21. Explain what Ibn Khaldun, the Islamic historian, meant when he called Egypt the best example of the "habit of civilization."

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Manual(123): Ibn Khaldun said that a "habit of civilization" is when "under certain favorable conditions of geography, of the character and customs of the people, of their sense of group identity, culture could acquire a rootedness." This basically means that under certain conditions a society can maybe avoid or go around the nature of civilization. When he says that Egypt is the best example of the "habit of civilization" he means that they have a favorable geography, favorable characters and customs, and a favorable sense of identity that helps them acquire what he calls rootedness.

RB‘So the habit of civilization was continuous here, nowhere else in the world was it more firmly rooted.’ And such an idea helps explain Egypt’s continuing cultural leadership in the Arab world. At the beginning lay the early Egyptian state, the first comprehensive attempt in human history to satisfy the needs of men and women to live together an ordered state with a degree of happiness and material well- being. Manual

Website: It says that he also believed that the goal of civilization is a settled life and luxury.

Sources: Manual, http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=7435

Bethany Ritter