Islamic History

Paper Summary:

This essay explores the four major schools of thought in Western scholarly circles used in reconstructing Islamic history from the primary sources the Qur'an, akhbar and hadith. The essay opens with descriptions, in chronological order, of each of the four schools. Finally, it ends by concluding which of the schools is most appropriate for the process of reconstructing Islamic history.

From the Paper:

"Approaching Islamic History: Choosing the Appropriate Methodology In the past three hundred years of serious scholarship on Islamic history, four major schools of methodological thought have emerged. In chronological order these are the Descriptive Approach, Source Critical Approach, Traditional Critical Approach and Skeptical Approach. Scholars of Islamic studies since the 1890s have not succeeded in establishing generally recognized methodologies and criteria for distinguishing historical material that rest on firm and objective foundations. Individual historians are known to switch methodologies in the course of their career. This paper will argue that the Traditional Critical Approach is the best approach to take, when bearing in mind some of the discourses from the Skeptical Approach."

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