Debating the Historicity of the Qur’an: Between Revisionist-Skeptical and Dialogical-Academic Approaches
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30762/cr.v3i1.3165Keywords:
Academic-dialogical, revisionist-skeptical, historical studies, the Qur’anAbstract
Western scholars’ studies on the historicity of the Qur’an have been ongoing since the 12th century to the present day. In their development, some of these studies tend to undermine Islam by employing source criticism and tradition criticism to cast doubt on the authenticity of the Qur’an in early Islamic history. This article aims to examine the debate between revisionist-skeptical and academic-dialogical groups regarding the historicity of the Qur’an. Using qualitative-descriptive methods and critical data analysis, this article finds that studies conducted by revisionist-skeptical scholars such as Abraham Geiger and John Wansbrough view the Qur’an as an imitative text of previous texts and parallel to the Hadith. However, the studies of these revisionist-skeptical scholars are countered by Angelika Neuwirth and Fred M. Donner, as part of the academic-dialogical group. They reject and refute this view by pointing out methodological weaknesses and ideological biases that lead to erroneous conclusions by the revisionists. It is due to initial assumptions based on a negative perspective and a polemical-apologetic attitude towards Islam. They offer a more open and positive approach to Islam. The theoretical implications of these two major schools of thought demonstrate that the initial paradigm for viewing the Qur’an significantly influences the results and direction of research. This article contributes to enriching the study of Orientalism by opening up a more objective, constructive, and relevant scientific dialogue for the development of Qur’anic studies in the contemporary era.
Downloads
References
Abdullah Shehab, Khadija, and Faezeh Pasandi, ‘A Critical Study of the Sources of the Holy Quran and Its Origin from the Perspective of Orientalists’, Linguistic Research in The Holy Quran, 12.2 (2023), pp. 47–62, doi:10.22108/nrgs.2024.142151.1969
Aini, Adrika Fitrotul, and Asep Nahrul Musadad, ‘Konteks Late Antiquity Dan Analisis Struktur Mikro Sebagai Counter Atas Skeptisisme Orisinalitas Teks Al-Qur’an: Refleksi Atas Pemikiran Angelika Neuwirth’, Jurnal Suhuf, 10.1 (2017), pp. 173–92, doi:https://doi.org/10.22548/shf.v10i1.249
Brockopp, Jonathan E., ‘Interpreting Material Evidence: Religion at the “Origins of Islam”’, History of Religions, 55.2 (2015), pp. 121–47, doi:10.1086/683064
Donner, Fred M., ‘A Historian’s View of the Qurʾān’, Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association, 9.1 (2024), pp. 1–13, doi:10.1515/jiqsa-2024-0020
Donner, Fred M., Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam (Harvard University Press, 2010) <https://expositions.journals.villanova.edu/article/download/685/604> [accessed 16 October 2025]
——, Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing (The Darwin Press, 1999)
——, The Hitorical Context’, in The Cambridge Companion to the Qur’ān, ed. by Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Farhan, Ahmad, and M. Nur Kholish Setiawan, ‘Orientalisme Al-Qur’an: Studi Pemikiran Abraham Geiger’, in Orientalisme Al-Qur’an Dan Hadis (Nawasea Press, 2007)
Fathurrohman, Rizal, and Marhumah Marhumah, ‘Fred M. Donner’s Views on Orientalist Thought about the Distinction between the Qur’an and Hadith’, Mashdar: Jurnal Studi Al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 4.2 (2022), pp. 219–30, doi:10.15548/mashdar.v4i2.5398
Fina, Lien Iffah Naf’atu, ‘Membaca Metode Penafsiran Al-Qur’an Kontemporer Di Kalangan Sarjana Barat Analisis Pemikiran Angelika Neuwirth’, Ulumuna, 18.2 (2017), pp. 269–86, doi:10.20414/ujis.v18i2.854
Geiger, Abraham and Ibn Warraq, ‘What Did Muhammad Borrow from Judaism?’, in The Origins of the Koran (Prometheus Books, 1998)
Graves, Michael, ‘Form Criticism or a Rolling Corpus: The Methodology of John Wansbrough through the Lens of Biblical Studies’, Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association, 1.1 (2016), pp. 47–92, doi:10.5913/jiqsa.1.2017.a005
Hanafi, Yusuf, ‘Qur’anic Studies Dalam Lintasan Sejarah Orientalisme Dan Islamologi Barat’, Hermeneutik, 7.2 (2013), pp. 229–60, doi:10.21043/hermeneutik.v7i2.922
Hayat Amamou, ‘The Nature of Early Islamic Sources and the Debate Over Their Historical Significance’, Al-Muntaqa: New Perspective on Arab Studies, 1.2 (2018), pp. 68–79, doi:10.31430/almuntaqa.1.2.0068
Husna, Nihayatul, ‘Abraham Geiger; Pengaruh Ajaran Yahudi Dalam Al-Qur`an’, Cakrawala : Jurnal Kajian Manajemen Pendidikan Islam Dan Studi Sosial, 1.2 (2017), pp. 39–56 <https://ejournal.iainu-kebumen.ac.id/index.php/cka/article/view/84> [accessed 17 October 2025]
Khusna Farida, ‘Revisiting The Critical Edition of the Qur’an: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Challenges’, Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu Al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 25.1 (2024), pp. 77–104, doi:10.14421/qh.v25i1.4655
Koop, Manfred S., Results of Contemporary Research on the Qur’an: The Question of a Historico-Critical Text of the Qur’an (Orient-Institute Beirut, 2007)
Koren, Judith, and Yehuda D. Nevo, ‘Methodological Approaches to Islamic Studies’, Der Islam; Zeitschrift Für Geschichte Und Kultur Des Islamischen Orients, 68 (1991), p. 87 <https://search.proquest.com/openview/eabf255e997a4c93e313000444805f28/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1816825> [accessed 17 October 2025]
Krentz, Edgard, The Historical-Critical Method (Fortress Press, 1975)
Mahfudin, Muhamad, ‘Muhammad Dan Orisinalitas Al-Quran Dalam Pandangan Abraham Geiger’, MAGHZA: Jurnal Ilmu Al-Qur’an Dan Tafsir, 6.1 (2021), pp. 135–50, doi:10.24090/maghza.v6i1.4547
Masruchin, Masruchin, Sultan Dzaki, and Rahmat Gani, ‘Kontroversi Dan Kritik: Pandangan Orientalis Tentang Autentisitas Al-Qur’an’, Al-Shamela : Journal of Quranic and Hadith Studies, 3.2 (2025), pp. 155–68, doi:10.61994/alshamela.v3i2.1043
Masuwd, Mowafg Abrahem, ‘Hadith, Law, And Orientalism: A Critical Study of Joseph Schacht’s Theoretical Contributions’, Ad-Dawl : Jurnal Islamic Studies, 1.1 (2025), pp. 10–24, doi:10.61590/jis.v1i1.208
——, ‘Islamic Pluralism and Küng’s Global Ethical Discourse: Toward a “Global-Maqāṣid” Centered Paradigm’, Ittesaal – Journal of Connecting Discourses, 1.2 (2025), pp. 41–63, doi:10.64984/ijcd.1.2.2024.03
Minhaji, Akh, ‘John F. Wansbrough Dan Salvation History Dalam Kajian Islam’, Thaqafiyyat: Jurnal Bahasa, Peradaban Dan Informasi Islam, 18.2 (2018), pp. 128–45 <https://ejournal.uin-suka.ac.id/adab/thaqafiyyat/article/view/1312> [accessed 17 October 2025]
Mustakim, Ahmad, and others, ‘Deconstructing the Historicity of the Qur’an John Wansbrough’s Perspective: A Hermeneutic Study of Islamic Philological Suspicion and Criticism’, HUNAFA Jurnal Studia Islamika, 22.1 (2025), pp. 80–98 <https://jurnalhunafa.org/index.php/jsi/article/view/837> [accessed 17 October 2025]
Muttaqin, Muttaqin, and Moh Agung Fambudi, ‘Kritik Orientalis Dalam Aspek Ontologis Studi Al-Qur’an’, Al-Adabiya: Jurnal Kebudayaan Dan Keagamaan, 17.2 (2022), pp. 187–200, doi:10.37680/adabiya.v17i2.2470
Neuwirth, Angelika, ‘Referentiality and Textuality in Surat Al-Hijr: Some Observations on the Qur’anic Canonical Process and the Emergence of a Community’, in Literary Structure of Religious Meaning in the Qur’an, ed. by Issa J. Boullata (Curzon Press, 2000)
——, ‘Structural, Linguistic, and Literary Features’, in Angelika Neuwirth, “Structural, Linguistic, and Literary Features,” in The Cambridge Companion to The Qur’an, ed. by Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
——, ‘Structure and the Emergence of Community’, in The Blackwell Companion to the Qur’an (Blackwell Publishing, 2006)
——, ‘Two Faces of the Qur’ān: Qur’ān and Muṣḥaf’, Oral Tradition, 25.1 (2010), pp. 141–56, doi:10.1353/ort.2010.a402427
Nur, Zunaidi, Dona Kahfi Ma Iballa, and Muhammad Fauzhan Azima, ‘Komparasi Studi Historis-Kritis Al-Qur’an Orientalis (Studi Pemikiran Abraham Geiger, Theodor Nöldeke Dan Angelica Neuwirth)’, Hamalatul Qur’an : Jurnal Ilmu Ilmu Alqur’an, 5.2 (2024), pp. 654–62, doi:10.37985/hq.v5i2.317
Pulungan, Nur Hamidah, and others, ‘The Hagarism Theory of Michael Cook: The Qur’an and Hadith in the Perspective of Religious Syncretism’, Nabawi: Journal of Hadith Studies, 6.2 (2025), doi:10.55987/njhs.v6i2.259
Rahman, Zayad Abd., ‘Angelika Neuwirth: Kajian Intertekstualitas Dalam Qs. Al-Raḥmān Dan Mazmur 136’, Empirisma, 24.1 (2015), pp. 111–20, doi:10.30762/empirisma.v24i1.12
Reynolds, Gabriel Said (ed.), ‘Introduction: The Golden Age of Qur’anic Studies’’, in Gabriel Said Reynolds, New Perspectives on the Qur’an in Its Historical Context (Routledge, 2011)
Rippin, Andrew, and Richard C. Martin, ‘Literary Analysis of Qur’an, Tafsir, and Sira: The Methodologies of John Wansbrough’, in Aprroaches to Islam in Religious Studies (The University of Arizona Press, 1985)
Rusmana, Dadan, Al-Qur’an Dan Hegemoni Wacana Islamolog Barat (Pustaka Setia, 2006)
Sinai, Nicolai, and Angelika Neuwirth, Introduction, in The Qur’an Ini Context: Historical and Literary Investigations into the Qur’anic Milieu, ed. by Nicolai Sinai, Angelika Neuwirth, and Michael Marx (Brill, 2010)
Sirry, Mun’im, Kontroversi Islam Awal Antara Mazhab Tradisionalis Dan Revisionis (PT Mizan Pustaka, 2015)
——, Polemik Kitab Suci (PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2013)
——, Tradisi Intelektual Islam: Rekonfigurasi Sumber Otoritas Agama (Madani, 2013)
Smith, Wilfred Cantwell, Questions of Religious Truth (Scribner’s, 1967)
Suryadilaga, Muhammad Alfatih, ‘Kajian Atas Pemikiran John Wansbrough Tentang Al-Qur’an Dan Nabi Muhammad’, TSAQAFAH, 7.1 (2011), p. 89, doi:10.21111/tsaqafah.v7i1.109
——, ‘Pendekatan Historis John Wansbrough Dalam Studi Al-Qur’an’, in Studi Al-Qur’an Kontemporer, ed. by Abdul Mustaqim and Sahiron Syamsuddin (PT Tiara Wacana, 2002)
Ulfiana, Ulfiana, ‘Otentisitas Al-Qur’an Perspektif John Wansbrough’, Ushuluna: Jurnal Ilmu Ushuluddin, 5.2 (2020), pp. 212–31, doi:https://doi.org/10.15408/ushuluna.v1i2.15343
Wansbrough, Jhon, Quranic Studies: A Note on Arabic Rethoric Arabic Rethoric and Qur’anic Exegesis (Oxford University Press, 1977)
Zubair, Fahmi Salim, ‘An Analitical and Critical Reading on Historicity of the Qur’an in Mohammad Arkoun’s Thought’, AL-Zahra: Journal for Islamic and Arabic Studies, 8.2 (2009), pp. 151–69 <https://search.proquest.com/openview/37af59d449f6c561b86dc84651c37a8b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=5553323> [accessed 17 October 2025]
Zulfikar, Eko, and others, ‘The Historical Distinction between the Qur’an and Hadith: A Critical Examination of John Wansbrough’s Revisionist Perspective by Fred M. Donner’, Al-Qudwah, 3.2 (2025), pp. 224–42, doi:10.24014/alqudwah.v3i2.37551
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Adrika Fithrotul Aini, Eko Zulfikar, Mowafg Masuwd
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The use of the articles will be governed by the Creative Commons Attribution license as currently displayed on Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
