The Evolution of the Story of Julian the Apostate in Early Islamic Sources = Tabalwur qiṣṣat al-qayṣar yūliyānūs fī al-fikr al-islāmī al-ta’rīkhī

The article examines the representations of the story of Roman emperor, Julian the Apostate (r. 361-363), in early Islamic historical writing and the channels of information that Muslims writers used to construct this narrative. The study is a comparative analysis of pertinent Islamic accounts in terms of narrative strategies, sources (Arabic, Persian, Syriac, and Greek), and methodology. In so doing, this study provides a constructive framework that enhances our understanding the historical agendas of these Muslim historians as well as the cultural discourses against which they wrote. The study also reflects on the early stages of the incorporation of Greco-Roman materials into Islamic historical writing. Hence, the article provides a new perspective for understanding the evolution of early Islamic historical writing in general and the curiosity of Muslim historians about non-Islamic cultures in particular.