page numbers are from the abridged edition
- is because [man’s] aggressive an defensive strength is obtained only through group feeling which means affection and willingness to fight and die for each other.
- enables conquering, and thus a royal dynasty
- initially opposed to strong government (think america, cowboys, etc)
- then submissiveness to the state seems to be divinely revealed
1
172 - 174 is very interesting
"It is in that sense that one must understand Muḥammad’s remark, ‘Learn as much of your pedigrees as is necessary to establish your ties of kindred.’ It means that pedigrees are useful only in so far as they imply the close contact that is a consequence of blood ties and that eventually leads to mutual help and affection. Anything beyond that is superfluous. For a pedigree is something imaginary and devoid of reality. Its usefulness consists only in the resulting connection and close contact. If the fact of (common descent) is obvious and clear, it evokes in man a natural affection, as we have said."
Assumes a fallen view of man, naturally evil:
He who casts his eye upon the property of his brother will lay his hand upon it to take it, unless there is a restraining influence to hold him back.
"Injustice is a human trait. If you find
A moral man, there is some reason why he is not unjust"
Asabiyah, group consciousness
‘aṣabîyah is the major neologism permeating all of Ibn Khaldûn’s work. Franz Rosenthal translates it throughout as ‘group feeling.’ Some have criticized that standardized rendition of ‘aṣabîyah, considering it too static and natural an English equivalent of what remains for Ibn Khaldûn a variable pinned between the state (dawlah) and religion (dîn). Moḥammed Talbi, for instance, defines ‘aṣabîyah as “at one and the same time the cohesive force of the group, the conscience that it has of its own specificity and collective aspirations, and the tension that animates it and impels it ineluctably to seek power through conquest.
Leadership is about having the most group feeling - lessons in leadership from the muqqadimah
This is because leadership exists only through superiority, and superiority only through group feeling. Leadership over people, therefore, must, of necessity, derive from a group feeling that is superior to each individual group feeling. Each individual group feeling that becomes aware of the superiority of the group feeling of the leader is ready to obey and follow him. p. 177
On affection for blood kin - relates to modern ethno-states and high trust northern european societies
p. 172 - 178
"In this sense, one must understand the remark, ‘Genealogy is something which is of no use to know and which it does no harm not to know.’ This means that when common descent is no longer clear and has become a matter of scientific knowledge, it can no longer move the imagination and is denied the affection caused by group feeling. It has become useless."
Surely we have overcome this. Steiner rarely talks about things in these terms. But they can be identified as forces that are growing obsolete, and so can be safely identified and be left behind.
Savage nations are better able to achieve superiority than others - relates to Manchurian / Han China history
p. 184
A sign of royal authority is a person’s eager desire to acquire praiseworthy qualities, and vice versa - relates to chinese pleasure book on the development of virtue
p. 191
Sedentary culture and development of skill and craft
This may be exemplified by the Jews. Their rule in Syria lasted about 1,400 years. Sedentary culture thus became firmly established among them. They became skilled in the customary ways and means of making a living and in the manifold crafts belonging to it as regards food, clothing, and all the other parts of (domestic) economy, so much so that these things, as a rule, can still be learned from them to this day. Sedentary culture and its customs became firmly rooted in Syria through them and through the Roman dynasties which succeeded them for six hundred years. Thus, they had the most developed sedentary culture possible.
p. 427
The fall of dynasties
When elegance in (domestic) economy has reached the limit, it is followed by subservience to desires.
From all these customs, the human soul receives a "multiple stamp" that undermines its religion and worldly well-being.
It cannot preserve its religion, because it has now been firmly stamped by customs that are difficult to discard. (It cannot preserve) its worldly (well-being), because the customs (of luxury) demand a great many things and (entail) many requirements for which (a man’s) income is not sufficient.
Corruption of the individual inhabitants is the result of painful and trying efforts to satisfy the needs caused by their (luxury) customs; (the result) of the bad qualities they have acquired in the process of satisfying (those needs); and of the damage the soul suffers after it has obtained them. Immorality, wrongdoing, insincerity, and trickery, for the purposes of making a living in a proper or an improper manner, increase among them.
p. 431
As a result, the toughness of desert life is lost. Group feeling and courage weaken. Members of the tribe revel in the well-being that God has given them. Their children and offspring grow up too proud to look after themselves or to attend to their own needs. They have disdain also for all the other things that are necessary in connection with group feeling. This finally becomes a character trait and natural characteristic of theirs. Their group feeling and courage decrease in the next generations.
p. 188
This shows most clearly what group feeling means. Group feeling produces the ability to defend oneself, to offer opposition, to protect oneself, and to press one’s claims. Whoever loses it is too weak to do any of these things.
p. 190
Like the Roman analysts, believes homosexuality is a result of decadence, out of a craving for variety:
"This is followed by diversification of the pleasures of sex through various ways of sexual intercourse, such as adultery and homosexuality."
p. 434
On the degeneration of teaching
p. 79
At the present time, teaching is a craft and serves to make a living. It is a far cry from the pride of group feeling. Teachers are weak, indigent, and rootless. Many weak professional men and artisans who work for a living aspire to positions for which they are not fit but which they believe to be within their reach. They are misled by their desires, a rope which often slips from their hands and precipitates them into the abyss of ruinous perdition. They do not realize that what they desire is impossible for men like them to attain. They do not realize that they are professional men and artisans who work for a living. And they do not know that at the beginning of Islam and under the (Umayyad and ‘Abbâsid) dynasties, teaching was something different. Scholarship, in general, was not a craft in that period. Scholarship consisted of transmitting statements that people had heard the Lawgiver (Muḥammad) make. It was the teaching of religious matters that were not known, by way of oral transmission. Persons of noble descent and people who shared in the group feeling and directed the affairs of Islam were the ones who taught the Book of God and the Law of the Prophet, (and they did so) as one transmits traditions, not as one gives professional instruction. The Qur’ân was their Scripture, revealed to the Prophet in their midst. It constituted their guidance, and Islam was their religion, and for it they fought and died. It distinguished them from the other nations and ennobled them. They wished to teach it and make it understandable to the Muslims. They were not deterred by censure coming from pride, nor were they restrained by criticism coming from arrogance.
Servants are unmanly
This situation is not praiseworthy from the point of view of manliness, which is natural to man, since it is weakness to rely on persons (other than oneself). It also adds to one’s duties and expenditure, and indicates a weakness and effeminacy that ought to be avoided in the interest of manliness.
p. 450
on writing
In this respect, writing is the most useful craft because, in contrast to the other crafts, it deals with matters of theoretical, scientific interest. Writing involves a transition from the forms of the written letters to the verbal expressions in the imagination, and thence to the concepts underlying them, which are in the soul. The writer always goes from one symbol to another, as long as he is wrapped up in writing, and the soul becomes used to the constant (repetition of the process).
p. 492
on urban vs desert bodies
Consequently, the bodies of the urban population are found to be more delicate than those of the inhabitants of the desert who live a hard life. Likewise, those inhabitants of the desert who are used to hunger are found to have in their bodies no superfluous matters, thick or thin.
It should be known that the influence of abundance upon the body is apparent even in matters of religion and divine worship. The frugal inhabitants of the desert and those of settled areas who have accustomed themselves to hunger and to abstinence from pleasures are found to be more religious and more ready for divine worship than people who live in luxury and abundance
no urban dweller wants to return to the desert
Bedouins are prior to sedentary people. The desert is the basis and reservoir of civilization and cities
except for the man vs. wild show host
on writing and poetry
p. 331 - writing is the most useful craft
but poetry is a challenge for the city dweller
on astrology
In between these conjunctions, there occurs the conjunction of the two unlucky planets Saturn and Mars in the sign of Cancer once every thirty years. The sign of Cancer is the ascendant of the world. This conjunction strongly indicates disturbances, wars, bloodshed, the appearance of rebels, the movement of armies, the disobedience of soldiers, plagues, and drought.
p. 397
opening invocation
Praised be God! He is powerful and mighty. In His hand, He holds royal authority and kingship. His are the most beautiful names and attributes. His knowledge is such that nothing, be it revealed in secret whispering or left unsaid, remains strange to Him. His power is such that nothing in heaven or on earth is too much for Him or escapes Him.