It was Ibn Khaldun's stated ambition in the Muqaddimah to wash his hands of any ‘blind trust’ in ‘tradition.’ This sort of statement from the pen of a fourteenth-century scholar seems radical, unexpected, and refreshing. Indeed, Ibn Khaldun spared few good words for the blind following of tradition that characterized the writings of his predecessors. Although there were exceptional Muslim historians who wrote faithfully about events, there were several who introduced ‘untrue gossip’ that was invented for political or personal gain. This corrupting of the historical record by unscrupulous writers led to a negative, compounding effect: later gullible historians simply repeated what myths they had heard with no critical inquiry into the truth of the information they mindlessly presented. For Ibn Khaldun, the problem was one of erroneous repetition, especially blind repetition. Too many historians merely added glosses to earlier works by superior authors. Ibn Khaldun was quite satirical in his disparaging descriptions of these authors, reminding readers that the ‘pasture of stupidity is unwholesome for mankind.’ These so-called historians ‘presented historical information about dynasties and stories of events from the early period as mere forms without substance, blades without scabbards, as knowledge that must be considered ignorance …’