Islamic Historical Writing: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

Throughout many centuries of change and development, the Islamic history continues to represent the memory reservoir of the Muslim nation with its multiple backgrounds and affiliations. The need for a critical method of the Islamic history to help capture its diversity and richness is unavoidable. This study examines the reasons causing a decline in historical objectivity and in the poor vision affecting the process of historical writing and codification throughout longer periods of time. This research discusses the different factors that negatively affected the writing of the Islamic history while drawing on the sources of the Islamic revelation in its capturing of a number of historical events and developments of previous nations. This inquiry also highlights the rational justifications for interpreting the Islamic history and the need for an integrated approach to it. Such an approach however, merge issues of chains of transmission with the need for critiquing the historical texts in addition to the use of modern methods to scrutinize the historical narrations found in the Islamic historical literature. This exploration is instrumental for current research on Islamic history, particularly towards the process and style of re-writing Islamic historical themes for contemporary contexts and audiences.