This essay considers the prevalence of the binary constructs of continuity and rupture in the study of Islamic architecture, which warrants a more sustained critique at this particular juncture. This is so because, on the one hand, the field of Islamic architecture is steadily moving toward developing its own disciplinary methodologies and epistemological contours. On the other, the world, or at least the western part of it – which is where the field is still primarily located – is steadily moving toward a more suspicious and dismissive stance vis-à-vis anything related to Islam. The situation is clearly paradoxical, for although residues of old biases and archaic analytical structure still mar the development of the study of Islamic architecture – as they do in all post-colonial fields of inquiry – new approaches, greater crossdisciplinarity, and an increasingly sophisticated engagement with theory and criticism are repositioning Islamic architecture in a more reflective place despite the political and inherently ideological setbacks caused by factors that are totally outside of its control, and even outside academe.