THE MUSLIM SOCIETY OF THE MAGHRIB

INTRODUCTION Opening lecture of the course on the history of Muslim civilization at the Higher School of Letters in Algiers, December 1905. This lecture was published in the Revue des cours et conférences, March 29, 1906, pp. 113-124.

It is a difficult thing to define what we call a "civilization." Obliged to specify the object of our study, we will say—without concealing that this definition is entirely external and approximate—that a civilization is the set of techniques, institutions, and beliefs common to a group of men during a certain time This is what is commonly called manners, customs, institutions, etc., without, however, assigning any precise meaning to these expressions. We abandon the word "manners," which is too vague in its general sense; "custom" does not oppose law, it falls under the category of "institutions." Institutions are natural groups of practices. Techniques are sets of practices specifically intended to modify the physical environment. The study of techniques is valuable for science because they leave lasting traces, such as monuments and tools. The word "belief" is taken in its habitual sense.. Thus, there is a French civilization, a Germanic civilization; there is also a European civilization that encompasses the preceding ones, along with many others. There is a Hindu civilization, a Chinese civilization, but one cannot speak of an "Asian civilization." A civilization has specific characteristics...