An Ambiguous Beginning: Al-Ẓāhir Wa-Al-Bāṭin in Ibn Khaldūn's Preface to the Muqaddima (2015)
Ever since the rediscovery of Ibn Khald n's Muqaddima in modern times, debates have been ongoing regarding his identity as a scholar: was he a revolutionary thinker in the modern sense of the word, breaking away from classical and medieval modes of thinking, or was he in fact a conservative Muslim scholar who did not venture far from his traditional Muslim horizons? Through a careful examination of the preface to the Muqaddima, this article shows what he thought about the nature of his project and why he thought it necessary. Accordingly, it builds the case that Ibn Khald n is indeed a revolutionary -- but not in the modern sense of the word -- who did not shy away from challenging tradition in order to reform society's moral and political horizons. An examination of the preface alone will not provide a definitive answer to the question of Ibn Khald n's radical vs. conservative thought, but it does put his conservatism (apparent and real) in context.
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