• Date and Place of Birth: Baghdad, Iraq -1919
  • Professor of Economic History (Islamic)
  • Obtained a PhD in Islamic History from the University of London in 1942
  • Acquired an honorary Bachelor’s Degree in History from London University
  • Worked as a Professor of Islamic Economic History in several universities in Baghdad, the American University in Beirut, and the Jordanian University
  • A member of several Arab and international organizations and associations.
  • Contributed to many conferences and forums. Awards

   The King Faisal Award for Islamic Studies (1984)

  • The Iraqi Academy of Sciences Translation Award for his book, The Economic History of Iraq in the Fourth Hijri Century
  • The Jordanian Education Medal of the Highest Order
  • Appreciation Award from the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture, Istanbul (1988)
  • Arab Culture Award (2000) Important Publications
  • The First Abbasid Era – Baghdad, 1943
  • Studies about the Late Abbasid Eras
  • A Concise History of Arab Civilization    (Co-written with Naji Ma’rouf), Baghdad, 1952
  • The Economic History of Iraq in the Fourth Hijri Century- Baghdad, 1948
  • Islamic Systems: Volume I, Baghdad, 1950
  • Introduction to the Early History of Islam, 1949 (Translated into the Turkish language)
  • A Study on the Emergence of Historical Science in Arabia, Beirut, 1960 (Translated into English). •   An Introduction to Arabic Economic History, Beirut, 1982 (Translated into German and Turkish). •   The Historical Roots of Arab Nationalism, Beirut, 1960
  • The Historical Formation of the Arab Nation, Beirut, 1984 (Translated into English)
  • He reviewed many historical books
  • Wrote tens of arbitrated scientific researches which have been published in many specialized journals and periodicals
  • Authored many specialized history books in Englis
  • Many authors wrote about him and discussed his historical approach. He is one of the most prominent researchers in the field of Islamic History, and his approach is characterized by accuracy, depth and resourceful topics. Most importantly, Al Douri focused in his studies on economic factors offer a better understanding of the dynamics of history
  • Dr. Abdul Aziz Al Douri (Baghdad 1919-Amman, 19/11/2011) is a leading Iraqi historian who is considered one of the most prominent Arab historians in the Modern Era. He acquired an honorary Bachelor’s Degree in History from the University of London in 1940, and obtained a PhD in Islamic History from the University of London in 1942. He studied History at the Higher Institute of Teachers and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in Baghdad before the University of Baghdad was established. •   He served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and was later appointed as Rector of Baghdad University during the period from 1963-1968, before moving to teach at the Jordanian University
  • In his historical works, Al Douri presented a new image of Arab Islamic history by combining the authenticity of historical research found in the books of ancient Arab historians with the research and analysis tools he derived from the Arabs
  • Al Douri succeeded, at a very early stage in his career (1945), to offer us the book, Introduction to the Early History of Islam, which presents a new understanding of Islamic history that combines his own vision about the various factors that have contributed to the evolution of Islamic history; which he determines are dogmatic factors related to faith, tribal factors related to clans, and economic factors. Hence, Al Douri – as an Arab Muslim- managed to combine in his approach all the main factors that contributed to shaping Islamic history, without being biased to any theory that puts one of these factors at the foremost; and thus he did not underline faith on the expense of economics, or ignore tribalism to focus on economics
  • Al Douri applied his approach on the many accounts of Islamic history to form a more vivid picture of the crises in the history of Islam, such as the unrest that followed the assassination of Othman Bin Affan, the economic problems of Iraq during that period, and the succession struggles between Ali Bin Abi Taleb and Muawiya Bin Abi Sophian
  • His book An Introduction to Arabic Economic History was one of the first books to discuss the stage of development of Economics at the early phase of the Islamic State. The book continues to be one of the rarest books on this topic
  • Al Douri enjoyed a special status among Arab historians, and was dubbed “The Father of Arab Historians”. He received many honors, and the British historian Bernardo Louis, who specializes in the history of the Middle East, described him by saying: “Al Douri has become an authority on the topics he studies, indeed he himself is has become a historical document”.

Address Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan- Amman (Al Douri’s Family) Telephone: 5153182 Amman, Jordan Fax: 5526471 Amman, Jordan

  • Al Douri passed away in Amman, Jordan on 19/11/2010.