A Review and Critique of the Hypothesis of Burning and Destroying Books by Muslim Conquerors in Early Works

The importance of books and libraries is not hidden among civilizations. The destruction of books at some points in history has led to claims as to why it happened. Examining the works of our predecessors, we come across their claim that the books were destroyed by Muslim conquerors. Investigating and criticizing this claim is an issue that this article addresses. Making this claim in the present era against Islam and Muslims is a proof of the importance of addressing and criticizing the issue. This paper is organized by referring to libraries and sources related to the study of past works and by describing and analyzing them with the aim of criticizing the book burning claim and dismissing the accusation of Muslim conquerors. In this study, we have shown that the first question on the book burning issue arose five centuries after the advent of Islam. Ibn Khaldun, Abu Rayhan Biruni, and Samarkandi have been great scholars in various fields, but in the field of history, there have been reports of their carelessness in conveying historical material, including the claim that the Muslim conquerors destroyed the books, which is not accurate.