Lesson · 4 min Steady
Group Feeling
In one line Ibn Khaldun saw states rise on group feeling and fall as comfort wears it away.
Ibn Khaldun was born in Tunis in 1332 and served rulers across North Africa and Spain before becoming a judge in Cairo. In 1377 he wrote the Muqaddimah, an introduction to history that tries to find the laws behind the rise and fall of societies.
His key idea is asabiyya, group feeling: the loyalty and solidarity that bind a people together. It is strongest among hardy desert peoples, who depend on each other to survive. Such a group can conquer and found a dynasty. Once in power, its rulers grow used to luxury and settled city life, and the bond weakens. They come to rely on hired soldiers and heavy taxes.
He estimated that a dynasty usually lasts about three generations before a new group with stronger feeling replaces it.
Go deeper
Ibn Khaldun also noticed a pattern in taxes. Early in a dynasty, taxes are light and revenue is high because people work and trade freely. Later, rising costs lead rulers to raise rates, which discourages work and can shrink revenue. Modern economists have cited him for this idea. He met the conqueror Timur outside Damascus in 1401, and his account of their conversation survives.
The startup
Five friends start a company in a garage. They work nights, cover for each other and share every setback. They beat larger rivals.
Ten years later the company is rich. The founders have left, managers guard their own teams, and staff are hired for pay alone. A small new rival, close-knit and hungry, begins to take its customers.
Try this today Look at a team or club you belong to and ask what holds it together now, and what might wear that down.
Cite or share this lesson
A plain reference you can paste into notes or an essay:
Quest2Reason. “Group Feeling.” https://quest2reason.com/learn/lesson/group-feeling. Accessed 13 November 2026.
Sources
- Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah (Rosenthal translation, muslimphilosophy.com) — Chapters on group feeling, royal authority and the life span of dynasties. Paraphrase.
- Wikipedia, “Asabiyyah” — Overview of Ibn Khaldun’s idea of group feeling and its later uses.