Asabiyyah

'Asabiyyah (Arabic: عصبيّة, romanized: ʿaṣabiyya, also 'asabiyya, 'group feeling' or 'social cohesion') is a concept of social solidarity with an emphasis on unity, group consciousness, and a sense of shared purpose and social cohesion, originally used in the context of tribalism and clanism.^[1]

Asabiyya is neither necessarily nomadic nor based on blood relations; rather, it resembles a philosophy of classical republicanism.^{[further explanation needed]} In the modern period, it is generally analogous to solidarity.^{[further explanation needed]} However, it is often negatively associated because it can sometimes suggest nationalism or partisanship, i.e., loyalty to one's group regardless of circumstances.^[2]

The concept was familiar in the pre-Islamic era, but became popularized in Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddimah, in which it is described as the fundamental bond of human society and the basic motive force of history, pure only in its nomadic form.^[3] Ibn Khaldun argued that asabiyya is cyclical and directly relevant to the rise and fall of civilizations: it is strongest at the start of a civilization, declines as the civilization advances, and then another more compelling asabiyyah eventually takes its place to help establish a different civilization.^[4]

^ Zuanna, Giampiero Dalla and Micheli, Giuseppe A. Strong Family and Low Fertility. 2004, p. 92
^ Weir, Shelagh. A Tribal Order. 2007, page 191
^ Ibn Khaldun. The Muqaddimah Archived 2021-04-13 at the Wayback Machine, translated by F. Rosenthal.
^ Cite error: The named reference tibi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[zua-1] Zuanna, Giampiero Dalla and Micheli, Giuseppe A. Strong Family and Low Fertility. 2004, p. 92

[2] Weir, Shelagh. A Tribal Order. 2007, page 191

[3] Ibn Khaldun. The Muqaddimah Archived 2021-04-13 at the Wayback Machine, translated by F. Rosenthal.

[tibi-4] Cite error: The named reference tibi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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