Ibn Khaldun(1332-1406),Muslim and Founder of Sociology,and in Favor of Imperialism and Colonialism in the Name of Islam
We are told that Islam is a religion of peace.And one who says otherwise is even called a racist (even though Islam is not a race), intolerant, bigoted,and ignorant.But according to one of the brightest Muslims in history Islam is not an religion of peace.
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)
He was born in Tunisia and is the Father of Sociology.He decided to write a history book and wrote an introduction to it where he discusses his ideas and historical method.In Arabic this introduction is called Muqaddima(called the Prolegomena/Introduction,in Greek, in the West). Ibn Khaldounl wrote it in 1377 as an introduction to his book on world history, the Kitab al-Ibar (literally “Book of Advice”).In that famous introduction Ibn Khaldun introduced the scientific method into the social sciences.But he was very quickly forgotten by Muslim intellectuals and had no influence on the Islamic world.
The Indepedent Creation of Sociology by a European,Auguste Comte
In the 19th century French philosopher and atheist August Comte (1798-1857) created sociology completely independently of Ibn Khaldun.Comte is famous for being the creator of Positivism, an atheistic and humanist ideology immensely popular in the 19th century.
Later on Comte also created of his humanistic “Religion of Humanity”, whose saints are those help the progress of humanity.
Later in the 19th century Ibn Khaldun was discovered by European scholars and given credit as the founder of sociology.Comte is another example that there is no such thing as an “Islamic science” or “Muslim science”,just as there is no “Jewish science”or“Hindu science”or “Christian science.”There is simply “science in the Muslim world”,that is all.Science is simply science, it has no religion.
The meeting between Ibn Khaldun and Tamerlane,the Bloody King who killed 17 million Muslims and non-Muslims
Tamerlane or Timur-i-Land (Timur the Lame) (1336-1405), was a Muslim king and a descendant of Genghis Khan.Timur was lame due being pierced by an arrow in the knee,an incident when he was young. Tamerlane was a great conqueror and a murderer on a huge scale.
1.In his “Memoirs” Timur said he had killed 100,000 Hindu civilians, who were captured after he took Delhi, India, and that they were killed only because they were infidels.
2.Several sources even say that he was the inventor of a variation of chess called Tamerlane chess,where each player has an extra row of chess pieces.He certainly knew the game and played it alot.
3.Tamerlane is also famous for having captured the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid/Bayazet I.Bayazet became sultan just after the assassination of his father by a Serb.His father had won the Battle of Kosovo (1389) against the Serbs and after the battle he was killed.Bayezid won a victory over the Europeans,over Hungarian King Sigismund in 1396,in the Battle of Nicopolis in Bulgaria.But Tamerlane attacked the Ottomans and won a victory in Ankara, Turkey in 1402 and even captured sultan Bayezid I.
There are two versions about Bayezid’s fate:one says that he was put in an iron cage like an animal and remained there until his death a year later.Another version says he was treated well by Tamerlane, despite being a prisoner, but he committed suicide one year after being captured.
4.Tamerlan is even in Western literature.The great English playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) (author of “Dr.Faustus”,about a German professor who sells his soul to the Devil) wrote a play called “Tamburlaine/Tamerlane”.And the great American poet Edgar Poe (1809-1849) (author of the poem “The Raven”) wrote a poem called “Tamerlane”.
5.When Tamerlane was near the town of Damasus, Syria, to conquer it ,he had a meeting with Ibn Khaldun and they had several conversations described by Ibn Khaldun.To know the details read:
What Ibn Khaldun said about Islam and non-Muslims
First of all,Ibn Khladun knew about Islamic law,and he wrote:
“In the Muslim community, the jihad is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force … The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and jihad was not a religious duty for them, save only for purposes of defense … They are merely required to establish their religion among their own people.
That is why the Israelites after Moses and Joshua remained unconcerned with royal authority [e.g., a caliphate]. Their only concern was to establish their religion [not spread it to the nations] … But Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations”
From: “The Muqudimmah:An Introduction to History”, Translated by Franz Rosenthal. (1958, vol. 1, p. 473)
Ibn Khaldun was referring to Chapter 9:29 of the Koran:
1.Who believe not in Allah and the Last Day
2.And do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger(Note:Muhammad) have forbidden
3.Such men as practise not the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book(Note:the Book is the Bible,here it is Christians and Jews)
4.Until they pay tribute and have been humbled.”
A Relevant Question
Ibn Khaldun was a great intellectual, but he was also, it seems, a true Muslim, a true believer.So he said he was in agreement with:
1.An armed struggle in the name of Allah and Islam (jihad in his own words) to conquer non-Muslims
2.And that it was a religious duty and an obligation for Muslims
3.That is imperialism and colonialism in the name of religion.
4.And he was even for “converting to Islam everyone either by persuasion or by force.” It is in his book “Muqadima”,which is his masterpiece.