Arab intellectuals today almost invariably praise Ibn Khaldun for his enlightened and open mind, and positions which predated similar ideas in Western thought. Many Arab secularists then rush to say that Ibn Khaldun, esteemed author of the Muqaddima, would have held a negative position towards current Islamist trends and political Islam. This conclusion is the result of ignorance of the whole perspective (the tradition of combining reason with inherited tradition) found in the author of Kitab al-Ibar (The Book of Examples) who called loudly in its first part (the Muqaddima itself) for the need for the Muslims to keep themselves firmly linked with Islamic culture, and as a result win the bet on original cultural and intellectual immunization.