Khaldunian Reformist Philosophy: Does it keep up with Contemporary Societal Patterns?

Abstract

This study aims at illuminating the cultural values and advantages on the basis of which Ibn -Khalun’s works were preferred over their predecessors and successors, as all Arab and non-Arab scholars agreed on his greatness and precedence in establishing civilizational edifice through his historical and scientific explanatory readings. This study also works on proving how urgent it is today to regain his analytical statements, absorb all cognitive mechanisms, and employ them in the study of some current problems. An attempt is made here towards figuring the effectiveness of Ibn- Khaldun’s philosophy over some contemporary reformist projects. The study has two branches: the first being the Khaldunian philosophy; it’s cultural and cognitive value, while the second branch has to do with the the cognitive and methodological impacts of Khaldunian philosophy on contemporary reform projects. The study concludes that the science of human civilization that Ibn -Khaldun brought is a historical philosophy in its core and logic that is based mainly on mental considerations and investigation of the causes and the theoretical explanation of facts and events. And that most enlightening projects proved to be non-local experiences. Furthermore, they did not consider the privacy of Arab societies and failed in following the approaches of previous reformers and innovators, those thinkers of reform around the Islamic world like Ibn -Khaldun and others who are considered to be the first founders of civilizations.