Sectarian theology shaped what Islamic historians chose to defend

Evidence

Sunni historical writing is on the whole very sober. In the Sunni view, what happens is important because it represents the working out of God’s purpose for mankind, and history is therefore a source of guidance on theology and law, a tangible expression and realization of the Sunna. The Shi a by contrast took the view that after the murder of Ali and the resignation of his son, history had, so to speak, taken a wrong turn; all non- Alid regimes were illegitimate and all existing societies were, in a sense, living in sin. The defense of the existing order is therefore an important theme of Sunni historiography. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 478

Categorization

• XREF: Directly useful to the reader’s cluster: Sunni historiography-as-apologia for the existing order parallels how Western Orientalist knowledge production served imperial legitimation — a same-structure, different-culture comparison.
• QUESTION: Would be worth comparing Sunni theodicy of history to the Whig or providential historiography in Christian Europe that McDougall/other critics target.