The Quran And The Orientalists - An Examination Of Their Main Theories And Assumptions

The Quran and the Orientalists: An Examination Of Their Main Theories And Assumptions by Dr. Muhammad Mohar Ali takes into account the views and assumptions advanced about the Qur’an by the doyens of the orientalists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries like William Muir, Theodor Noldeke, David Margoliouth, Arthur Jeffery, Richard Bell, Montgomery Watt, and others.

These views are analyzed and discussed in three broad parts.

In the first part are discussed those that constitute a direct allegation of the Prophet’s authorship of the Quran, particularly, his alleged borrowing from Judaeo-Christian sources, the question of his literacy and the alleged environmental influence on him in general.

In the second part are dealt with those that revolve around the question of the Quranic wahy (revelation) and are aimed at showing that the Quranic revelation proceeded in some form or other from the mind and personality of the Prophet, thus supplementing the allegation of his authorship.

In the third part, it is discussed those that relate to the history and text of the Quran, particularly Noldeke’s theory about the history of the text of the Quran, Arthur Jeffery’s Materials for the history of the text of the Quran, the Bell-Watt theory of revision of the text of the Quran, the fiction of the foreign vocabulary of the Quran, J.A. Bellamy’s supposed copyist’s errors and proposed emendations of the Quran and the like, together with a survey of the orientalists’ translations of the Quran.

The author has met the orientalists on their own grounds. He has taken up their arguments and assumptions one by one, dealing with each and everyone and examining them with the facts and logic. It has been demonstrated how and where they have erred and drawn wrong conclusions. It has also been shown that in advancing their theories and assumptions they have in almost all cases distorted and misinterpreted the texts and the facts, often resorting to tendential shaping of the latter and a good deal of arbitrary assumptions and surmises. The treatment is clear, concise, to the point, logical, and effective.

The book is destined to set a new pattern of thinking about the orientalist writings on the Quran in particular and on Islam and its Prophet in general.

Details

Title: The Quran And The Orientalists: An Examination Of Their Main Theories And Assumptions
Author: Dr. Muhammad Mohar Ali (Former Professor At Islamic University Of Madinah and Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University Riyadh)
Publisher: Jamiat Ihyaa Minhaaj Al-Sunnah (JIMAS) - UK
Pages: 374
Volumes: 1
Size: 15.1 cm x 24.9 cm
Binding: Hardback
Edition Number: 1st
Year Of Publication: 2004
Weight: 0.90 kg

About Author

Dr. Muhammad Mohar Ali was born in Khulna in Bengal, he was a scholar of Seerah and Hadith who served as a lecturer of Islamic History at the Islamic Universities of Madinah and Riyadh for two decades before moving to England. 

Shaykh Mohar Ali made several important contributions in the fields of Islamic history and the spread of Islam outside the Arab world. He was the first Bangladeshi to win the King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies. 

His work provided an incisive new dimension to the way Muslims view contemporary issues and their historical contexts. In particular, he distinguished himself with his clear exposition of Orientalism and missionary activity, making Quranic Arabic more accessible to English speakers.