Refining Islamic Scholarship-through harmonizing with postmodern social sciences

In 1377 classical North African Islamic Scholar, Ibn Khaldun, wrote The\ud Muqaddimah [Translated as: Introduction to Universal History].This text by\ud many is regarded as being significant in influencing thought, within the social\ud sciences. Ibn Khaldun argues that people fall into two general categories:\ud city dwellers, who enjoy an urban sedentary lifestyle; and those who live\ud in harsh nomadic conditions. When looking specifically at Muslims, with\ud Arabic being the language of Islam, Ibn Khaldun also groups Muslims into\ud two broad camps: which differentiates individuals according to (1) linguistic\ud and (2) cultural Arabization. Ibn Khaldun asserts that intellect, scholarship,\ud science and refined culture (such as the arts), evolved through urban linguistic\ud Arabs - the most prominent of whom, at his time, hailed from Ancient Persia2\ud and Egypt. The classical period of Islam has a signif cant influence on Persia,\ud which she reciprocated greatly. Ibn Khaldun writes, that after the Muslim\ud conquest of Persia in 633AD, Arabs to a large extent became Persianized.\ud Dutton (2002), comments on the early shifts in political authority, from\ud Madina to Kufa, then to Damascus and later to the Islamic Golden Age in\ud Baghdad. The move to Baghdad harmonised Persian influences, making\ud the Muslim world the unrivaled centre of education, science, medicine\ud and philosophy. At this time, the prophetic saying arguing that the ink of\ud the scholar is more holy that the blood of the martyr, embodied the Muslim\ud mind-set. Dutton (2002) also asserts that after the death of Muhammad,\ud cultural practices became central in understanding how to derive, interpret\ud and apply Islamic law. Ibn Khaldun (2005) and Dutton (2002) paint a picture\ud of Muslim acculturation built around urban centres of knowledge, as opposed\ud to the Bedouin desert plains, as is often romanticised