Ibn Khaldun

Islam and Social Media: Would Ibn Khaldun Have A Facebook Profile? The greatest philosopher the world has never known ithin the realm of academia, many Science is discovery scholars consider Ibn Khaldun, the great Muslim philosopher Khaldun recognizes the dangers of personal bias in and thinker, the Father of Social the evaluation of social sciences, such as economics, Sciences. and empirical sciences such as chemistry and biology. He realizes that thinkers bring to their studies Khaldun, who lived during the 100s, wrote the inherent biases based on cultural beliefs, religious seminal work called the Muqqadimeh – a text that indoctrination and societal mores. Further, Khaldun is still read today for its insightful view of learning identifies the roles of cultural bias and the negative and assessment of knowledge. impact these views have on standards of evaluating scientific evidence. Written in 177, Khaldun’s Muqqadimeh lays out a unique, far-sighted view of learning and Indeed, we can cite numerous examples of discovery, taking its author into fields as varied how cultural, religious and societal biases have as astronomy, the science of history, economics, diminished the value of empirical data, and impeded sociology and the scientific method itself, cen- the dissemination of this information. turies later refined by Western scholars such as Leonardo diVinci and Sir Isaac Newtown. For example, when Leonardo di Vinci put forth his helio-centric theory of the solar system, the In the Muqqadimeh, Khaldun openly criticizes “idle powerful Catholic Church forced di Vinci to recant superstition and uncritical acceptance of historical his theory and placed this great philosopher and data” – a radical view for the times in which this “Renaissance” man under house arrest to prevent great mind lived. him from spreading what the Church considered blasphemy. The renowned British historian, Arnold Toynbee, referenced Khaldun’s Muqqadimeh as “a Like Ibn Khaldun, Leonardo was a devoutly religious philosophy of history which is undoubtedly man, but also a man who recognized the importance the greatest work of its kind that has ever of unbiased research and, just as importantly, the yet been created by any man in any time engagement of others in the exchange of ideas. or place” quite a review from a man who Being placed under house arrest prevented the aged lived well after the coming of the Age of Reason. philosopher from engaging others in discussions of Toynbee recognized that Khaldun’s Muqqadimeh differing points of views and different theories of creates the foundation for the basic principles of how the natural and social worlds function. the modern scientific method in which testing, evaluation of data, logic and reason are the tools that move civilization forward. W  www.digitaldaya.com