Ibn Khaldun's Theory of Umran: How can Muslim Countries benefit from his thought in development

Why Population:
Unlike the pessimistic Malthusian population growth law and the other contemporary scholars who believe that population growth in any country will lead to underdevelopment, Growth theory of Ibn Khaldun is based on population, and labor force. The more the population is, the more will be the labor force, so greater division of labor, and thus the more will be the earnings and expenditures, the industry booms, and the country grows. So population based on Ibn Khaldun doctrine is one of the main macroeconomic measures of development. Population as a measure of Umran in Ibn Khaldun thoughts is also quite related to some other moral and socio-economic requirements such as education, training, and skillfulness. The centre of Ibn Khaldun’s analysis is the human being because the rise and fall of civilizations is closely dependent on the well-being or misery of the people. This is, in turn, dependent not just on economic variables but also on the closely interrelated role of moral, institutional, psychological, political, social and demographic factors through a process of circular causation extending over a long period of history. (Chapra, 2006, p. 840).
All theoretical arguments that explain poverty and underdevelopment by fast population growth cannot be accepted as such. Theoretical studies particularly in the second half of the 20th century proved that there were many important factors economic and non-economic behind the low Growth National Product (GNP) rates of growth in developing world. These factors are apparently much more important than the so-called population problem in explaining poverty. It cannot be denied that low rates of savings in low income countries whose population are growing fast are bound to lower their investment and growth rates. But it is also true undeniable that these countries have been unable to adopt sound economic and monetary policies as well as unable to use their available natural and financial resources properly. Corruption, expenditure on security, and defense on the account of health, education, infrastructure, and development are major realistic reasons of underdevelopment and poverty. The real population crises are illiterate, exploited, by rules and monopolists, incapable of knowing or defending their own rights or unable to get fair opportunities towards improving the quality of their life.

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