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I. Ibn Khaldun's Praised Mind
There has been an overwhelming worldwide consensus among intellectuals and scholars that Ibn Khaldun is blessed with a great mind. From the West, the British historian, Arnold Toynbee, spoke about Ibn Khaldun: "He (Ibn Khaldun) has conceived and formulated a philosophy of history which is undoubtedly the greatest work of its kind that has ever been created by any mind in any time and place" (Toynbee 1956:372). From the East, the famous Moroccan intellectual and PhD author on Ibn Khaldun's thought sees the Muqaddimah as a pyramidical and unified construct and developed thought in its content as well as in the organization of its chapters, paragraphs and the harmony that prevails among its various parts (Al-Jabri 1982:118-19).
II. The Determinants of Great Minds
A Sociology of Knowledge is needed to explore and identify the basic factors behind the making of the great creative minds in the domain of human knowledge.1 Three fundamental factors appear to be strongly correlated with the presence of brilliant human minds: (1) wide knowledge; (2) stimulating external milieu; and (3) special human personality traits.
In the study of the Ibar, I intend to focus on the first factor: lessons to be drawn from Ibn Khaldun's Umran mind. The second factor's impact on Ibn Khaldun's new creative social thought is already over studied and analyzed by those who have attempted to understand and explain the roots of his New Social Science Thought (Ilm al-umran albashari). As to the personality traits factor, it seems to be the least studied, though it may be so important for the realization of human creativity. This essay's limited space does not allow me to deal with it in any meaningful way. However, colleagues and readers may like to consult my modest work both in English and Arabic on the role of Ibn Khaldun's personality traits in the making of his pioneering social thought. (Dhaouadi 2004:54-63; 2001:66-82; 1997:85-97)
However, the main focus in this essay is twofold. First, to shed light with analysis and discussion on how Ibn Khaldun's Islamic wide knowledge shaped his cognitive world view/Weltanschauung and, consequently, his imposing intellectual social science mind. Second, to assess and evaluate the credibility in the field of knowledge-making of what is called in the...