“I have discovered a science which is new, and which I have named the science of civilization.”
— Ibn KhaldunCommonly cited paraphrase of the author's claim in the introduction to the Muqaddimah (1377); English wording approximate
Commentary
Ibn Khaldun repeatedly presented the Muqaddimah as the founding of a new discipline, and this statement is often quoted to support his claim to originality. In the introduction he argues that existing historical writing has been careless with reports and has failed to explain the causes of events, and he proposes a science that would examine the social conditions of human association. Franz Rosenthal, in his translation and introduction, treats this self-description as a considered claim that Ibn Khaldun believed set his enterprise apart from earlier chronicles. Muhsin Mahdi has argued that the term he uses for this science refers to the study of human social organisation and its laws, and that the claim should be read as a methodological proposal rather than a mere boast. Aziz al-Azmeh, however, has questioned how far Ibn Khaldun's originality should be emphasised, noting the continuities between his work and earlier Islamic and Greek traditions of political thought. The English rendering here is an approximation, and the exact wording should be checked against Rosenthal's translation. Taken together, these scholars suggest that the claim is best understood as a reasoned assertion of method, situated within a long intellectual lineage.
Commentary
Ibn Khaldun repeatedly presented the Muqaddimah as the founding of a new discipline, and this statement is often quoted to support his claim to originality. In the introduction he argues that existing historical writing has been careless with reports and has failed to explain the causes of events, and he proposes a science that would examine the social conditions of human association. Franz Rosenthal, in his translation and introduction, treats this self-description as a considered claim that Ibn Khaldun believed set his enterprise apart from earlier chronicles. Muhsin Mahdi has argued that the term he uses for this science refers to the study of human social organisation and its laws, and that the claim should be read as a methodological proposal rather than a mere boast. Aziz al-Azmeh, however, has questioned how far Ibn Khaldun's originality should be emphasised, noting the continuities between his work and earlier Islamic and Greek traditions of political thought. The English rendering here is an approximation, and the exact wording should be checked against Rosenthal's translation. Taken together, these scholars suggest that the claim is best understood as a reasoned assertion of method, situated within a long intellectual lineage.