Islam Creator of the Modern Age
3. Muslim Contribution to Science
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considered the discoverer—as he himself
claimed—of the true scope and nature of
history, or at least the real founder of the
science of sociology. No Arab writer, indeed
no European, had ever taken a view of history
at once so comprehensive and philosophic. By
the consensus of critical opinion Ibn-Khaldun
was the greatest historical philosopher Islam
produced, and one of the greatest of all time.
In Book I of the Muqaddamah, Ibn Khaldun
sketches a general sociology; in Books II and
III, a sociology of politics; in Book IV a
sociology of urban life; in Book V, a sociology
of economics; and in Book VI, a sociology of
knowledge. The work is studded with
brilliant observations on historiography,
economics, politics, and education. It is held
together by his central concept of
asabiyah,
or
social cohesion. Thus he laid the foundation of
a science of history which is not based just on
the description of kings, but which is, in a
vaster sense, based on the economics, politics,
education, religion, ethics, and culture of the
whole nation.
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