ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to bring out the contrasting episteme between the occidental and Islamic philosophies of history and to show how general systems of economic processes are distinctly explained in these two different worldviews. While discussing the philosophy of history in the light of economic forces we will critically examine Ibn Khaldun and Hegel’s ideas of historicism and their impact on economic and social transformation as the term to explain momentous change. Transformation and “transition” are referred to here in contradistinction to the idea of invisible change that remains devoid of process. The Quranic epistemological perspective of historicism will be invoked to show why Ibn Khaldun was unable to contribute to the Quranic worldview despite his stature as a respected Shari ah scholar.
