The Muqaddimah summary

We now know that humans have successfully inhabited nearly every corner of the globe – from the Incas in Peru to the Vikings in Norway. From the author’s historical perspective, however, human civilization seemed to be limited to a small section of the world.

He posited that temperate climates produced greater civilizations. Though there was undoubtedly civilization in harsher climates, like the Arctic Circle, these communities were less fixed and less expansive, boasting nothing like the Colosseum in Rome or the Taj Mahal in India.

Intuitively, one would think that temperate climates produce fertile zones abounding in food. But this is not the case, and as you’ll soon discover, this lack of abundance was once considered a blessing.

The author believed that consuming too many high-moisture foods, such as butter and seasonings, is bad for the body and mind. This seemed especially obvious with regards to the body, as such foods result in an ugly complexion and figure. But such foods were also thought to dull the mind, ultimately causing stupidity.

Christians believe that Jesus was the chosen one. Buddhists believe the same of the Buddha; Muslims, the same of Muhammad. This is no coincidence.

God has chosen certain people, such as the prophet Muhammad, to lead others. These chosen people have certain defining characteristics. For example, they are innocent and seek to propagate religion and divine worship through prayer, alms and charity.

Why were the Americans defeated by the Viet Cong in the mid-twentieth century? After all, the Americans had superior weapons and greater numbers. Perhaps it all boiled down to a lack of group feeling among the various sides.

Group feeling is vital for support and aid within the group, as well as for scaring off attackers. In essence, group feeling refers to solidarity with the group to which you belong; it’s similar to modern-day nationalism.

When God created human beings, He didn’t make them morally neutral. Rather, He imbued them with the power to commit acts of great kindness as well as acts of pure evil.

But good and evil do not share the same origin. Evil is something we share with animals, and stems from a failure to let religion guide our lives and customs. But how can we curb this innate evil? The answer is through royal authority.

Early human communities were nomadic, moving around in search of food. Eventually, however, there came a time to settle down into a sedentary life.

Urbanization – that is, the concentration of a population in one area – is one feature of sedentary life. But why settle in the first place? Settling gives civilizations the ability to more easily defend themselves and more easily acquire resources through strategic placement of cities. Building near a forest, for example, gives a settled population better access to building materials.

Most people consider Adam Smith to be the “father of capitalism.” But if you look further back in history, similarities between fourteenth-century Islamic thinking and modern-day capitalism become apparent.

Indeed, all people strive to accumulate things and make a profit, that is, income acquired by labor, not by mere chance. And when people pool their labor, it results in greater profits.

Humans share many qualities with the rest of the animal kingdom. However, unlike animals, we possess some angelic qualities as well.

At the root of this distinction is the human ability to think. Human behavior is well organized and orderly because our actions are the result of thought. Through thought we are able to perceive the order that already exists, either due to nature or arbitrary arrangement.