Contrasting Opinions of the Bedouin Society

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Ibn Khaldun was a historian and a scholar among other things. He was born in Tunis, Tunisia in Northern Africa in 1337. In the first chapter of “The Muqaddimah”, Human Civilization in General, ibn Khaldun describes man as “‘political’ by nature” (45). I found this interesting because what he means by political and what most people think of as political now are very different. Khaldun is simply referring to man actually requiring some form of social civilization. He gives an example of a basic form of society in chapter two, entitled Bedouin Civilization, Savage Nations and Tribes and Their Conditions of Life, Including Several Basic and Explanatory Statements. ibn Khaldun refers to the Bedouin peoples as a people living by agriculture and animal husbandry. They are a people who restrict themselves from the luxuries of most sedentary people. ibn Khaldun states that this way of life brings them closer to God. The Bedouins are also more courageous than sedentary peoples because sedentary people are too used to life being easy.Thesiger seems to have a different idea of the Bedouin societ...

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