Muqaddima of Ibn Khaldun: Book One, Chapter Five, Making a Living

Abd Al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun

Oct 2023 · INTEGR8D

About this ebook

al-Muqaddima, often published in Arabic as Muqaddimat Ibn Khaldun or simply as al-Muqaddima, is a remarkable work of scholarship by the Muslim jurist, historian, philosopher, and thinker Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun, widely known simply as Ibn Khaldūn (d. 1406 CE). In al-Muqaddima, Ibn Khaldun built an astounding body of knowledge covering broad areas of inquiry including history, philosophy, sociology, ethnography, economics, and other practical and abstract sciences.

This publication is the first comprehensive and critical English translation, since the release of Franz Rosenthal's seminal work more than half a century ago. The current volume focuses on Book One, Chapter Five of al-Muqaddima, which covers Ibn Khaldun's economic philosophy.

This edition (paperback, which excludes the Arabic text) includes an introduction by the translator, Ahmed E. Souaiaia, highlighting some of Ibn Khaldun's most significant theoretical contributions to economics.

About the author

Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Khaldūn, Ibn Khaldûn, or Ibn Khaldoun (732H/1332 CE –808H/1406CE) is an eminent social historian, philosopher, jurist, and thinker born in what is now known as Tunisia, and lived in al-Andalus (Spain), Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and Syria. He contributed original ideas in the many areas of inquiry including groundbreaking theories in the fields of historiography, jurisprudence, sociology, and economics.

Dr. Souaiaia is a faculty member at the University of Iowa, with joint appointment in International Studies, Classics and Religious Studies, History, and College of Law.