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The Possibility of Writing the History of the Qurʾān by Bypassing Islamic Narratives and Materials -Stephen Shoemaker Example

Year 2024, , 116 - 138, 30.06.2024
https://doi.org/10.59536/buiifd.1446423

Abstract

Research shows that Qurʾānic studies in the West have navigated away from the Nöldekean-Schwallian paradigm in recent years. By using this paradigm, Western thinkers attempt to write the history of the Qurʾān with the support of Islamic narrations. American orientalist Stephen Shoemaker claims that the revisionist school broke this paradigm and brought a new perspective to the field in 1977. Stating that the Nöldekean-Schwallian paradigm, which followed the standard Sunnī Qurʾānic history, blocked the field until the 1980s, Shoemaker criticizes Islamic narrations and does not take them as references. Shoemaker believes that the studies will not go beyond the Sunnī paradigm by using purely Islamic narrations. The author, who claims that the Qurʾān emerged and was written in a political environment, argues that historians should consider the works of the surrounding cultures. Shoemaker, who uses the historical criticism method used in holy book readings in the West, focuses on what happened to the Qurʾān rather than what the Qurʾān tells us. Is it possible to write the history of the Qurʾān by bypassing Islamic narrations? The main focus of this article is to reveal the answer to this question through Stephen Shoemaker's work Creating the Qur'an. The work, published in 2022, was seen by Fred Donner as a milestone for the field and stated that everyone working in this department should read it. Our study will ultimately discuss the impasses of Shoemaker's approach. In this context, the research will generally apply data collection, text, and discourse analysis methods.

References

  • Akgün, Merve. The Revisionist Orientalists in the History of the Quran. İstanbul: İstanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences, Master Thesis, 2020).
  • Barton, John. “Historical-Critical Approaches”. The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation. ed. John Barton. 9-20. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
  • Burton, John. Collection of the Qur'ân. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.
  • Casanova, Paul. Mohammed et la fin du monde. Paris: 1911.
  • Crone, Patricia. “Serjeant and Meccan Trade”. Arabica 39/2 (1992), 216- 40.
  • Crone, Patricia- Cook, Micheal. Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.
  • Cürcâni, Abdûlkâhir. Delâilû'l-i'câz. Critical ed. M. Reşid Rıza. Beyrut: Dârû'l-Me'ârif, 1980.
  • Çolak, Yaşar. Batı’da İslam Tarihinin Erken Dönemine İlişkin Farklı Metodolojik Yaklaşımlar. Samsun: 19 Mayıs University, Institute of Social Sciences, Ph.D Dissertation, 2006.
  • Deroche, François. Qur'ans of the Umayyads: A First Overview. Leiden: Brill, 2014.
  • Donner, Fred. Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing. New Jersey: The Darwin Press, 1998.
  • Ernst, Carl. “Reading Strategies for Introducing the Qurʾān as Literature in an American Public University”. Islamic Studies (Islamabad) 45/3 (2006), 333-344.
  • Fayda, Mustafa. “eş- Şürûtü'l- Ömeriyye”. Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi. Access 02 October 2023. https://islamansikpopedisi.org.tr/es-surutul/omeriyye
  • Gökkır, B. Western Attitudes to the Origin of the Qur'an: Theological and Linguistic Approaches of Twentieth Century English-Speaking World from Willian Muir to William M. Watt. Manchester: The University of Manchester, Ph.D Dissertation, 2002.
  • Hamdan, Omar. “The Second Masahif Project: A Step Towards the Canonization of the Qur'anic Text”. The Qurʾān in Context- Historical and Literary Investigations. ed. Angelica Neuwirth et al. Leiden: Brill, 2010, 6/ 795- 835.
  • Hoyland, Robert. Seeing Islam as Others Saw: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam. New Jersey: Darwin Press, 1997.
  • Lammens, Henri. Fâtima et les Files de Mahomet. Roma: Sumptibus Pontificii Instituti Biblici, 1912.
  • Lammens, H. “The Koran and tradition: How the life of Muhammad was composed”. ed. Ibn Warraq. The Quest for the Historical Muhammad. New York: Prometheus, 2000, 169 – 87.
  • Lumbard, Joseph. “Decolonizing Qur'anic Studies”. Religions 13, 2 (February, 2022), 1-14.
  • John of Damascus. Saint John of Damascus Writings. trans. Frederic H. Chase. New York: 1958.
  • Juynboll, G.H.A. “Review of J. Wansbrough, Quranic Studies”. Journal of Semitic Studies 24/2 (1979), 293- 296.
  • Kabakçı, Ersin. Çağdaş Batı Literatüründe Kur'an Metnine Yaklaşımlar: Metin Bütünlüğü Arayışları. Çorum: Hitit University, Institute of Social Science, Ph. D Dissertation, 2019.
  • Meyendorff, John. Byzantine Theology Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, New York: Fordham University Press, 1979.
  • Mingana, Alphonse. “The transmission of the Qur'an according to Christian Writers”. Muslim World 7/4 (1917), 402- 14.
  • Motzki, Harald. “The collection of the Qur'an: A Reconsideration of Western Views in Light of Recent Methodological Developments”. Der Islam 78/1 (2001), 1-34.
  • Nasreen, Hafsa. “Orientalists on Qur’an: A Critical Study”. The Dialogue Quarterly Research Journal 8/1 (2013), 35-52.
  • Nasreen, Hafsa. “Oryantalistlerin Kur’an Üzerine İddiaları -Eleştirel Bir Çalışma-, trans. Ozat Shamshiyev. ERUIFD 1/16 (2013), 109-125.
  • Neuwirth, Angelika. “Locating the Qur'an in the Epistemic Space of Late Antiquity”. Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 54/2 (2013), 189-203.
  • Neuwirth, Angelika. Scripture, Poetry and The Making of a Community: Reading the Qur'an as a Literary Text. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
  • Nöldeke, Theodor. Geschichte des Qorâns. Hamburg: Dieterichsche Buchhandlung, 1860.
  • Saleh, Walid “Muhammad is Not the Father of Any of Your Men: The Making of the Last Prophet,” Comparative Islamic Studies 6/1-2 (2011), 251-264.
  • Reynolds, Gabriel, Said. The Qur'ân and Its Biblical Subtext. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  • Robinson, F, Chase. ' Abd al- Malik. (Makers of the Muslim World). Oxford: Oneworld, 2005.
  • Sadeghi, Behnam – Goudarzi, Mohsen. “San'â 1 and the Origins of the Qurʾān”. Der Islam 87 (2012), 1-129.
  • Shoemaker, Stephen. The Death of a Prophet: The End of Muhammed's Life and the Beginnings of Islam. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.
  • Shoemaker, Stephen. Creating the Qur'an. California: University of California Press, 2022.
  • Smith, Wilfred Cantrell. Religious Diversity: Essays. New York: Harper& Row, 1976.
  • John Wansbrough. Secterian Miliue: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.
  • Wansbrough, John. Quranic Studies. New York: Prometheus Books, 2004.
  • Yapp, Malcolm-M. Brett- G. R. Hawting. “Preface: Professor J. E. Wansbrough”. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 57/1 (1994), 1-14.
  • Yazır, Elmalılı Hamdi. Hak Dini Kur'an Dili. İstanbul: Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı, 2021.
  • Zadeh, Travis. “Quranic Studies and the Literary Turn”. Journal of the American Oriental Society 135/2 (April- June, 2015), 329-342.

Kur’an Tarihinin İslami Rivayet ve Malzemelerin Devre Dışı Bırakılarak Yazılması İmkânı -Stephen Shoemaker Örneği-

Year 2024, , 116 - 138, 30.06.2024
https://doi.org/10.59536/buiifd.1446423

Abstract

Son yıllarda Batı’da yapılan Kur’an çalışmalarının Nöldeke-Schwallian paradigmasından ayrıldığı görülmüştür. Bu paradigmada Kur’an tarihi İslami rivayetlerden destek alarak oluşturulmaya çalışılmıştır. Amerikalı oryantalist Stephen Shoemaker, 1977 yılından itibaren revizyonist ekolün bu paradigmayı kırdığını ve alana yeni bir bakış açısı kazandırdığını iddia etmiştir. Standart Sünnî Kur’an tarihini takip eden Nöldekean-Schwallian paradigmasının 1980’lere kadar alanın önünü tıkadığını belirten Shoemaker, İslami rivayetleri eleştirerek referans almamıştır. Ona göre salt İslami kaynakları kullanmak çalışmaları Sünni paradigmanın ötesine taşıyamayacaktır. Kur’an’ın politik bir ortamda ortaya çıktığını ve yazıldığını iddia eden müellif çevre kültürlerdeki eserlerin göz önünde bulundurulması gerektiğini savunmuştur. Batı’da kutsal kitap okumalarında kullanılan tarihsel eleştiri yöntemini kullanan Shoemaker, ‘Kur’an bize ne diyor?’ sorusundan ziyade ‘Kur’an’a ne oldu?’ sorusu üzerinde yoğunlaşmıştır. Dolayısıyla Kur’an tarihini İslami rivayetleri devre dışı bırakarak yazmak mümkün müdür? sorusu makalemizde cevaplandırılacaktır. Bu sorunun cevabını Stephen Shoemaker’ın Creating The Qur’an adlı eseri üzerinden ortaya koymaya çalışacağız. 2022 yılında yayınlanan eser Fred Donner tarafından alan için dönüm noktası olarak görülmüş ve bu alanda çalışma yapan herkes tarafından okunması gerektiği belirtilmiştir. Çalışmamızda nihai olarak Shoemaker’ın yaklaşımının çıkmazları ele alınacaktır. Bu bağlamda araştırmada genel olarak veri toplama, metin ve söylem analizi yöntemleri uygulanacaktır.

Thanks

Amerika'da bulunduğum bu süre zarfında Kur'an çalışmaları konusunda beni yönlendiren ve ufkumu açan Wael Hallaq'a teşekkür ederim.

References

  • Akgün, Merve. The Revisionist Orientalists in the History of the Quran. İstanbul: İstanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences, Master Thesis, 2020).
  • Barton, John. “Historical-Critical Approaches”. The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation. ed. John Barton. 9-20. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
  • Burton, John. Collection of the Qur'ân. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.
  • Casanova, Paul. Mohammed et la fin du monde. Paris: 1911.
  • Crone, Patricia. “Serjeant and Meccan Trade”. Arabica 39/2 (1992), 216- 40.
  • Crone, Patricia- Cook, Micheal. Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.
  • Cürcâni, Abdûlkâhir. Delâilû'l-i'câz. Critical ed. M. Reşid Rıza. Beyrut: Dârû'l-Me'ârif, 1980.
  • Çolak, Yaşar. Batı’da İslam Tarihinin Erken Dönemine İlişkin Farklı Metodolojik Yaklaşımlar. Samsun: 19 Mayıs University, Institute of Social Sciences, Ph.D Dissertation, 2006.
  • Deroche, François. Qur'ans of the Umayyads: A First Overview. Leiden: Brill, 2014.
  • Donner, Fred. Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing. New Jersey: The Darwin Press, 1998.
  • Ernst, Carl. “Reading Strategies for Introducing the Qurʾān as Literature in an American Public University”. Islamic Studies (Islamabad) 45/3 (2006), 333-344.
  • Fayda, Mustafa. “eş- Şürûtü'l- Ömeriyye”. Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi. Access 02 October 2023. https://islamansikpopedisi.org.tr/es-surutul/omeriyye
  • Gökkır, B. Western Attitudes to the Origin of the Qur'an: Theological and Linguistic Approaches of Twentieth Century English-Speaking World from Willian Muir to William M. Watt. Manchester: The University of Manchester, Ph.D Dissertation, 2002.
  • Hamdan, Omar. “The Second Masahif Project: A Step Towards the Canonization of the Qur'anic Text”. The Qurʾān in Context- Historical and Literary Investigations. ed. Angelica Neuwirth et al. Leiden: Brill, 2010, 6/ 795- 835.
  • Hoyland, Robert. Seeing Islam as Others Saw: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam. New Jersey: Darwin Press, 1997.
  • Lammens, Henri. Fâtima et les Files de Mahomet. Roma: Sumptibus Pontificii Instituti Biblici, 1912.
  • Lammens, H. “The Koran and tradition: How the life of Muhammad was composed”. ed. Ibn Warraq. The Quest for the Historical Muhammad. New York: Prometheus, 2000, 169 – 87.
  • Lumbard, Joseph. “Decolonizing Qur'anic Studies”. Religions 13, 2 (February, 2022), 1-14.
  • John of Damascus. Saint John of Damascus Writings. trans. Frederic H. Chase. New York: 1958.
  • Juynboll, G.H.A. “Review of J. Wansbrough, Quranic Studies”. Journal of Semitic Studies 24/2 (1979), 293- 296.
  • Kabakçı, Ersin. Çağdaş Batı Literatüründe Kur'an Metnine Yaklaşımlar: Metin Bütünlüğü Arayışları. Çorum: Hitit University, Institute of Social Science, Ph. D Dissertation, 2019.
  • Meyendorff, John. Byzantine Theology Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, New York: Fordham University Press, 1979.
  • Mingana, Alphonse. “The transmission of the Qur'an according to Christian Writers”. Muslim World 7/4 (1917), 402- 14.
  • Motzki, Harald. “The collection of the Qur'an: A Reconsideration of Western Views in Light of Recent Methodological Developments”. Der Islam 78/1 (2001), 1-34.
  • Nasreen, Hafsa. “Orientalists on Qur’an: A Critical Study”. The Dialogue Quarterly Research Journal 8/1 (2013), 35-52.
  • Nasreen, Hafsa. “Oryantalistlerin Kur’an Üzerine İddiaları -Eleştirel Bir Çalışma-, trans. Ozat Shamshiyev. ERUIFD 1/16 (2013), 109-125.
  • Neuwirth, Angelika. “Locating the Qur'an in the Epistemic Space of Late Antiquity”. Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 54/2 (2013), 189-203.
  • Neuwirth, Angelika. Scripture, Poetry and The Making of a Community: Reading the Qur'an as a Literary Text. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
  • Nöldeke, Theodor. Geschichte des Qorâns. Hamburg: Dieterichsche Buchhandlung, 1860.
  • Saleh, Walid “Muhammad is Not the Father of Any of Your Men: The Making of the Last Prophet,” Comparative Islamic Studies 6/1-2 (2011), 251-264.
  • Reynolds, Gabriel, Said. The Qur'ân and Its Biblical Subtext. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  • Robinson, F, Chase. ' Abd al- Malik. (Makers of the Muslim World). Oxford: Oneworld, 2005.
  • Sadeghi, Behnam – Goudarzi, Mohsen. “San'â 1 and the Origins of the Qurʾān”. Der Islam 87 (2012), 1-129.
  • Shoemaker, Stephen. The Death of a Prophet: The End of Muhammed's Life and the Beginnings of Islam. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.
  • Shoemaker, Stephen. Creating the Qur'an. California: University of California Press, 2022.
  • Smith, Wilfred Cantrell. Religious Diversity: Essays. New York: Harper& Row, 1976.
  • John Wansbrough. Secterian Miliue: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.
  • Wansbrough, John. Quranic Studies. New York: Prometheus Books, 2004.
  • Yapp, Malcolm-M. Brett- G. R. Hawting. “Preface: Professor J. E. Wansbrough”. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 57/1 (1994), 1-14.
  • Yazır, Elmalılı Hamdi. Hak Dini Kur'an Dili. İstanbul: Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı, 2021.
  • Zadeh, Travis. “Quranic Studies and the Literary Turn”. Journal of the American Oriental Society 135/2 (April- June, 2015), 329-342.
There are 41 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Tafsir
Journal Section Article
Authors

Bayram Kara 0000-0002-7724-4471

Publication Date June 30, 2024
Submission Date March 3, 2024
Acceptance Date June 22, 2024
Published in Issue Year 2024

Cite

ISNAD Kara, Bayram. “The Possibility of Writing the History of the Qurʾān by Bypassing Islamic Narratives and Materials -Stephen Shoemaker Example”. Bartın Üniversitesi İslami İlimler Fakültesi Dergisi 21 (June 2024), 116-138. https://doi.org/10.59536/buiifd.1446423.

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