Islam and Critical Thinking: The Legacy of Ibn Khaldun

Abstract

The tradition of critical thinking has not been strongly sustained in Muslim world for many centuries. The intellectual legacy is mostly transmission-based. Ibn Khaldun was a pioneer in consciously applying critical and creative thinking that has been ignored or forgotten by Muslims for long. The aspiration of another Islamic renaissance is fundamentally dependent upon fostering the legacy of critical and creative thinking. In this paper the contribution of Ibn Khaldun to the legacy of critical and creative thinking, especially in the context of the intellectual rejuvenation enterprise of contemporary Muslim scholars and academics, is briefly explored.

Keywords: Ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddimah, History, Critical Thinking, Islam

JEL Classification: Z10, Z12