ABSTRACT
The use of categories derived from one civilization to classify the phenomena and developments of another is always hazardous, often ambiguous, and sometimes downright misleading. When, for example, does the "medieval" history of Islam, or for that matter of India or of China, begin? When does it end? Does the medieval history of Islam mean the events that occurred during those centuries which in Europe are known as medieval? Or does it mean the period during which Islamic society shared certain distinguishing characteristics, certain specific qualities, with the European society known as medieval? When does the medieval history of Islam endwhen modern history begins in Europe, or when modernization transforms the Middle East? Even the formulation of
these questions presupposes certain assumptions about Islamic history, especially that the most important determining factors, the chief motors of change, are the same as those of Europe, or at least close enough to make such analogies meaningful.
