Why History Matters ? New,
'Reviving Faith through the Lens of History'
[A5] Paperback - 360 pages,
by Yakoob Ahmed,
Published by Ketebe, Turkey.
Description:
Can history serve as a source of meaning, belonging, and direction for Muslims today?
In this timely and accessible work, Dr Yakoob Ahmed presents a compelling case for reviving historical consciousness as both an intellectual and spiritual imperative. Drawing from the Qur'an, Sirah, and the Islamic tradition, he explores how history nurtures Iman, informs ethical knowledge production, and cultivates a living connection to the ummah across time.
Engaging themes from theology and civilisation to imagination and storytelling, Why History Matters? addresses the challenges Muslims face in approaching the past, while offering a methodology rooted in tradition and open to academic insight.
A vital resource for students, educators, and readers seeking to reconnect the past with the present—and envision a future shaped by principled understanding.
About the Author:
Dr. Yakoob Ahmed, PhD (SOAS), is an independent researcher of late Ottoman intellectual history, Islamic constitutionalism, and nationalism. Formerly at Istanbul University and Tokyo, he appears on The Thinking Muslim Podcast, including “Ottoman Decline & Muslim Collective Amnesia.”
Table of Contents :
---Acknowledgements,
---Introduction.
Themes of the Book - An Islamic Approach,
---Epistemic Re-Orientation,
---History as an Auxillary Form of 'Ilm,
---Historical Subject Matters Expounded on with Islamic Sensibility,
---Narrative,
---The Logic of History,
---Invest in Narrative as a form of History Writing.
Section [1]. Why Muslims need to Study History?
---Why the need to examine the Current Approach?
---What Does a Historian Do ?
---The Ideology behind History Writing,
---The Current Dilemma of the Muslim Historian.
Section [2]. The Qur'an and Sirah as a Source of Analysis and Inspiration for Historians,
---The Importance of the Qur'an for the Muslim Historian,
---The First Surah starts with a Tone to Contemplate the Past,
---Being Tested is the Natural Order of Things and Learning from Life & the Qur'an,
---The Model of Prophetic Justice,
---The Prophetic Model is one of Foundational Ethics.
Section [3]. An Islamic Ethos to Knowledge Production,
---Islam, Iman and Ihsan are the Three Pillars of Islamic Knowledge,
---The Foundational Tenets of Iman,
Section [4]. Patterns and Paradigms,
---Does History Rhyme ?
---The History of Nations can be Cyclical or Spiral,
---From to Badr to Uhud, a Recurring Theme of Contingency Moments.
Section [5]. Studying Islamic History from a Civilisational Approach,
---The Need to Examine the Bigger Picture,
---The Emergence of Civilisational Discourse,
---Nubuwwa, Khilafah, 'Ulama, Ummah and the Muslim World.
Section [6]. The Blurring Lines between Fiction and Reality,
---The Need for an Imagination - The Thin Line between History and Fiction,
---Is History an Art or Science?
---Fiction. as a way of Speaking Truth,
---Illustrative Narratives as a Medium of Fiction.
---World Buidling - One Piece as an example of Longue Duree Storytelling,
---Western Imaginations are Shaping our Future,
---Muslims need Future Imaginations.
More Islamic History,
Also see Theology.
Also see Sirah books,
Also see Shama'il books.
Dimensions : 21 x 13.5cm.
