Islam Creator of the Modern Age
3. Muslim Contribution to Science
~ 135 ~
Both these concepts, however, hinge on the same
principle: that history should not focus solely on
royal actions and prerogatives throughout the ages,
but should be a study of the sum of all activities of
all groups of human beings, whatever the
framework, political or civilizational, within which
they interact. In the long history of mankind, this
approach, developed only during the last few
centuries, is relatively new. History, or
historiography, is now equated with ‘man-story’ as
opposed to the ‘King-story’ of the pre-modern era.
‘King-story,’ made up of elaborate descriptions of
kings, along with copious details of the palaces they
occupied and the generals they commanded, had
made no mention of the common man, even if his
achievements were marked by greatness. The only
man considered worthy of mention was the one
whose head was adorned by a crown. Ancient
history thus amounted to a belittling of humanity in
general.
While real events relating to non-kings were
regarded as undeserving of any mention, even
legendary tales and concocted stories about the
kings were preserved in writing as if they were
