Ibn Khaldun and his interpretation of the science of human civilization
There are many sayings about the reasons that allowed Ibn Khaldun to invent a new science, which is the science of human habitation. At the forefront of these reasons comes his extensive and intense contact with Bedouins and urbanites in Arab Islamic societies, especially in North Africa. Later on, we will show that this saying is not credible because it is an insufficient factor alone to explain the emergence of the new science of the author of the introduction.
In this regard, it is useful to look for what Ibn Khaldun himself said on this subject. He directly reveals a different vision that he sees as explaining the reasons for the birth of his new science of human urbanism. It is a vision that we did not find a mention of in the books, research and articles we read about the author of the introduction. Ibn Khaldun says in this regard: “And know that speech in this matter is new in craft, strange inclination and abundant in benefit. Research found it and diving led to it . ” This saying carries an epistemological / epistemological vision regarding the use of a specific methodology to succeed in establishing a new science. This cognitive vision is represented in the fact that the field of science is a sea that has no borders or shores; The elite and the common people repeat that the field of horizons of human science knows no borders; That is, it is an endless human activity. And certainly, the people of the remembrance in the vastness of knowledge are more aware of the meaning of this saying; As they acknowledge this as a result of their own direct experience and the experiences of others in their scientific research. Despite this general acknowledgment in the East, West, North and South of the validity and credibility of this saying, we hardly find anyone asking the following question: Why do human sciences have no limits? In other words, all people accept the content of this statement as a postulate, the validity of which should not be questioned or doubted. Hence, the absence of an attempt to understand and explain this phenomenon among the overwhelming majority of scholars, intellectuals, and educated people, not to mention other common people. This is indicated by the list of so-called hard questionsThe questions asked by scholars, represented in twenty-five questions, were published by the “ Arab Journal” in a booklet in its 427th issue for the month of July 2012. None of these scientists asked our question: 'Why do human sciences have no limits?' As one of the difficult questions that scientists, researchers and thinkers should ask in all human societies and civilizations in the past and the present . If the reality of matters confirms that science has no limits, as we have seen, then this requires continuing research efforts and diving into one or more special topics to always explore what is new in them, which may lead to the establishment of a new science that has the specifications of the scientific system that contains hypotheses, statements, concepts and theories that nominate it to be An innovative science different from previous sciences in its field, and therefore carriesA new revolutionary paradigm (intellectual framework) in Thomas Kuhn's expression.
What Ibn Khaldun said in the last lines of the Introduction book helps to understand the methodology of research and diving with which he succeeded in inventing his new science: “I completed this first part, which includes the Introduction to Moderation and Composition, before revision and refinement, in a period of five months , the last of which was in the middle of the year seven hundred and seventy-nine. .." This saying suggests that writing the introduction came after authoring the many remaining parts of the Book of Lessons , which is a narration of the events of the history of peoples and nations, including Arabs, non-Arabs, and Berbers, and their contemporaries, and this is what is expressed in the full title that Ibn Khaldun called that huge book " The Book Lessons and Divan Al-Mubtada and Al-Khabar in the days of the Arabs, the Persians, the Berbers, and their contemporaries with the greatest authority . Writing the introduction in only five months,It is almost unbelievable , because its content includes a new, deep, complex thought that is impossible to achieve without previous backgrounds from the series of historical events that Ibn Khaldun got acquainted with in the chapters and chapters of the Book of Lessons . Researching the details of those historical events and diving into their implications and lessons may have enabled the author of the introduction to the rapid ability to compose it in five months with its six chapters and many chapters. In the expression of Al-Raghib Al-Isfahani, sober thought is a search and investigation to obtain the facts of matters . Ibn Khaldun's continuous intense focus on endlessly exploring the network of phenomena in Arab-Islamic societies qualifies him for success in revealing the veil of many mysteries and secrets of phenomena and things in those societies that guided him to his establishment of the science of human urbanism in the forefront . Which highlights the extreme importance that characterizes this book, in terms of a new intellectual and methodological framework for a more accurate and solid understanding of the laws that control the history of the events of the Arab-Islamic civilization and others. In other words, in order to correctly read the historical events of countries and civilizations, it is necessary to understand the motives, determinants, and factors that stand behind the movement of events in the history of Arab-Islamic civilization and other civilizations. In other words, in order for the historian to be credible in what he writes, he must first be a human urbanist or sociologist in contemporary expression.
Ibn Khaldun in the niche of the science of innovation
The studies that attempted to shed light on the roots of the Khaldunian phenomenon as an intellectual phenomenon that carries a crowd of innovations are studies that were dominated by bias in favor of the social influences that were considered - and are seen - as decisive factors in launching the intellectual innovation of Ibn Khaldun, especially in the "Muqaddimah " . There is no doubt that this bias - no matter how small it is - does not lead to a more mature understanding of the phenomenon of innovation, which is the highest crown that distinguishes the very few human beings.
One of the axioms that any researcher who truly wants to uncover the truth of innovation must adopt is that he firmly believes that intellectual, scientific, and artistic innovation is the result of an inevitable interaction between the personal/subjective side of the innovator on the one hand, and his social surroundings (local, near, and global) on the other hand. This saying applies to innovation in social thought in particular. However, accepting and recommending these two determinants of intellectual innovation (the personal factor and the social factor) does not resolve everything related to the phenomenon of innovation. As there are issues that remain on the table without satisfactory and final answers, perhaps the most prominent of which is the issue of accurately identifying the degree of contribution of each of the two sides in crowning the individual’s work with innovation, in addition to the crown of genius.
Self traits
Relying on the two determinants of intellectual innovation organizes the research methodology for To the closeness to a highly credible understanding of the phenomenon of intellectual innovation. Hence, the existence of some features - at least - of what is called the subjective aspect of the individual is necessary for the birth and maturity of the phenomenon of innovation. For example, the existence of a level of intelligence that exceeds the average intelligence of the general public is required, and no person who may write innovation can do without it. Hence, having something of intelligence above the average level becomes a necessary and decisive condition on the way to innovation. Psychology research has confirmed the importance of the intelligence factor in nominating any person to perform an innovative work. Likewise, the age factor in the innovation process is very important, and it is almost settled. This is because psychology research has concluded that creative, high-level work is usually associated with the so-called middle years.of human life; That is, the age of forty, or less, or shortly thereafter. Thus, creativity becomes a rare phenomenon before that age, and much later. In conclusion, the elements of the innovator's personal side represent basic and indispensable pillars for the person who may win the bet of innovation and creativity.
Innovation in the bosom of personal and social factors
Research on the objective social aspect of the innovator lacks much accuracy in defining the features of this or that aspect and its impact on the innovators' innovation. A person's innovation may be attributed to certain social conditions experienced and interacted with by the personality of the thinker, scientist, or innovative artist. Hence, the weight of the social aspect is possible and must be present in the birth of any innovative human production. However, how social conditions affect the budding of the innovation phenomenon of the thinker, scientist, or innovative artist remains more ambiguous .And less transparent than the intelligence factor, for example. How social conditions affect the innovation process of the innovator is ambiguous. This is because the conditions themselves do not influence the same extent that leads to innovation in the vast majority of members of societies. In the language of modern social sciences, the phenomenon of innovation is not just a variable dependent on social conditions , but rather a variable resulting from a successful encounter between social conditions and the personal characteristics that make up the personality of the innovator.
There is no equality between the impact of the two sides in innovation
One may have the following question in one's mind: Does the subjective aspect and the social aspect contribute equally to the crystallization of the innovation phenomenon? The definitive answer does not seem easy , given the lack of accurate scientific information on all factors that contribute to the creation of an innovative event. Despite this, what modern psychology has collected on the phenomenon of innovation indicates, with a great deal of transparency, that the subjective aspect of the innovative person is the most decisive in determining the embodiment of innovative work. Research and studies have confirmed the association of the innovation phenomenon with a specific pattern of psychological and personal characteristics of the innovative individual.
It is established that some or all of the personal characteristics must first be available in a person before serious discussion of his candidacy to win the bet of innovation in any field, and these are necessary qualities that guarantee the candidacy to enter the world of innovation from its wide door, because they represent the first priorities to make someone eligible to join the procession of innovators. And if ambition and rising to the horizon of innovation - according to the vision of psychology - begins with the characteristics of the personality structure, then the role of social influences in sprouting the buds of innovation and transferring them to existence and reality becomes a secondary matter . That is, it is nothing more than the catalyst and activator of the innovation energies inherent in the folds of the personality of the individual who is originally nominated for innovation and renewal, due to the self-characteristics at the core of the human personality.
Ibn Khaldun thought on the touchstone of the science of modern innovation
As we mentioned previously, the discovery of this immortal science falls within what Thomas Kuhn called the scientific revolutions that occur - in his view - when the intellectual framework of a science passes through a crisis that requires the discovery of a new paradigm that puts an end to it. Ibn Khaldun described in the first pages of the "Muqaddimah " the crisis of the science of Arab-Islamic history, and presented the science of human urbanism as an intellectual "paradigm" framework that rescued the science of Arab-Islamic history from its crisis. It is a revolutionary science in the perception of the universe; Because it is in an epistemological (epistemological) and intellectual break with the epistemological thought and stock of Arab and Muslim historians; It is strongly expected that this intellectual estrangement will be the result of the research and immersion that Ibn Khaldun committed himself to in his study of the phenomenon of human urbanization.
Sociologist from Tunisia
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