Ibn Khaldun's Contributions to Building a Just and Welfare Society

Salient Contributions of Ibn Khaldun Towards Building a Just and Welfare Presented by Mohammed Hafidh Khalfan At the 5th African Islamic Finance Summit, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Dsm April 17, 2018. Society MHK/IBN KHALDUN'S CONTRIBUTIONS

OUTLINE Introduction 1 Salient Contributions 2 Some Important Quotes vis- -vis Ibnu Khaldun 3 Conclusion and Recommendations 4 MHK/IBN KHALDUN'S CONTRIBUTIONS

INTRODUCTION Birth and Death Education and Positions Ibn Khald n, in full Wal al-D n Abd al- Ra m n ibn Mu ammad ibn Mu ammad ibn Ab Bakr Mu ammad ibn al- asan Ibn Khald n, (born May 27, 1332, Tunis [Tunisia] died March 17, 1406, Cairo, Egypt), Ibn Khaldun was a famous historian, philosopher born in Tunis. He received his education there, and then served in various capacities in the current North Africa and Spain. One of the important positions he held was a Judge of Peter the Cruel at Seville. In 1382 he traveled to Cairo where he was appointed as Professor of Law at Al-Azhar University, and later a Judge, in which he held until he died in 1406. sociologist and MHK/IBN KHALDUN'S CONTRIBUTIONS

CONTRIBUTIONS Influence Works Ibn Khaldun wrote several books but Al- Muqademah (1377) was the most famous. It was translated into French in 1862, and then into English. Ibn Khaldun s contribution to the science of economics become well known theories in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with names of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Leon Walras, Karl Marx and others, benefitting a lot from his works . Ibn Khaldun's writings on economics include theories of value, distribution, growth and development, money, prices, public finance, business cycles, inflation, rent, and benefits of trade. Ibn Khaldun's economic thought is related to Islamic doctrines as much as the Western writers' ideas are related to Judeo- Christian tradition. MHK/IBN KHALDUN'S CONTRIBUTIONS

SALIENT CONTRIBUTIONS: PUBLIC FINANCE PERSPECTIVE Ibn Khaldun s contribution to Public Finance could be summarized in four points: i. Sales and import taxes are indicators of the end of civilization (State). ii. Government should not interfere in the economy, neither in production as a producer nor in the markets as a merchant. iii. Decrease in government expenditures, causes a decrease in government revenues and then a recession in the markets. iv. The wealth of the state is related to the wealth of the public, and vice versa. The money is circulated from the government to the public and from the public to the government. MHK/IBN KHALDUN'S CONTRIBUTIONS

SOME IMPORTANT QUOTES VIS--VIS IBNU KHALDUN It is not easy to quote all what has been said on Ibn Khaldun. Let us be satisfied with the following quote from one of the American Presidents of our time: Maybe one thing that I'll remember with joy -- I don't know whether anyone else will -- having gotten my degree in economics, that makes me able to tell ethnic stories about economists -- [laughter] -- I had always believed, and put it into practice over great opposition -- and that was the most important part of our economic reform -- was the reduction of the marginal tax rates. A man named ibn-Khaldun, a few centuries ago said that at the beginning of the empire the rates were low and the revenue was high. He said at the end of the empire the rates were high and the revenue was low MHK/IBN KHALDUN'S CONTRIBUTIONS

SOME IMPORTANT QUOTES (CONT.) Well, over all the objections, we cut the marginal tax rates, and that has been the most important part of our economic recovery. We have the highest percentage of the potential labor pool in America employed that we've ever had in our history. We have had the longest economic expansion that we've ever had in the history of our country. And, I can tell you that when you look at the revenues for the tax rates, they have vastly increased all the way across as we reduced the rates. At the lower rates, more money is coming into the Government. Well, I'd always believed that back from my days in school during the Great Depression, and so I think I'll remember that with great pleasure. President Ronald Reagan. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/research/speeches/032588e visited on 17 April 2018 MHK/IBN KHALDUN'S CONTRIBUTIONS

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Ibn Khaldun is a well-known Muslim scholar who enjoys universal fame in modern times as an original thinker who cared alot about the economy and welfare of the society. He is held to be the precursor or founder of a number of the human sciences, including the philosophy of history, sociology, psychology, politics, geography, anthropology, and economics. It is high time our academic and research institutions did justice to these kinds of great minds by inculcating into the minds of our young academicians and researchers sense of research and confidence coming from their predecessors whose contributions are recognized worldwide todate. Who knows, we can rekindle the minds of our youth to search for knowledge resulting into several Ibn Khalduns to be reborn to serve humanity, Muslims and Non Muslims alike. MHK/IBN KHALDUN'S CONTRIBUTIONS