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Ibn Khaldoun - the world’s most renowned Muslim thinker
Ibn Khaldun, observer of his time
The references in admiration of Ibn Khaldun come from thinkers of different times and places.
"The life of Ibn Khaldun is a clear reflection of the world to which he belonged. A world that was full of reminders of the fragility of human effort. His career showed just how unstable the interest groups that kept the dynasties in power actually were. The meeting with Timur (Tamerlane) near Damascus showed the extent to which the rise of a new power could affect life in towns and villages".
A. Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples
The First Modern Historian
The exhibition's exploration of the century in question centres
on Ibn Khaldun - the world's most renowned Muslim thinker - in
2006, the 6th century of his death. Ibn Khaldun had al-Andalus
ancestry and he got to know Andalusia living in the Nasrid
court of Mohammed V. He was later sent by the court as
ambassador before Pedro I "the cruel" in Seville, where he met
with the monarch in the Alcázar. He was a social historian and
celebrated author of Muqqadima. He does not limit himself to a
history of events as his predecessors had done. He was a
historian concerned by the logic of empires, by their rise and
fall and he made a considerable contribution to reflections on
the formation of states. He belonged to a decisive period in
the history of nations, where the West would take the lead,
mainly on account of innovations regarding economy and social
organisation. Ibn Khaldun is considered the first modern
historian.
al-Muqaddima - Ibn Khaldun’s most representative work
Route Ibn Khaldoun
Fuente: Fundación El Legado Andalusí