Copyright © 2018 Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7 (2.29) (2018) 1142-1146 International Journal of Engineering & Technology Website: www.sciencepubco.com/index.php/IJET Research paper An Analysis on Ibn Khaldun's Methodology in Social Change Harliana Halim 1 *, Kamaruzaman Yusoff 2 , Aminuddin Basir 3 , Rosman Md. Yusoff 4 , Siti Sarawati Johar 5 , Mohd Hisyam Abdul Rahim 6 , Hani Suraya Aziz 7 , Abdul Shakor Borham 8 1 Centre for General Studies and Co-curricular, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia 2 Fakulti Tamadun Islam, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 4 Pusat Citra, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 4,5,6,8 Centre for General Studies and Co-curricular, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia 6 Centre for Language Studies, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia *Corresponding author E-mail: harliana@uthm.edu.my Abstract In the realms of historical sociology, Ibn Khaldun is a name that strikes absolute familiarity among experts. However, the discussions expressed in historical sociology debates do not specify how Ibn Khaldun's ideas and thoughts were actually focusing on social changes that occur in a society. Hence, the discussion of this article will analyse the approaches and methodologies applied by Ibn Khaldun in analysing the social changes that took place during his lifetime and prior to it, as recorded in Muqaddimah Ibn Khaldun. This paper uses a historical descriptive qualitative research approach. Facts were analysed using a text analysis approach in under- standing Ibn Khaldun's methodology on social change and Muqaddimah Ibn Khaldun, assisted by induction and deduction approach- es. As a result, the researcher found that Ibn Khaldun applied a diversity of approaches in discussing social changes which encapsu- late humanitarian, historical philosophy, inquiry, logic and metaphysical, critical and critique, realistic, inductive and deductive, comparative, observational and participatory approaches in studying social changes issues. In addition, he also applied a combination of critical approaches and contextual knowledge, as well as thematic and descriptive approaches in writing. This proves how signifi- cant the social changes issues were to Ibn Khaldun, thus they needed to be monitored and managed wisely. Keywords: Ibn Khaldun; Methodology; Social Change 1 .Introduction Barry Gower in his book Scientific Method states, "We need to know something about scientific method in order to understand the production of new knowledge" (1997). In the history of the birth of new sciences, the newly created sciences also introduce new scientific methodologies in terms of research approaches or in terms of writing methods. Based on the researcher's analysis, there is a truth to this statement. The study of Ibn Khaldun's thoughts on social change reveals the varied approaches used by him to convey the writing of social change in Muqaddimah Ibn Khaldun. He even stated in his book that the creation of a new methodology which he thought was more systematic and innovative; I followed an unusual method of arrangement and division into chapters. From the various possibilities, I chose a remarkable and original method. In the work, I commented on civilization, on urbanization, and on the essential characteristics of human social organization, in a way that explains to the reader how and why things are as they are, and shows him how the men who constitut- ed a dynasty first came upon the historical scene. As a result, he will wash his hands of any blind trust in tradition. He will become aware of the conditions of periods and races that were before his time and that will be after it (1). Based on the above quote, it is clear that the diversity of the meth- odology was used by Ibn Khaldun in analysing social change. The diversity of the methodology includes the following approaches; humanitarian science, historical philosophy, inquiry, logic and metaphysical, critical and critique, realistic, inductive and deduc- tive, comparative, observational and participation in studying issues of social change. Ibn Khaldun occasionally incorporated the diversity of these approaches to obtain comprehensive and realis- tic data in his writings, such as the combination of critical ap- proaches and contextual knowledge, which he gained experience and extensive reading. In addition to the way he presented his writings on social change, Ibn Khaldun also applied both thematic and descriptive approaches. 2. Ibn Khaldūn Methodology to Discuss So- cial Changes Ibn Khaldun's first approach in discussing social change was to use the thinking framework of humanitarian science. Humanitari- an science is a study and interpretation of human-related experi- ences, activities, structures and artifacts (2). Humanitarian science studies are carried out to develop knowledge and to educate peo- ple of their existence, relationships with other systems and species as well as the development of artifacts in order to understand peo- ple and thoughts. It is also a study of the human phenomena and the human experience throughout history and time in nature. This study requires assessment and interpretation from historical hu- man experience and the analysis human activity to understand the human phenomena and outline the development of proper human evolution. Humanitarian science is an objective and accurate criti- cism of human existence and how it relates to reality.