Islamic Historical Methodology (with an emphasis on Ibn Khaldun)

The effects of the rebellion of the modern Western thought against ancient philosophy have not been as widespread as in the field of history. The contemporary critics believe that ancient philosophy has not been anything but a philosophy of history. They claim that not only all of the realities but also all of the facts are historical. Accordingly, this paper’s question is how Muslim historians, especially Ibn Khaldun, looked at historical issues? The author holds that Ibn Khaldun has explained the causes and factors leadingto the creation, continuation and fall of states in the framework of four categories, namely causality, identity, explanation and values. Therefore, the present paper, examining the whole issue of history and its four areas, will discuss the thoughts and historical methods of some of the main Muslim historians and will explore Ibn Khaldun’s historical method, as its ideal type, in more detail. Obviously, all of the efforts at the historiography of Islamic Revolution, as a phenomenon constructed based on the heart of Islamic culture, must be made by Muslim scholars. Therefore, such type of researchis highly necessary for a scholarly and methodical grasp of Islamic Revolution