Understanding the Society and Governance of Bangladesh through the Lens of Ibn Khaldun

This article attempts to ground the relevance and importance of 14th century’s multifaceted social scientist Ibn Khaldun in the context of the overall social, cultural, economic and political journey of Bangladesh. The famous book of this eminent Muslim thinker the Mukaddimah is considered as the conceptual basis of this study. More precisely, from a sociological point of view, the article tries to examine Khaldun’s concept of ‘Asabyyah (solidarity), Umran (the nation) and Madaniyyah (civilization) in the context of Bangladesh. Doing so, a historical analysis of the society and culture of this delta will be portrayed first from Khaldun’s framework of social interpretation. Then, the second part will focus on the continuous formation and reformation of Bangladesh as a state and as a unique society through its contemporary experiences at various social-cultural, economic and political contexts on the basis of both from local and global perspectives. The study gathers the nectar from the Muqadimmah, translation of the original text by Ibn Khaldun along with various journal or research papers by different scholars around the world. The study found that Khaldun’s idea of ‘Asabyyah is extensively applicable in explaining the historical, social and political process of Bangladesh. After discovering historical context, the study found that Khaldun can be considered one of the prime philosophers to address the future of the people of Bangladesh as a sustainable society and a proud nation through creating self-ego that will boost up its citizens in cooperating morally and intellectually from local to global.