Civilization in Ibn Haldun’s Science of Umran

Abstract

The human being, living together and sharing life, is a civilized and social creature. In order to maintain their existence in prosperity and security, people come together and maintain their unity; group, tribe, people, society, nation, state, civilization etc. put the concepts into practice. In our study, the words society and civilization will be included. The purpose of the society that people come together to form; to establish a civilization for a better life, to develop the civilization they have established and to pass it on to the next generations as a legacy. The individual or social life of human beings has been wondered, scrutinized, researched by many thinkers and has been the subject of study for many sciences with the birth of social sciences. Ibn Khaldun, whose name we often hear and remember in the field of social sciences, has produced real studies on the structure of society and human civilization, unlike the thinkers of his age. Ibn Khaldun's theories and concepts (umran, lineage, bedouin, hadari) have become permanent in human history. Ibn Khaldun developed a scientific understanding of history. Ibn Khaldun is identified with the word Umran. His knowledge is the "knowledge of umran". According to Ibn Khaldun, geography and climate are effective in the formation of civilizations. Societies pass from Bedouin to Hadari and thus Umran is established. While the asabiyyah plays the most important role in the life adventure of the states, the economic institution is also important. Religion is the most effective factor in the asabiyyah of the Prophet. States or civilizations; born, grow and die. Circularity prevails in the life of societies. In this study; The concepts and inferences used by Ibn Khaldun will be emphasized, and the social "umran" theory unique to Ibn Khaldun will be studied in relation to the concept of civilization.