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Vol. 11 No. 4 (2026)
Special Issue: Sociology of the Islamic Golden Age

Special Issue: Sociology of the Islamic Golden Age

The Myth of Decline: Explaining the Persistence of The Post-Eleventh-Century Narrative in Islamic Science

https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v11i4.1211

Published 07.11.2026

  • Mohamad Abdalla
Mohamad Abdalla
University of South Australia

Abstract

This article examines why the long-standing thesis that science in Islamic civilisation entered a general decline after the 11th century persisted in scholarship despite substantial evidence to the contrary. Drawing on a critical historiographical analysis, the
study contrasts the conventional decline thesis with Ibn Khaldūn’s multi-dimensional account, which recognised that scientific activity could diminish in some regions, migrate to others, and continue to flourish elsewhere. To explain the persistence of the decline
thesis, the article draws on Thomas Kuhn’s concept of paradigm persistence and Edward Said’s analysis of Orientalism. It identifies two interconnected sets of factors: procedural weaknesses in scholarly practice, including inadequate engagement with primary sources, poor integration of findings, inconsistent terminology, and insufficient criticism of foundational assumptions; and social-psychological and epistemological factors associated with Orientalist representations of Islamic civilisation. This article argues that the decline thesis reflects less a straightforward description of historical reality than a deeply embedded scholarly construction whose persistence requires explanation in its own right. Reassessing this paradigm is essential to developing a more nuanced understanding of the historical trajectories of Islamic science.

Keywords

Islamic science, decline thesis, Ibn Khaldūn, Orientalism, Thomas Kuhn, historiography

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