On the Historical Development of the Western Studies of Islamic History

Year 2019, Volume: 6 Issue: 11, 89 - 124, 20.09.2019

Yaşar Çolak

Abstract

The historical development of the Western
studies of Islamic history can be distinguished into four distinct phases. The
first phase is the “theological-polemical refutation” period. The works of this
period were not based on the authentic source material; rather they aimed to
show reaction to Islam as a newly emerging religion. This is followed by a
period of descriptive studies that tend to give a coherent picture in line with
the traditional accounts of the Muslim scholars. The third is the period of the
critical analysis of the classical Islamic sources. The fourth and final phase
is described as the period of “revisionist” scholars. Some of them maintain the
view that the early history of Islam can scarcely be derived from Muslim
sources which they regard as the product of salvation history while the others
lean exclusively on the external sources of non-Muslims. The main objective of this
survey is to provide a panoramic exposition into the studies of the
representatives of these various approaches with regard to the early period of
Islamic history.

İslâm Tarihi Çalışmalarının Batı’daki Tarihsel Gelişimi Üzerine

Abstract

Batı’da İslâm tarihi
çalışmalarının gelişim seyri dört farkı dönemler halinde incelenebilir.
Birincisi, teolojik-polemiksel reddiyeler dönemidir. Bu döneme ait eserler
kaynaklara dayalı bilgilerden yoksun olup, daha ziyâde, İslâm'a bir din olarak
tepki göstermeyi amaçlayan çalışmalardır. Bunu klasik İslâm kaynaklarında
sunulan bilgilere bağlı olarak bir anlatı ortaya koymayı amaçlayan tasvirci
çalışmalar dönemi takip etmiştir. Üçüncüsü, klasik İslâm kaynaklarının
eleştirel analizini önceleyen çalışmaların yapıldığı dönemdir. Dördüncü ve
sonuncusu ise tarih inşâsında kurtuluş tarihinin ürünü olarak kabul ettikleri
İslâmî kaynakların güvenilir olmadığını savunan revizyonistlerin öne çıktığı
dönemdir. Revizyonist yaklaşımı benimseyenlerin bir kısmı, İslâmî kaynakları yalnızca
edebî tahlillere elverişli metinler olarak görürken, bir kısmı da erken dönem
İslâm tarihine ilişkin yapılacak çalışmaların daha ziyade gayrimüslimlere ait
hâricî kaynakları esas alması gerektiğini savunmuşlardır. Bu makalenin temel
amacı, bu farklı dönemlerin belli başlı temsilcilerini referans alarak Batı’da
erken dönem İslâm tarihine ilişkin yapılan çalışmaların tarihi seyri hakkında
genel bir panorama çizmektir.

Keywords

Tarihsel eleştiri, Kitâb-ı Mukaddes eleştirisi, edebî analiz, hâricî kaynaklar, revizyonist yaklaşım

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