A Review of Marshal Hadgson's Main Views about Islamic History and Islamic Civilization

Orientalists show different views about Islamic history and Islamic civilization, one of which is the view adopted by Hadgson. Besides addressing the influence of the different sociological, economic, geographical and cultural factors on Islamic civilization, he tries to compare it with the west-oriented tendency which is characteristic of most orientalist's works and study the history of Islam in the broader framework of the history of world. Therefore, the present paper seeks to review his main views within the framework of Islamic studies, included in his work "The Venture of Islam" and then he shows his special attention to the historical processes in ecology, communal interests, creative individual's role, etc in an interesting way. Furthermore, explaining the social conditions on the basis of the function of military elite, bureaucratic officials and aristocrats and laying emphasis on the status of Persian culture have special importance because they can contribute to a deeper understanding of Islamic civilization.