Jitu COIN 8POOL

He was the great ruler of the Mughal Sultanate under whose watch Islam flourished in the subcontinent, reaching its high watermark before the military defeats at the hands of Hindu forces in subsequent decades, and before its eventual collapse under the pressure of the British. Aurangzeb’s dedication to the cause of Islam, his strong leaning towards the  fuqaha’ , and his profound personal piety (bordering on asceticism) have led some Muslim historians to put him in the same category as ‘Umar ibn Abd al-‘Aziz. The long reign of Aurangzeb delayed the process of the disintegration of the Mughal Sultanate for several decades, while territorial expansion during his reign was also immense. Even in his old age, he constantly and vigilantly busied himself in combating the multiple historical and social forces working against the Mughal Sultanate and the Muslim community. Certainly, there is deep sorrow and grief upon remembering the fall of Al-Andalus (Spain) by the Muslims. Yet...

Ibn Khaldun is one of the most well-known historians of Muslim heritage who propounded a new historiographical method whereby he analysed the factors contributing to the rise and fall of civilisations: the immutable cycle which governs the lifespan and nature of an empire or polity. This article is a brief but interesting introduction into his work. Ibn Khaldun is best known for his formulation of the notion of  ‘Asabiyyah , broadly translated as “group-feeling/solidarity” which is the fundamental building block which provides strength to the successful origins and development of a fledgling empire or polity. His broad interactions with a range of peoples from multiple continents contributed to his theory and model of human social organisation. His Islamic learning and scholarship also contributed to his view of history’s divine coordination by Allah. ‘Abdur-Rahman Ibn Khaldun is considered as one of the greatest thinkers in the annals of human history. He lived in the middle-late ...