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Vol.1 Issue 24, October 2020
the letter the latter declares his intent on retiri ng from politics.
In his reply, Ibn-Khaldun encouraged him and advise d him to
retreat, strive, and exercise , among other Sufi te rms. Ibn Al-
Khatib was eventually killed because of his beliefs , and as you
surely know he wrote a book about the divine love. This man
was a close friend of Ibn-Khaldun ’s despite the short-lived
friction between them at the courts of Granada. All this points
towards the spiritual composition of Ibn-Khaldun. H owever,
due to his extreme reservation as well as the outwa rd nature of
the book of Alt'arif, he never speaks of any intern al experience
let it be spiritual or psychological. As such, his suppression of
the psychological experience was intentional. A bri lliant
gesture on your part was the comparison between Ibn -
Khaldun ’s Alt'arif and Saint Augustine ’s “Confessions ” as to
show that both works reflect the divergent stances of two
different civilizations.

Prof. Nassar:
In all my works, I have never excluded the religiou s aspect of
Ibn-Khaldun ’s thought. However, I have left that for others to
care for –per his intent- I reckoned that what Ibn-Khaldun
quintessentially wished to convey did not reside in his
religious thought but rather his sociological, poli tical and
Qonfod ’s book “Anas al Faqir w ‘ezz al Haqir ” (The Joy of
historical thought. Is his thought so limited in it s roots,
The Poor and The Luxury Of The Despicable)in which he
structure, and implications to the Islamic religiou s thought that
speaks of the status of Al-Ghazali and his book “The Revival
it cannot be understood in a way other than being d erived from
of the Religious Sciences ” [Ihya Ulumudddin] in the 8th
this thought? This is the central question in my op inion. I have
century AH. He then details the network of Sufi re lations
determined my stance from this questions with suffi cient
between the jurists, philosophers and speakers of t he time, this
clarity and evidence. I then referred to this aspec t in two later
2018-2020 on the occasion of Ibn-Khaldun ’s 600th
in turn proves that Sufism was a social establishme nt which
studies
I
published
had organic connections with the tribes. Thus, the social
memorial (view the “Signs and Paths ” book [al'iisharat wal
medium in which Ibn-Khaldun existed was a Tribe-
masalk; min iwan Ibn Rushd ila rihab aleilmania] Th e Signs
Order(tariqa) complex, so to speak.
and Paths: From Ibn Rushd ’s Hall to the Expanse of
Secularism).
Even when it comes to those who taught Ibn-Khaldun , you
I did not attempt to uproot Ibn-Khaldun from his cu ltural,
mentioned al-Ābil ī and I know that you have a previous study
historical and religious context, I did not read it from a
in the relation of Ibn-Khalun to al-Ābil ī, however, besides
Marxist view, a positivist view, a view of scientis m, or a
being a philosopher al-Ābil ī was a Sufi as well and he taught
nationalist view. If you perceive that his openness to Sufism
lessons in the shrine of Abu Maydan Al-Ghawth. Ther e are
holds a significance, in itself or its implications on his
studies that indicate that he taught Ibn-Khaldun se gments from
sociological and historical thought, I would be del ighted to
Avicenna ’s “The Book of Directives and Remarks ” [Al-
read what you would have to say on the subject and benefit
isharatwa al-tanbihat] which speaks of the relation between
from it.
Sufism and philosophy. Another teacher, Abu Abdulla h Al-
Zayat in Fez, was also a Sufi and his other student s beside Ibn-
Nassif Nassar,
Khaldun were Al-Muqri and Ibn 'Abbad of Ronda who
Lebanon, 14/9/2020.
explained the book of “Hikam ” [ Ḥikam al- ʿAtā ‘iyya] –also a
Sufi- hence, Ibn-Khaldun existed in a Sufi medium. Among
** This dialogue was conducted by Prof. Soffar via Whatsapp where
the pleasant things is Dr.Abed al-Jabri ’s reference to a letter
he sent to Professor Nassar his question(s) and Prof. Nassar sent his
mentioned by Ibn-Khaldun inhis book “Alt'arif bi ibn
written responses. Prof. Soffar re-wrote and ordered the conversation
Khaldun, ” which he received from his friend Ibn Al-Khatib,in
to appear in its current form..
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Vol.1 Issue 24, October 2020