A Preamble to Muslim History, by Imad Eddine Khalil

History cannot be summed up, as some think, in wars or treaties, or even in reigning dynasties that follow one another... It is above all a civilizational experience, a project of human cooperation, an opportunity to verify the capacities of philosophies and religions to fulfill themselves in space and time and to consolidate their links.

Our history itself is special in that it most accurately reflects the influences of Islam and the ability of this religion to redefine the mode of thought and consciousness, to list phenomena and factual chronicles and material, placing it completely within the framework of the hoped-for harmony. Because it is one of the fundamental objectives of this religion whose purpose is to ensure that Man and the world around him advance in harmony, in the same movement, with all that makes them specific, to Allah alone.

Certainly, the historical study – in particular this one – proves to be indispensable. Because the doctrine does not evolve in nothingness. It needs an environment in which it can shape and express itself, so that history will become the mirror that will reflect in one way or another the situation of Islam in the world.