The Orientalist Methodology in Studying the Holy Qur'an Ignaz Goldziher (1850-1921 AD)

Abstract

This study examines the approaches of Orientalists who sought to study the East with a biased, hostile methodology aimed at distorting the image of Islam as a faith, thought, and civilization, based on the colonial Orientalist perspective and the Judeo-Christian faith. Therefore, the study aims to shed light on the Jewish Orientalist Ignaz Goldziher as a model for Orientalist studies in addressing Quranic texts, and to expose the methodological challenges he employed in his studies. The study focused on the concept of Orientalism, its origins, and motivations. It addressed Orientalists' definition of Orientalism, the fields they addressed in their studies, and the scientific methods they employed. It also highlighted the weakness and flaws in the scientific method Ignaz Goldziher followed in his study of Islamic civilization, Quranic texts, and its sciences. Goldziher attempted to distort the Holy Quran through the challenges he included in his books, his evasion of transmitted readings, authentic chains of transmission, and authentic sources, and his methodological failures.