INTELLECTUAL ROOTS ABOUT CITY IN ISLAMIC WORLD: FARABI AND IBN HALDUN’S CITY CONCEPTUALISATION

Abstract

Muslims became urban citizen after the migration from Mekke to Medine and the dimention of their relationship between space has changed dramitically. A lot of new cities were established and many of the cities belong to the other cultures has islamised in the period of rising of Islam civilization. And in this period relationship between Islam and space has became deeper. As a consequence of all these developments urban space has become the main concern of the politics and the world of thoughts in Islamic world. Islamic World was more sophisticated than the western civilization from the point of economy and politic between 10th and 14th centuries. So this level of development in the political and economic area effected the world of thoghts and the precursorideas has come to light. With in this scope, Farabi and Ibn Haldun were the people who have precursorand authentic ideas and conceptualisations about city. Farabi has established his ideas on city and city management in the abstract context. Moreover Ibn Haldun developed his ideas on city and city management by using observation and experience. In this context nomadic life (bedevilik) and civilisation (hadarilik) have become main concepts in the Ibn Haldun’s thoughts and he revealed the relationship between economic developments and urban space. In addition, he revealed the relationship between economy and the esthetic level and physical size of the cities. With in this scope these two thinkers were the people who revealed the preliminary ideas on city in their era. But these two thinkers haven’t got the attention that they deserves in the western world. So this article aims to fill this deficiency and execute IbnHaldun’s and Farabi’s ideas and conceptualisations on city and city life.