Ibn Khaldūn’s Concept of Science of Crafts (‘Ilm al-ṣanā’i‘) and the Discourse of the Integration of Knowledge
Keywords:
Ibn Khaldūn, Science of Crafts, classification of knowledge, integration of knowledge, Islamic EpistemologyAbstract
This paper examines the concept of science of crafts of Ibn Khaldūn (806/1406) and its relation to the discourse of the integration of knowledge of the classical Muslim scholars. In-depth analysis on his works, studies have found that Ibn Khaldūn divides human knowledge (‘ilm al-bashar) into ‘ulūm al-naqlī al-waḍ‘iyyah or ‘ulūm al-shar‘iyyah and ‘ulūm al-ḥikmiyyah al-falsafiyyah, both of which are the acquisition (muktasib) of man’s perception (idrāk) in the soul. Ibn Khaldūn’s sciences of craft seem to be the manifestation of integration between revealed knowledge and intellectual knowledge that take place in the soul. This also goes in line with the concept of ethics of al-Ghazālī who emphasizes the purification of soul so as to manifest noble habits. Furthermore, it also falls under the category of permissible (al-mubāḥ) sciences of al-Ghazālī’s (d. 505/1111) classification of knowledge. Moreover, unlike al-Ghazālī who discusses ethics of the other-world (al-ākhirah) only, Ibn Khaldūn goes a step further by developing the sciences of craft as the scientific ethics of this world under his concept of civilization (‘umrān).
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