Islam Creator of the Modern Age
3. Muslim Contribution to Science
~ 138 ~
claimed that he was the founder of sociology, and
there is no reason to dispute his claim.
Khaldun’s greatness was acknowledged in a similar
vein by Robert Flint: “As a theorist on history he
had no equal in any age or country until Vico
appeared, more than three hundred years later;
Plato, Aristotle and Augustine were not his peers.”
69
It was indeed Ibn Khaldun who gave to Europe the
modern science of history. And it was Islam, which
bestowed this gift upon him. The Islamic revolution
produced Ibn Khaldun and Ibn Khaldun produced
the modern science of history.
Professor Philip K. Hitti writes:
The fame of Ibn-Khaldun rests on his
Muqaddama (Introduction to his book on
history). In it he presented for the first time a
theory of historical development which takes
due cognizance of the physical facts of climate
and geography as well as of the moral and
spiritual forces at work. As one who
endeavoured to formulate laws of national
progress and decay, Ibn Khaldun may be
