ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a preliminary interpretation of how major discourses and controversies that were reflective of a broader trend, an eastward shift of the identity and culture defining Islamic civilization, would have shaped the construction and reception of the Islamic conquest narrative over time. It posits that the mid-late ninth century represented a transitional phase dividing two generations of historical thought on how this narrative was received. The chapter argues that while the first generation of historians were most concerned with justifying the Arabs' rise to rule over the 'ajam, the second generation ultimately saw the Islamic conquest narrative as part of a broader process assimilating Arab and Iranian history into a grander narrative of Islamic salvation history. It also argues that in the scope of Islamic "salvation history", the Islamic conquest narrative represented the preliminary stage of a broader process in which the people of Iran would ultimately be redeemed.
