The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History

After the Prophet Muhammad’s death, the Muslim community accepted a series of “successors” (the literal translation of “caliph”) who continued in Muhammad’s role as the political, judicial, and religious head of the community (though not necessarily in his role as a prophet). Caliphs, in theory, ruled the entire Dar al-Islam (i.e., the Muslim world). In practice, they quickly lost that universal political authority and became closer to regional kings. Ibn Khaldun acknowledges that transformation, while insisting a single “imam” ruling as caliph would be preferable. For the time, any Muslim ruler who places the protection of Islam at the center of his reign can have a caliphal style of government.

A dynasty is a family of rulers across several generations. For Ibn Khaldun, royal authority is the primary kind of political authority. Therefore, the terms “dynasty,” “state,” and “government” function practically as synonyms in The Muqaddimah.

Ibn Khaldun uses the term “group feeling” to describe the situation in which people identify with a group to the extent that they are willing to fight for it and even sacrifice their lives for other members of that group. This happens most naturally with kin but can be expanded to a larger political group, especially if aided by a sense of religious community. Strong group feeling is the most significant factor in determining a group’s success and what allows it to conquer others to create a dynasty.

In contrast to the narrow sense in which people use the word today, “science” traditionally has meant any branch of knowledge where people can ascertain facts, patterns, or truth. Ibn Khaldun uses science in this way to encompass religion, history, law, astronomy, geography, and more.