When a Philosopher Refutes Philosophy: The Condition of Ambivalence in Ibn Khaldun’s Refutation of Philosophy
Abstract
This article examines Ibn Khaldun’s refutation of philosophy. This refutation is confusing because of his position as a prominent Muslim philosopher. How can a philosopher refute philosophy? In a broader context, Ibn Khaldun’s refutation warrants study because he represents the position of a philosopher-cum-religious figure amid a latent conflict between the rational-philosophical and scriptural-religious perspectives. This article aims to fill the gap in studies regarding Ibn Khaldun’s attitude towards philosophy, which has thus far focused more on his refutation and neglected the relationship between his refutation and his acceptance. To achieve this goal, qualitative research was conducted on Ibn Khaldun’s works along with other writings from journal articles, books, and online literature discussing this topic. Data analysis was carried out using a productive hermeneutic approach to generate a new understanding of his refutation. The research indicates that Ibn Khaldun not only refuted but also accepted philosophy. His stance reveals a persistent condition of ambivalence toward several fundamental philosophical issues. In Ibn Khaldun’s thought, this condition of ambivalence operates as both a discursive and an epistemological strategy, enabling the integration of a rational–philosophical worldview with a scriptural–religious one. Framing his position through this lens of ambivalence, which is advanced in this article as a distinctive analytical perspective, offers a fresh and nuanced understanding of his engagement with philosophy. In the broader context, this perspective of ambivalence serves as a fresh interpretive framework for understanding the refutation of philosophy in the Islamic world, particularly as articulated by a philosopher-cum-religious figure.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Ahmad, Z. (2003). The Epistemology of Ibn Khaldūn. London: RoutledgeCurzon. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203633892
Alatas, S. F. (2022). Reading Ibn Khaldun in the Formative Period of Sociology. Journal of Historical Sociology, 35(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/johs.12377
Al-Attas, S. N. (1995). Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam. Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization.
Al-Jābirī, M.A. (1994). Fikr Ibn Khaldūn: al-‘Aṣabiyyah wa ad-Dawlah: Ma‘ālim Naẓariyyah Khaldūniyyah fī at-Tārīkh al-Islāmī. Beirut: Markaz Dirāsāt al-Wiḥdah al-‘Arabiyyah.
Al-Khuḍairī, Z. (1979). Falsafah at-Tārīkh ‘Inda Ibn Khaldūn. Kairo: Dār aṡ-Ṡaqāfah li aṭ-Ṭibā’ah wa an-Nasyr.
Allo, P. (2015). Constructionism in Logic. Conference: ISIS Summit Vienna 2015-The Information Society at the Crossroads. https://doi.org/10.3390/isis-summit-vienna-2015-s2004
Amin, H., Pratama, Y., & Amin, A. H. (2023). Revitalizing Ibn Khaldun’s Theory of Islamic Education for the Contemporary World. Al-Ishlah: Jurnal Pendidikan, 15(3), 4010-4020. https://doi.org/10.35445/alishlah.v15i3.4523
Angels, P. A. (1988). Dictionary of Philosophy. New York: Barnes & Nobles Books.
Arman, A. A. (2023). Narasi-narasi Pengharaman Filsafat Oleh Kelompok Salafi Modern Indonesia. El-Fikr: Jurnal Aqidah Dan Filsafat Islam, 4(1), 71-90. https://doi.org/10.19109/el-fikr.v4i1.17158
Azzuhri, A. (2022). Introducing Al-Farabi’s Political Philosophy to the Modern Politics. Australian Journal of Islamic Studies, 7(2), 22-35. https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v7i2.443
Badawī, A.R. (1962). Muallafāt Ibn Khaldūn. Kairo: Markaz al-Qawmī li al-Buḥūṡ al-Ijtimā‘iyyah wa al-Jinā‘iyyah.
Bhabha, H. K. (2012). The Location of Culture. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203820551
Bucholc, M. (2022). Ludwik Gumplowicz (1897–1898), Ibn Khaldun: An Arab Sociologist of the 14th Century. Journal of Historical Sociology, 35(3), 45-62. https://doi.org/10.1111/johs.12378
Çaksu, A. (2017). Ibn Khaldun and Philosophy: Causality in History. Journal of Historical Sociology, 30(1), 27-42. https://doi.org/10.1111/johs.12149
Elhady, A. (2022). Dialectical Views on Metaphysics in Islam: Thoughts of Ibn Rushd and Theologians. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 78(4), a7531. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v78i4.7531
Enan, M. A. (1979). Ibn Khaldun: His Life and Work. New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan.
Evkuran, M., & Sayin, Y. (2023). What Does Salafism Promise to Us? -The Political Theology of Purification and Stability in a Chaotic World-. Kader, 21(3). https://doi.org/10.18317/kaderdergi.1385261
Fakhry, M. (1997). Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Mysticism: A Short Introduction. Oxford: Oneworld.
Farabi, M. Al. (2022). Ibn Khaldun’s Considerations Relating to Islamic Education and Their Perspective on the Future. Ta Dib Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 11(2), 205-214. https://doi.org/10.29313/tjpi.v11i2.10531
Farihah, I. (2014). Agama Menurut Ibn Khaldun. Fikrah: Jurnal Ilmu Aqidah dan Studi Keagamaan, 2(1), 187-205. https://doi.org/10.21043/fikrah.v2i1.554
Hanafi, H. (1981). Dirāsāt Islāmiyyah. Kairo: al-Anjilu al-Mishriyyah.
Hanafi, H. (1988). Dirāsāt Falsafiyyah. Kairo: al-Anjilu al-Mishriyyah.
Huda, A. (2022). Ibnu Taimiyah Serta Implikasinya Dalam Perkembangan Sains Modern. Jurnal Kajian Ilmu Pendidikan (Tarbiyatul Misbah), 15(2), 127-138. https://doi.org/10.70688/tarbiyatulmisbah.v15i2.257
Inwagen, P. V. (2009). Metaphysics. Philadelphia: Westview Press.
Kaya, E. (2020). A Critical Approach to Causality and Rational Knowledge in Ibn Khaldūn. Ulum, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.54659/ulum.798914
Khaldun, I. (1979). at-Ta‘rīf bi Ibn Khaldūn wa Riḥlatihi Garban wa Syarqan. Lebanon: Dār al-Kitāb al-Lubnānī.
Khaldun, I. (1996a). Lubāb al-Muḥaṣṣal fī Uṣūl ad-Dīn. Sulaimān, A. M. Ḥ., ed. Iskandariyyah: Dār al-Ma‘rifah al-Jāmi‘iyyah.
Khaldun, I. (1996b). Syifā’ as-Sāil wa Tahżīb al-Masā’il. al-Ḥāfiẓ, M.M., ed. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr al-Mu‘āṣir.
Khaldun, I. (2000). Muqaddimah Ibn Khaldun. Thoha, A., trans. Jakarta: Pustaka Firdaus.
Khaldun, I. (2001). Muqaddimah Ibn Khaldūn. Syaḥadah, K., ed. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr.
Khaldun, I. (2011). Mukaddimah. Irham, M., Supar, M., & Zuhri, A., trans. Jakarta: Pustaka Al-Kautsar.
Khaldun, I. (2015). The Muqaddimah. Rosenthal, F., trans. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400866090
Lakhsassi, A. (2020). Ibn Khaldūn. In Nasr, S.H. & Leaman, O. eds., History of Islamic Philosophy. London & New York: Routledge, 350-364. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003070733-30
Leaman, O. (2020). Islamic Philosophy: An Introduction. In Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Philosophers Bibliographic Guides. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350994980-002
Lubis, A., & Rozi, F. (2020). Rethinking the Book of Tahafut al-Falasifah: Examining Al-Ghazali’s Argumentative Criticism Against the Thinking of Philosophers. Indonesian Journal of Interdisciplinary Islamic Studies, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.20885/ijiis.vol4.iss1.art1
Madjid, N. (1994). Khazanah Intelektual Islam. Jakarta: Bulan Bintang.
Mahdi, M. (2015). Ibn Khaldun’s Philosophy of History: A Study in the Philosophic Foundation of the Science of Culture. London & New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315670188
Mujahidin, M. (2018). Ibn Khaldun’s Economic Thought. MPRA Paper, No. 87192. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/87192/
Mukti, M. F. A. (2014). Philosophical Ideas in Islam: The Attitude of Ibn Khaldun. Afkar: Jurnal Akidah & Pemikiran Islam, Edisi Khas, 67-96.
Muthahhari, M. (2002). Filsafat Hikmah: Pengantar Pemikiran Ṣadrā. Kartanegara, M., Bagir, Z. A., & Heriyanto, H., trans. Bandung: Mizan.
Nasr, S. H. (1964). Three Muslim Sages: Avicenna-Suhrawardi-Ibn Arabi. New York: Caravan Books.
Nasr, S. H. (1978). An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Dotrines (Revised Edition). Great Britain: Thames and Hudson Ltd.
Nasr, S. H. (2006). Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present. New York: State University of New York Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780791481554
Pramono, M. F., Latief, M., & Putri, H. A. (2023). Crisis Studies of The Discourse of Identity Politics in Indonesia from The Perspective of Asabiyah Ibn Khaldun. Potret Pemikiran, 27(2). https://doi.org/10.30984/pp.v27i2.2651
Rizvi, S. (2019). Philosophy in the Islamic World: A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps Volume 3, by Peter Adamson. Intellectual History of the Islamicate World, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1163/2212943x-00701008
Saumantri, T. (2020). Teori Ashabiyah Ibnu Khaldun Sebagai Model Perkembangan Peradaban Manusia. Jurnal Tamaddun : Jurnal Sejarah Dan Kebudayaan Islam, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.24235/tamaddun.v8i1.6326
Senjaya, T. (2023). Ibn Khaldun’s Thoughts on Religion as A Personal Experience and A Social System. Scientia, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.51773/sssh.v2i1.193
Simon, H. (1978). Ibn Khaldun’s Science of Human Culture. Baali, F., trans. Lahore: Muhammad Ashraf Publishers.
Surajiyo, dkk. (2006). Dasar-Dasar Logika. Jakarta: PT Bumi Aksara.
Tanriverdi, H. (2018). Problem of Possible Rational Metaphysic According to Ibn Khaldun. Hitit Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 17(34). https://doi.org/10.14395/hititilahiyat.466023
Tauber, E. (2022). Ibn Khaldun as a Modern Philosopher of History. Journal for Interdisciplinary Middle Eastern Studies, 2. https://doi.org/10.26351/JIMES/8-2/5
Verza, A. (2021). Ibn Khaldun and the Arab Origins of the Sociology of Civilisation and Power. Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70339-4
Wardi, A. (1994). Manṭiq Ibn Khaldūn. Beirut: Dār Kūfān.
Widyastuti, W., Lubis, M. F., & Sabri, R. (2023). The Concept of Education According to Ibn Khaldun. Almufida: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Keislaman, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.46576/almufida.v8i2.3564
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21043/fikrah.v13i2.32132
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2025 FIKRAH
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
