Ibn Khaldun Achievements and Profile

Ibn Khaldun Achievements and Profile Ibn Khaldun is an important figure in Medieval History. Key Facts Other Names: Ibn Khaldun was also known as Abu Zayd Abd al-Rahman ibn Khaldun. Notable Achievements: Ibn Khaldun was noted for developing one of the earliest nonreligious philosophies of history. He is generally considered the greatest Arab historian as well as the father of sociology and the science of history. Occupations: PhilosopherWriter HistorianDiplomatTeacher Places of Residence and Influence: AfricaIberia Important Dates Born: May 27, 1332Died: March 17, 1406 (some references have 1395) Quotation Attributed to Ibn Khaldun He who finds a new path is a pathfinder, even if the trail has to be found again by others; and he who walks far ahead of his contemporaries is a leader, even though centuries pass before he is recognized as such. About Ibn Khaldun Abu Zayd Abd al-Rahman ibn Khaldun  came from an illustrious family and enjoyed an excellent education in his youth. Both his parents died when the Black Death struck Tunis in 1349. At the age of 20, he was given a post at the court of Tunis and later became secretary to the sultan of Morocco in Fez. In the late 1350s, he was imprisoned for two years for suspicion of participating in a rebellion. After being released and promoted by a new ruler, he again fell out of favor, and he decided to go to Granada. Ibn Khaldun had served the Muslim ruler of Granada in Fez, and Granadas prime minister, Ibn al-Khatib, was a renowned writer and a good friend to Ibn Khaldun. A year later he was sent to Seville to conclude a peace treaty with King Pedro I of Castile, who treated him with great generosity. However, intrigue raised its ugly head and rumors were spread of his disloyalty, adversely affecting his friendship with Ibn al-Khatib. He returned to Africa, where he changed employers with unfortunate frequency and served in a variety of administrative posts. In 1375, Ibn Khaldun sought refuge from the tumultuous political sphere with the tribe of Awlad Arif. They lodged him and his family in a castle in Algeria, where he spent four years writing the  Muqaddimah.   Illness drew him back to Tunis, where he continued his writing until difficulties with the current ruler prompted him to leave once more. He moved to Egypt and eventually took a teaching post at the Quamhiyyah college in Cairo, where he later became chief judge of the Maliki rite, one of the four recognized rites of Sunnite Islam. He took his duties as judge very seriously perhaps too seriously for most of the tolerant Egyptians, and his term did not last long. During his time in Egypt, Ibn Khaldun was able to make a pilgrimage to Mecca and visit Damascus and Palestine. Except for one incident in which he was forced to participate in a palace revolt, his life there was relatively peaceful- until Timur invaded Syria. The new sultan of Egypt, Faraj, went out to meet Timur and his victorious forces, and Ibn Khaldun was among the notables he took with him. When the Mamluk army returned to Egypt, they left Ibn Khaldun in besieged Damascus. The city fell into great peril, and the city leaders began negotiations with Timur, who asked to meet Ibn Khaldun. The illustrious scholar was lowered over the city wall by ropes in order to join the conqueror. Ibn Khaldun spent nearly two months in the company of Timur, who treated him with respect. The scholar used his years of accumulated knowledge and wisdom to charm the ferocious conqueror, and when Timur asked for a description of North Africa, Ibn Khaldun gave him a complete written report. He witnessed the sack of Damascus and the burning of the great mosque, but he was able to secure safe passage from the decimated city for himself and other Egyptian civilians. On his way home from Damascus, laden with gifts from Timur, Ibn Khaldun was robbed and stripped by a band of Bedouin. With the greatest of difficulty, he made his way to the coast, where a ship belonging to the Sultan of Rum, carrying an ambassador to the sultan of Egypt, took him to Gaza. Thus he established contact with the rising Ottoman Empire. The rest of Ibn Khalduns journey and, indeed, the rest of his life was relatively uneventful. He died in 1406 and was buried in the cemetery outside one of Cairos main gates. Ibn Khalduns Writings Ibn Khalduns most significant work is the Muqaddimah. In this introduction to history, he discussed historical methods and provided the necessary criteria for distinguishing historical truth from error. The Muqaddimah is considered one of the most phenomenal works on the philosophy of history ever written. Ibn Khaldun also wrote a definitive history of Muslim North Africa, as well as an account of his eventful life in an autobiography entitled Al-tarif bi Ibn Khaldun. More Ibn Khaldun Resources Biographies Ibn Khaldun His Life and Work by M. A. EnanIbn Khaldun: Historian, Sociologist Philosopher by Nathaniel Schmidt Philosophical and Sociological Works Ibn Khaldun: An Essay in Reinterpretation (Arabic Thought and Culture) by Aziz Al-AzmehIbn Khaldun and Islamic Ideology (International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology) edited by B. LawrenceSociety, State, and Urbanism: Ibn Khalduns Sociological Thought by Fuad BaaliSocial Institutions: Ibn Khalduns Social Thought by Fuad BaaliIbn Khalduns Philosophy of History - A Study in the Philosophic Foundation of the Science of Culture by Muhsin Mahdi Works by Ibn Khaldun Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun; translated by Franz Rosenthal; edited by N. J. DowoodAn Arab Philosophy of History: Selections from the Prolegomena of Ibn Khaldun of Tunis (1332-1406) by Ibn Khaldun; translated by Charles Philip Issawi

Liberalism and Realism - International Relations Essay

Liberalism and Realism - International Relations - Essay Example Looking from the above text, we can infer the position that realism proposes the understanding that politics is a game played between individuals for their personal gain and that the whole agenda of international politics goes beyond morality, ideology and social reconstructions, and the focus is generally relied upon national security and stability within the political framework of the country. Realism is a pessimistic theory which emphasis the fact that national security and development has to happen due to the competition which the nation state possess from outside its borders, and therefore the need for change and adaptation comes more as a necessity rather than a luxury. A realist sees the world from the perspective of his nation state, where the crucial element is the fact that the nation state has to strengthen its own military and national affairs to compete with the rest of the world as politics is at the state of antagonism. â€Å". A liberal, on the other hand, sees interdependence in the world system, a system in which every state cooperates on some level with other states. This cooperation is facilitated by institutions and established norms and ensures that every state maximizes its gain. Absolute gains, therefore, rather than relative gains, are the focus of liberals.† A liberal is in direct contrast to a realist, as he is an optimistic at heart and sees the nature of politics as a means of building relations with the rest of the world. Liberal internationalism idealises the fact that nation states should intervene in each other’s space with regard to military invasion and humanitarian aid, as well as seeking cooperation with respect to the functioning of the governments in different nation states. The theory emphasises the fact that it is important to have interdependency within the framework of working as nation states and one cannot be isolated it total

Knowledge Management and Organisation Learning Essay

Knowledge Management and Organisation Learning - Essay Example Modern business history lists a number of instances when knowledge-centred management has helped create competitive advantage of organisations and even countries formerly limited in financial and other resources. For Microsoft, Dell, IBM (which is believed to be one of the founders of the paradigm), Compaq, British Airways, Ryan Air and other major organisations knowledge management has become the cornerstone of success. The same is true for such countries as South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong which rely on the national knowledge economy. Over the last two decades, organizations have often been described in terms of knowledge and learning with the help of such concepts as "learning organisation", "intellectual capital", "people-centred approach" or "knowledge based management". Cakar and Bititci (2001) perfectly summarise this trend in the following statement: "1980s were all about automation. In the manufacturing industry FMS, FAS, Robots, AGV'S etc. were commonplace. The 1990s have been about people, this is evident in the development of concepts throughout the 90's focusing on delegation, involvement, ownership cross functional teamwork, self managed works teams and so on The needs of modern business emphasize the role and importance of people and knowledge" (p.2). Also the idea of knowledge management appeared requested in 1990s the concept itself dates back early 1960s. Its advent is associated with classic works of Peter Drucker w. Drucker found out that on 1960s, He called this new era an informational one (Drucker, 1994). The ideas of Peter Drucker (1994), whom was the first to use term 'knowledge worker', became widely recognised in 1980s when a number of followers supported his idea that investments in human resources were increasingly becoming more cost-efficient than investments in machines. In 1986, European knowledge management pioneer Karl-Erik Sveiby described the concept of a "know-how company" (Doz, Santos & Williamson, 2001), and in 1991 the ideas of knowledge management were reconsidered by Ikujiro Nonako whom presented the idea of "knowledge-creating company". The 1996 could be considered the turning point in history of knowledge management: the influence of this paradigm became overwhelming in absolute majority of the developed countries (Skyrme, 2002). The ideas and concepts related to knowledge managements were successfully applied in the oil, pharmaceutical, high technology, financial, and other industries. Main Body Knowledge management is a new form of management which helps organizational adaptation, survival and competence in face of increasingly discontinuous environmental change. This broader perspective incorporates the processes of knowledge use, knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, knowledge transfer and knowledge renewal (Malhotra, 1998). Therefore, knowledge management is commonly defined as "the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge and its associated processes of creating, gathering, organizing, diffusion, use and exploitation, in pursuit of

Land Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Land Law - Assignment Example oning in this context that the rule of joint tenancy is guided by the provision of ‘the right of survivorship’, which reflects that following the death of any of the joint owners, the other share holder(s) of the property shall withhold their ownership right with respect to the entire property as per section 33 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925. A similar judgment was given in the case of Gayton v. Kovanda 857 N.E.2d 929 (III. App. 2006), where the ownership right to the entire property was transferred to the Appellee, Mrs. Gayton, after her husband’s demise (being tenants in common), ruling that the appellant, Louis E. Kovanda, was not entitled to the benefit from ‘the right of survivorship’ on the grounds that she was Mr. Gayton’s creditor2. However, as mentioned in the case scenario, two of the five members, i.e. Bettina and Edward, each holding one-fifth of the share for the property eventually entered into the area of ‘tenancy in common’, which made the area of joint tenancy void for them. Thus, it is quite obvious that the five members shall be no more entitled to obtain the benefits of joint tenancy as per the rule of ‘the right of survivorship’. As per the legal area of ‘Tenancy In Common’, these two members are now entitled for the complete ownership of their share in the property and use it as per their will and convenience, such as deciding whether to sale the share or gift it to their heir3. To be precise, in the area of tenancy in common, following the death of any of the co-owners, it is likely that the members’ interest will be passed on to the heirs or the beneficiaries, as mentioned in the legal will of the share holders4. However, Alan, Daniel and Claude rema ined as joint tenants holding 60% of the property share in total. Herein, the dispute emphasizes Claude’s rights to interfere in Zavier’s and Ray’s possession of the property share followed by the sudden demise of Daniel and Aunt Nora’s possession of

Octavian by M.T. Anderson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Octavian by M.T. Anderson - Essay Example Anderson. The book tells the story of Octavian, a boy of African-American heritage who lives with his mother at The Novanglian College of Lucidity. He is brought up among scientists and philosophers and is given luxurious treatment throughout his life. In the first volume, we learn about the education of Octavian; he is proficient in music and religious studies, and music studies have made him a talented violinist. Initially Octavian was under the impression, or it could be that he had the illusion, that each of the members living at â€Å"The Novanglian College of Lucidity† is equal. However, as a result of a mistake committed by his mother, both of them are thrown out of the college and have to live with Richard Sharpe. Octavian believed that he was a free member of the Utopian society but his dreams are shattered by Sharpe’s plan to experiment on him to prove that the African race is inferior to white and other races. Thus Octavian comes to find out the reality of li ving in the old America.

FINAL 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

FINAL 2 - Assignment Example The remaining crew, however, tricked the escapees and sailed them to Long Island, New York (instead of Africa) where they were apprehended by the Coastal authorities. What followed was a legal roller coaster which would greatly strengthen the American based National Abolition Movement, an organization that advocated against slavery. In the legal proceedings, which took place in New London, Ruiz and Montes requested that the schooner, its cargo and the Africans be given to the Spanish consul. The Africans were then charged with murder and mutiny and transported to New Haven for jailing as they awaited trial. The abolitionists stood on the Africans’ sides and offered to defend them, where they formed the Amistad committee comprised of several prominent abolitionists like Lewis Tappan, Reverend Joshua Leavit and Simeon S. Jocelyn. They further sought out interpreters for the Africans, composed a legal team for their defense and provided food and housing for them (Barnes et al 93). Since it was the first ever case of a cargo ship mutiny by slaves, it attracted extra media attention, which translated into extra support for the abolitionists and thus they received some extra funding. The heightened coverage of the case by the people enhanced refreshed awareness on the ill effects of slavery, which led to more support of the abolitionists and more members joining the movement. The Africans won the case and were released to return to their homeland in Africa. By the end of the proceedings, the American Abolitionist Movement was a much more powerful and influential force in the US society (Upchurch

Octavian by M.T. Anderson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Octavian by M.T. Anderson - Essay Example Anderson. The book tells the story of Octavian, a boy of African-American heritage who lives with his mother at The Novanglian College of Lucidity. He is brought up among scientists and philosophers and is given luxurious treatment throughout his life. In the first volume, we learn about the education of Octavian; he is proficient in music and religious studies, and music studies have made him a talented violinist. Initially Octavian was under the impression, or it could be that he had the illusion, that each of the members living at â€Å"The Novanglian College of Lucidity† is equal. However, as a result of a mistake committed by his mother, both of them are thrown out of the college and have to live with Richard Sharpe. Octavian believed that he was a free member of the Utopian society but his dreams are shattered by Sharpe’s plan to experiment on him to prove that the African race is inferior to white and other races. Thus Octavian comes to find out the reality of li ving in the old America.