Ibn Khaldun and asabiyya: why states rise and fall

Abd al-Rahman ibn Khaldun was born in Tunis in 1332 and died in Cairo in 1406. He served at courts across North Africa and al-Andalus, then withdrew to the fortress of Qal'at Ibn Salama, where he wrote the Muqaddimah in 1377.

What is asabiyya?

For Ibn Khaldun, asabiyya is the bond of solidarity that holds a group together and moves its members to defend one another. He saw it as strongest among desert peoples, whose hard life forces them to cooperate.

The life cycle of a state

A state is born when a group with strong asabiyya takes power. Then comfort and stability arrive, and solidarity weakens from one generation to the next. Ibn Khaldun put the lifespan of a dynasty at about three generations, roughly 120 years, before a new group with stronger solidarity takes its place.

Why is he still read?

Because he treated history as phenomena with causes that can be studied, not just stories to be told. That is why many consider him a pioneer of sociology and the philosophy of history.