Reading the Intentions of Orientalists Based on Eric Hersh’s Intentionalism

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor of the Quran and Orientalists Department, Al-Mustafa International University

2 Doctoral student of Quran and Orientalist Jamia Al-Mustafa

Abstract

The position of intention in hermeneutics has led to different readings of the texts. Philosophical hermeneutics have ignored it and classical hermeneutics have taken advantage of it to give originality to the author and to understand the texts. Based on their intention, orientalists have been categorized in three periods of evangelism, colonialism, and scientism, and following classical hermeneutics, they will not escape from their dogmatic, nationalist, and unjustified thoughts. Reading the intentions of Orientalists based on Hersh’s hermeneutics is necessary because it provides a method or a tool to achieve the reading of their intentions and reveal their intentions, and they are deprived of evasion, pluralist interpretations, and historical forgetfulness, and in the position of the sublime contemporary, don’t justify their the underlying and sterile historical situation wisely; Because to understand texts in Hersh’s hermeneutic view, the author’s intention is considered fundamental, which is interpreted as intentionalism. This research has shown with a descriptive-analytical method that the reading of Islamic texts by Westerners based on Hersh’s hermeneutics is nothing other than the intention of exaggerating the weaknesses of Easterners, perverting the authentic religious tradition of Islam, religious and political hegemony, racial and religious superiority, objectification of the East in the direction of all-round domination and... . In the scientific school, however, it is possible to achieve with true opinions from the Orientalists; But by referring and using unreliable sources and methods, they have caused many deviations in Islamology, which even by referring to conventional western scientific methods, it is not possible to provide a logical and straightforward explanation of them. The importance of the author’s position in Hersh’s hermeneutics also indicates that the intention of the Orientalists cannot be confirmed

Keywords

References

  1. The Holy Quran, Translated by Muhammad Ali Rezaei Isfahani and A Group of Professors of Al-Mustafa University, Al-Mustafa Publishing House, Qom: 2nd Edition, 2009.
  2. Alavi, Seyyed Hossein, The Flow of Orientalist Quran Studies in the United States of America (with An Emphasis on the Course of Development, Approaches, Foundations and Methods), Al-Mustafa International Translation and Publishing Center, Qom: 2022.
  3. Al-azami, Muhammad Mustafa, The History of the Quranic Text from Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments, Leicester: Uk IsIsmic Academy, 2003.
  4. Album and Goodwin, Sylloge of Islamic Coins‌ in the Ashmolean, V.1, The Pre-Reform coinage of early Islamic period‌, London‌: Ashmoleon‌ Museum Oxford, pp.29-30; Plate 26, no.371, 2002.
  5. Al‌-Ƥabb‌Ɨn, Ali b.Ibrahim, The Inscription of Zuhayr, the‌ Oldest‌ Islamic Inscription (24.AH/644.AD), the Rise of the Arabic Script and‌ the‌ Nature of the Early Islamic‌ State‌, Translated by‌ Hoyland‌, Arabian‌ Archeology and  Epigraphy, 19: pp.137‌-210‌
  6. Azami, Muhammad Mustafa, The Method of Criticism among the Muhaddithin, Its Origins and History, Maktabah al-Kawthar, Sausi Arabia: 3rd Edition, 1410 A.H.
  7. Badawi, Abd al-Rahman, Encyclopedia of Orientalism, Dar El Ilm Lilmalayin, Beirut: 3rd Edition, 1993.
  8. Berg, Herber, “Competing Paradigms in Islamic Origins Quran 15:89-91 and the Value of Isnads”, in: Herbert Berg (ed). Method and Thery in the Study of Islamic Origins, Brill, Leiden, 2003.
  9. Darwaysh, Francois, Umayyad Era Qurans, An Introduction to the Oldest Versions of Quran, Translated by: Murtaza Kariminia and Ala, Vahidnia, Hermes Publications, Tehran: 2015.
  10. Donner, Fred M, Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing, THE DARWIN PRESS, INC. PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY, 1998.
  11. Graham William, “Remarks on the Book of Quranic Studies”, Translated by Murtaza Kariminia, Ayineh Pazohish, 11th Year, 2018, No. 65.
  12. Gregor Shoveler‌, The Biography of Muhammad: Nature and Authenticity, Translated by Uwe Vagelpohi, edited‌ by‌ James E.Montgomery, London: Routledge: pp.14-15, 2011‌.
  13. Herbert Berg, The Development of Exegesis in Early Islam: The Authenticity of Muslim literature‌ from‌ the‌ Formative Period,
  14. Ibn Nadim al-Baghdadi, Muhammad bin Ishaq, Book of Al-Fihrist, Research: Reza Todajjud, Tehran: 1971.
  15. Ibn‌ Warraq‌, The Quest for the Historical Muhammad, Amherst, NY; Raven, “Sira‌” In‌ EI2, 2000b.
  16. Kariminia, Murtaza, Studying Biography in the West, Compiled and Edited by World Assembly of Approximation of Islamic Sects, Qom: 2007.
  17. Katsh, Abraham I, Judaism and the Koran: Biblical and Talmudic Backgrounds of the Koran and its Commentaries, New York, 1962.
  18. Muhammad Nasir, Muhammad Nasreen, Legacy of Prejudice: Contemporary Orientalists and Their Misconceptions About the Quran, Translation: Hoda Shafiei Shakib, Institute for the Study of Relations between Islam and the West, Qom: 2013.
  19. Nevo, Yehuda and Koren, Judith, “Methodological Approaches to Islamic Studies,” Der Islam 68: 87-107, 1991.
  20. Nilsaz, Nusrat, “Examination and Criticism of Wensborough’s View on the Final Establishment of the Text of the Quran”, Articles and Studies, Vol. 88, Summer 2018.
  21. Nilsaz, Nusrat, “Review of the Quran in Its Historical Context”, Quran and Hadith Book Criticism Magazine, 2nd Year, No. 5, 2016.
  22. Ohlig‌,”Wieso‌ dunkle‌ Anfange‌ des Islam?” in Die dunklen Anfange: Neue Forschungen zur Entstehung und fruhen Geschichte des Islam, Ohlig & puin(ed.,), n.pl.
  23. Part, Rudy, Arabic and Islamic Studies in German Universities: The German Orientalists since Theodore Noldeke, Translated by: Mustafa Mahir, Al-Hayah al-Misriyyah li al-Kutub (Al-Qousi Translation Center), Cairo: 2011.
  24. Rafiei, Muhammad Hossein, “Biographical Studies in the West, with Emphasis on Studies on the Validity and Authenticity of Hadith in the Islamic Tradition”, Journal of Islamic History Studies, Year 5, No. 19, 2013.
  25. Rafiei, Muhammad Hossein, “Fragments of Islamology (4) Islamology in the West (1): Review of Robert Hoyland’s Works”, Ayineh Pozohish, No. 148, September and October 2014.
  26. Rezaei Haftader, Hassan, “Analysis and Criticism of John Bertan’s Opinions on the Compilation of the Quran”, Studies of the Quran and Hadith, 2nd Year, 1st Issue, Fall and Winter 2008.
  27. Richmond, Surrey; idem, “Competing Paradigms in the Study of Islamic‌ Origins‌: Quran‌ 15:89-91 and the Value of Isnads” in Method and Theory in the‌ Study‌ of‌ Islamic Origins, Leiden: Brill.
  28. Robert Hoyland‌, Seeing Islam‌ as Others Saw It, Princeton, n.1, p.668, 1997‌.
  29. Sa’eed, Abdullah, Introduction to the Quran, Translated by Sa’eed Shafiei, Hekmat Publications, Tehran: 2018.
  30. Sadiqi, Behnam g Goudaezi, Mohsin, “San’ a’ 1 and the Origins of the Quran, Der Islam, Bd. 87, S. 1-129, 2012.
  31. Schoeler, Gregor, “Foundations for A New Biography of Muhammad: The Production and Evaluation of the Corpus of Traditions from Urwah b.Al-Zumayr”. In: Herbert Berg, (ed), Method and Theory in the Study of Islamic Origins, Brill, Leiden, 2003.
  32. Schuler, Grigore, Oral and Written in the First Islamic Centuries, Translated by Nusrat Nilsaz, Hekmat, Tehran: 2013.
  33. Segovia, Carlos A. and Basil Lourié, eds, The Coming of the Comforter: When, Where, and to Whom? Studies on the Rise of Islam and Other Various Topics in Memory of John Wansbrough, Orientalia Judaica Christiana 3, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2012.
  34. Shafiei, Sa’eed, Contemporary Quranic Studies in the West, A Critical Approach to Modern Revisionist and Skeptic Currents, Tehran University Publishing Institute, Tehran: 2020.
  35. Suliman Basheer, Arabs and Others in Early‌ Islam‌, Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam8, 1997.
  36. Wansbrough, Joh, Qurānic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation, Amherst, New York, 2004.
  37. Whelan, Estelle, Forgotten Witness: Evidence for the Early Codification of the Quran, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 118, Issue 1, January-March, pp. 1-14, 1998.

Yehuda Nevo & Judith Koren, “Methodological‌ Approaches‌ to‌ Islamic Studies”, Der 

The Qur’an from Orientalists Point of View
Volume 17, Issue 32 - Serial Number 32
September 2022
Pages 49-70

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 04 February 2022
  • Revise Date: 23 February 2022
  • Accept Date: 29 May 2022

Share

How to cite

Statistics