Abstract:
It is generally believed that sociology originated in Europe in the 19th century and the paternity of the discipline
is commonly attributed to the French sociologist August Comte. However, reflections of a sociological nature
were observed and found in the work of 14th century North African historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun.
However, such contribution of Ibn Khaldun is little acknowledged by European scholars in their works.
Therefore, this paper attempts to examine how Eurocentrism is embedded in the writing of the European scholars
and unpacks the contribution of Ibn Khaldun in the growth of Sociology. In the first part of essay, I argue that the
perspective of European scholars are mainly Eurocentric and parochial in their accounts on culture, language and
other aspects of non-European society. In the second part of the essay, I argue Ibn Khaldun’s contribution to the
field of sociology is largely ignored, though his contributions dealt with the society and human character,
political organization and government, differences between rural and urban populations, kinship, social solidarity,
and the interplay between economic conditions and social organizations. Nevertheless, I argue that though Ibn
Khaldun’s ideas have hugely impressed some of European thinkers in the 19th century prompting them to regard
him as the progenitor of sociology, question remains as to how his ideas and theories have been appropriated by
contemporary social scientists in their works.
