Membaca Mukaddimah Ibnu Khaldun

Bismillah.

 

*warning* panjang, gak baku, tulisan versi curhat dan cerita santai.. 

 

Prolog 

 

Jadi ceritanya, salah satu teman indonesia yang aku temui dari aplikasi bottled ngajakin untuk baca buku Mukaddimah-nya Ibnu Khaldun. Beliau dateng ke book club di Bandung yang bahas buku tersebut, biasanya baca buku versi arab dan versi inggris kalau gak salah. Nah beliau sendiri, punya buku Muqaddimah tapi versi lama gitu, aku bahkan lupa penerbitnya apa, tapi dari fotonya kaya buku jadul gitu.

 

Nah karena beliau ngajakin baca bareng-bareng, sama satu lagi temen dari bangladesh, oh ya ini kita bertiga sama-sama muslimah. Kita buat nama samaran deh, biar enak ceritainnya hehe.

 

Ukhti Bandung: Anggrek

Ukhti Bangladesh: Lily

 

Jadi karena yang ngajakin Anggrek, beliau sharing gdrive yang isinya beberapa pdf buku Muqaddimah versi indonesia, inggris, dan ada juga buku-buku terkait Ibnu Khaldun. Nah Lily udah beli bukunya yang versi terjemah inggris, tapi Lily tuh miss gitu. Sempet gak baca penjelasan Anggrek yang cerita kalau versi bahasa inggris itu diterjemahin sama orang yahudi.

 

Nah, aku.. karena gak terlalu familiar sama buku Mukaddimah atau Ibnu Khaldun, iseng baca biografi Ibnu Khaldun yang buat anak-anak gitu. Dari buku kecil itu, aku lumayan belajar fakta-fakta baru. *ketahuan banget ya aku dari dulu sekolah negri dan gak paham sama nama besar Ibnu Khaldun, yang kalau di buku biografi tersebut dikasih julukan sebagai Bapak Sosiologi Islam.

 

Kutipan dari Sesi Baca Awal

 

25 Agustus aku baca halaman 9-16 dan mencatat beberapa kutipan ini,

 

"Secara hakikat, sejarah mengandung pemikiran, penelitian, dan alasan-alasan detil tentang perwujudan masyarakat dan dasar-dasarnya, sekaligus ilmu yang mendalam tentang karakter berbagai peristiwa. Karena itu, sejarah adalah ilmu yang orisinil tentang hikmah dan layak untuk dihitung sebagai bagian dari ilmu-ilmu yang mengandung kebijaksanaan atau filsafat."

...

"Kebodohan telah menjadi wabah sekaligus bencana kemanusiaan." 

... 

"Sesungguhnya bekal setiap ahli ilmu sedikit. Kemauan untuk mengakui kekurangan dan kritikan adalah keselamatan. Sedang kebaikan dari teman-teman adalah sesuatu yang diharapkan. Hanya kepada Allah aku meminta agar menjadikan amal-amal kami murni untuk-Nya. Cukuplah Dia bagiku dan Dialah sebaik-baik penolong." - Ibnu Khaldun

.... 

Memang perpustakaan itu laksana pasar yang memasarkan barang-barang dagangan para penulis.

Di situlah kendaraan para pencari ilmu dan etika ditambatkan. Dari wawasan-wawasan yang ditawarkan di situ, muncullah hasil-hasil akal dan pikiran yang cemerlang.

 

Oh ya, aku baca buku Mukaddimah - Ibnu Khaldun yang diterbitkan Pustaka Al Kautsar. Yang buat aku penasaran adalah bagaimana versi bahasa inggris dari buku tersebut, karena seperti kebanyakan buku para Ulama atau p enulis islam, akan ada doa, yang diselipkan. Seperti ini,

 

"Hanya kepada Allah aku meminta agar menjadikan amal-amal kami murni untuk-Nya. Cukuplah Dia bagiku dan Dialah sebaik-baik penolong." 

 

Ini aja baca terjemah indonesianya, feelnya beda banget, sama kalau kita tahu/baca bahasa arabnya. I wonder will these sentenced be erased? Sebenarnya aku bisa cari tahu sendiri sih, coba cek. Tapi aku gak ada waktu buat baca yang versi bahasa inggris juga. Hehe

 

Snippet Chat Diskusi di Bottled 

 

Oh ya, aku udah cerita kan ya, aku ketemu sama Anggrek dan Lily di Bottled awalnya dari public island (grup umum) muslimah all over the world. Trus Lily, ngajakin masuk ke private island (grup privat) dia untuk diskusi buku. Dia dengan baik hati ngirim aku parrot (cara biar bisa chat/dm ke akun bottled). Trus dari situ, baru dia kirim link biar aku bisa masuk ke private islandnya. Waktu itu aku masih pengguna pemula di bottled, gak punya koin apalagi parrot. 

 

Sebenarnya ada banyak hal yang ingin aku copy paste dari aplikasi bottled, hasil diskusi kami. Tapi karena qadarullah hpku agak bermasalah, bahkan sempat ngira bakal lost contact gitu ke Anggrek dan Lily. Jadi berikut ini, sedikit dari percakapan kami terkait sesi baca buku Mukaddimah Ibnu Khaldun.

  

Ini berawal dari share Anggrek setelah baca buku biografi Ibnu Khaldun. Sebelumnya, kita pernah sedikit bahas bahwa ada banyak pihak yang mengkritisi Ibnu Khaldun. Diskusinya dalam bahasa inggris ya, gak akan aku terjemahkan.

 

Anggrek:

Ibn Khaldun: An Intellectual Biography #20260827

Read for 20m

The chapter 2 begins with description of North Africa's geography and political situation during Ibn Khaldun's lifetime and also his position in it.

I find a word "bemusing" for the description of Ibn Khaldun's roles. I looked up for the meaning.

It's interesting to see how writers describe him and his work, like, he's very great while also "bemusing"

 

Me :  

 

True.. 

I still think we are being too "harsh" on Ibn Khaldun.

When reading other book, we don't dive too much into the author and focus on what's written in the book.

But here, cause he's such a phenomenal figure, it's easy to read people write about him and critic on him.

Anggrek:

Yesterday with my acquaintance (who is into the Asia Africa stuff) I also talked about the relation between Muqaddima and anticolonialism which is the spirit of movements in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and how pessimistic Muslim historians according to Irwin. 

The western civilization seems to almost come to an end as well, after depleting most of the natural resources that's been accumulated for millions of years in "a single minute" (I read from other writing that compares geological age to human time.)

Me:

As far as I read, maybe because Ibnu Khaldun himself welcome people to criticize him, that's how I knew he's not that narcissist.

He's just a person who loves learning and take lesson from history, and frustrated with the trend on how people wrote history book at that time.

Lily: 

 

How much you guys finished reading. I don’t know should I follow their page? It’s mostly in Indonesian. I don’t understand.

Did you shared your concerns over the translation of this particularly book ?

What did he say? As he is expert in reading Arabic language.

My teacher told me to not read it, but I have already bought the book. 

I think I will read it but with great caution. 

 

Anggrek:

Yes particularly for the English translation, as you said, it must be read with caution and it's mixed with the translator's interpretation.

He said that Muqaddimah is the most difficult Arabic book he ever studied

Yes I think it's better to read it alongside with other sources

Me: (to Lily)

I think it's okay to read it. You can still share here if there are part where you feel suspicious

Aliran Rasa Sesi Baca Kedua pakai Bahasa Inggris  

*ini udah aku kirim ke Bottled, makanya ditulis dalam bahasa inggris

I read Muqaddimah again yesterday till page 23 the Indonesian version.

I read how Ibnu Khaldun criticize Al Mas'udi.

Actually I think he should have just criticize how Israiliyyat source is so wrong instead of criticize the writer publicly in his book.

I wonder how the jewish translator will translate that part, or did he just erase that part and talk about the general knowledge how we should know whether the amount of soldier from history should not be accepted unless it is rational. Cause Ibnu Khaldun really shows his critical thinking and math, how he knows how many generation it is from Ya'qub to Musa, and how we can actually kinda count how many people are there.

I think his choice to criticize other historian publicly made him hated by others. It's part of his fault when people want him to fall.

But I like how he study history of his own original. And how he hadn't accept anything as it is written. Like the logic of his mind and how frustrated he is, is shown well.

So history boast about some country's king that have go to turkey and china. He could just accept it and be proud of it. But instead, he explain how that is not true.

 

The translation. From Meta AI, but as I know English, I know it is a right translation.

Here’s the translation for you (the member of book discussion group in Bottled):

---

*"Therefore, do not simply believe the news that reaches you. Examine those reports and evaluate them with the correct principles, so that you can make the most accurate assessment in the best way. Only Allah is the Most High who gives guidance to the truth."*

_— Mukaddimah Ibn Khaldun — 23_

---

*Key notes*

1. *"janganlah Anda percaya begitu saja"* = don't just accept/believe blindly

2. *"kaidah-kaidah yang benar"* = correct principles / proper methodology. Ibn Khaldun was big on critical thinking + checking sources.

3. The last line is a reminder that ultimately, guidance to truth comes from Allah.

This is such a timeless quote. Basically: _verify before you believe_ — 600+ years ago 

***

My comment (you can skip this part lol)

I like how Ibnu Khaldun make great conclusion after what he explain, how some historian just write history without using rational mind, and only delivered old document/news without doing verification or right method.

And I love how he close his conclusion with remembering us that Allah is the one who guide us to the truth.

It shows that he might have some issue in himself that he needs to work it out (cause he's basically lost the adab, how to criticize someone, he should have just focus on things he criticize instead of naming a name). But deep down he knows, that he need to humble himself. That he might have wrong, and he knows how Allah is the only one who guide us. As what's written in the quote photo.

Penutup

Rasanya udah lama banget aku gak nulis tulisan sepanjang ini. Alhamdulillah 'ala kulli hal, akhirnya banyak nulis lagi karena ada temen yang ngejakin diskusi buku. Kalau baca sendiri, motivasi nulis nukil buku itu, lebih kecil. Lebih nyaman share kutipan aja hehe.

 

Ada yang udah baca buku Mukaddimah-nya Ibnu Khaldun? Atau baca biografi tentang Ibnu Khaldun? Atau barangkali... ada yang lewat sini, ternyata member dari klub baca yang di Bandung? wkwkwk. Gak mungkin kayanya kalau ini, hehe.

 

Boleh banget komentar ya~ I'd be happy to read any comment about this topic. 

 

Wallahua'lam.