The Orientalists' Methodologies in Studying Quranic Science Literature

Abstract

Orientalists showed great interest in studying books on Qur’anic sciences and tafseer. These sciences are considered as descriptive and supportive fields that help to understanding the Qur’an better and recognizing its core message. However, there is no doubt that such fields often make the first choice for most orientalists, either by studying and searching or analyzing and critiquing. But such studies may not be taken into account as they usually tend to falsify axioms held by Muslims and question their indubitable beliefs. In spite of that, this does not necessarily restrain us from examining these studies to be acquainted with what has been and is said about the Qur’an to reveal orientalists method of research. This study aims at revealing the methodology of orientalists in employing books of Qur’anic sciences and tafseer in their research and their method in studying them. However, the results of this study are likely to be partial but neither comprehensive nor related to a particular methodology. This is because, the topic is relatively new and only few papers have been written on it. Besides, in order for this study to be more fruitful it needs long experience and deep readings in books written by orientalists in the field of Qur’anic sciences. In spite of that, a thorough examining of orientalists’ most popular books in Qur’anic sciences and tafseer is sufficient to give general idea about the main features of orientalists’ methodology in studying Qur’anic sciences and tafseer.