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In Memory of Ibn Khaldun
Morocco Commemorates 600th Anniversary of Ibn Khaldun’s Death.
The Moroccan Ministry of culture is dedicating the year 2006 to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the death of the greatest Arab historical thinker, Ibn Khaldun. To commemorate the great achievements of Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) in terms of sociology and history, the Moroccan ministry has organised several events where historians and thinkers will gather. The conferences are divided into two series. The first one started from April 5, and will go on upto May 19, 2006 and the second is slated to begin from September 13 to November 8, 2006 in many Moroccan cities like Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech, Tetouan, Fez and Meknès. As part of the same celebration, the re-publication of Ibn Khaldun’s book is also scheduled. The Moroccan spiritual city, Fez, will also host an exhibition highlighting the period when the Arab historian spent six years in the kingdom.
Ibn Khaldun was well known for the various offices he held under the rulers of Tunis and Morocco. In 1363, he served as ambassador of the Moorish king of Granada to Peter the Cruel, of Castile. In 1382, he went to Cairo where he spent the rest of his life as a teacher and lecturer. He also served as a judge in Egypt. In his work, the Kitab Al-Ibar (Universal History), he attempted to treat history as a science and outlined a philosophy of history, setting forth principles of sociology and political economy.
For the same occasion, a cultural meeting was organised last month in Burbank (California) under the theme: “To build a bridge between nations and cultures.” Initiated jointly by the Moroccan American Association of South California and the Grove of Hope Foundation, the event brought together about 500 members of the Arab and American communities. The director of history at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Professor Mahmood Ibrahim, talked about the life and work of this researcher and philosopher of history who, had left an important heritage to the Arab world, namely, The Muqaddima- “Prolegomena”.
Ibrahim also spotlighted the important achievements of the Arab thinker in the human sciences and his openness to other western cultures and civilisations.
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