



Throughout history, human beings have tended to question the origin of themselves. He has felt the need to learn about his origin, behavior patterns and structure of culture that he was born inside. Initially, the human race tried to remove his curiosity based on information about the events and people told in myths, and epics. Later, through Europe's geographical discoveries and colonial activities was found an opportunity to get to know non-western societies and cultures. The first anthropological activities are based on the notes of the explorers, the colonial commanders and the travelers, and the diaries reflecting their impressions on these regions. However, it has been revealed that this information and impressions are inadequate, partial and generalist. The desire of researchers to reach more descriptive, valid and reliable information about human, society, nature and culture relations has, in time, paved the way for the emergence of anthropology by digging more professional and scientific content. As a result of these developments, anthropology was first taught in universities at the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was established as a separate department at Oxford University in the UK and started to train researchers and scientists. Anthropology is a human science that tries to produce generalizations about people and their behavior and to understand human diversity. Anthropology is a science that provides a holistic view of human beings in various respects.





In the early anthropology, the dominant idea is all communities go through a single evolutionary process from the most primitive to the most advanced. From here, non-western societies were seen as a living fossil that could be easily examined by western. Anthropology, like other social sciences, is ideologically beginning. We should know that this social science can be used to know human relations in an objective way. Doing independent and scientific research is directly proportional to the people and groups that do this. The establishment of this science in the center of western ideology does not mean that it cannot be used by other civilizations. Although social sciences have become systematic in the west, these sciences, especially sociology and anthropology, have existed before the 19th century.





At this point, we should emphasize that Islamic civilization is the source of these sciences. Islamic scholars such as Ibn Khaldun, Biruni, Ibn Battuta, and al Mas'udı should be mentioned in their contributions to these sciences. Ibn Khaldun in his Muqaddimah described the relationship between geographical conditions and social life. In his famous thinker works, he explained the concepts of "social health, social commitment, social events and facts, social developments, social needs" in detail. When we compare Ibn Khaldun's findings of society with modern sociology, we give him the right to think that he is one of the founders of sociology. In addition, Ibn Khaldun played an important role in the development of ideas which inspired European philosophers and sociologists. On the other hand, al-Biruni has made many types of research on the peoples, traditions, and religions of the Indian subcontinent, and was referred to as "the first anthropologist" as a result of his extensive research and studies in the field of anthropology. Biruni has made significant comparative studies on the Middle East, the Mediterranean basin and South Asian cultures and religions. In this context, the first cores of the social sciences were thrown by Islamic scholars. We cannot ignore their contributions of these sciences.





The anthropology of Islam is a movement to realize the desire for the values and principles of Islam. From this point of view, the Qur'an and the Sunnah, which are the source of these values and principles, are also among the sources in this science. The anthropology of Islam gets inspire from the Qur'an regarding the human's nature, existence, origin, organization, and purpose. The anthropology of Islam undertakes the study of human beings in society, according to the Islamic terms. Furthermore, Islamic anthropology, which was developed as an alternative to the anthropology born of the cultural and ideological premises of the Christian world, is an attempt to put anthropology into a kind of Islamic framework that is compatible with the ideal principles and teachings of Islam.



