for-word. However, the autobiography has little to say about his private life, so that little is known about his family background. Generally known as Ibn Khaldun after a remote ancestor, he was born in Tunis in 732 A.H. (1332 C.E.) into an upper-class Andalusian family, the Banu Khaldun. His family, which held many high offices in Andalucia, had emigrated to Tunisia after the fall of Seville at the beginning of the Reconquista, around the middle of the 13th century. Under the Tunisian Hafsid dynasty some of his family held political office; Ibn Khaldun's father and grandfather however withdrew from political life and joined a mystical order.

Related Topics:
Autobiography - Tunis - Andalusian - Banu Khaldun - Andalucia - Tunisia - Seville - Reconquista - Hafsid dynasty

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In his autobiography Ibn Khaldun traces his descent back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad through an Arabic-Yemeni tribe from Hadhramaut, which came to Spain in the eighth century at the beginning of the Islamic conquest. In his own words: "And our ancestry is from Hadhramaut, from the Arabs of Yemen, via Wa'il ibn Hajar, from the best of the Arabs, well-known and respected." (p. 2429, Al-Waraq's edition). However, a few biographers (eg., Mohammad Enan) question his claim, suggesting that his family may have been Berbers who pretended to Arab origin in order to gain social status.

Related Topics:
Muhammad - Arab - Yemen - Hadhramaut - Spain - Berber

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