The development of Islamic historiography and the birth of the art of conquest

Abstract

Military campaigns from the time of the four caliphs up to the Umayyad led to the inclusion of many areas and peoples into their political orbit under the banner of the Islamic caliphate. We have received these campaigns, through writings known traditionally as Al-futūḥ; this heralded the birth of an art from the arts of historical writing, mainly concerned with themes of domination and influence. Consequently, this issue sparked heated debates about historical writing; some scholars have suggested that the Islamic narratives of the conquest are nothing more than idealistic visions of a past formed in later periods. I seek in this research paper, Based on a critical approach to the texts, to shed light on these issues, Mainly concerned with the beginning of historical thinking among the Arabs, and writing down the course of the conquest