A Comparative Study of the Nature and Origin of the Qur’an in the Thought of Allamah Ṭabāṭabā’ī and Theodor Nöldeke’s Historicist Perspective

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences, Kermanshah University of Technology, Kermanshah, Iran

Abstract

The nature of revelation and the origin of the Holy Qur’an constitute foundational questions in contemporary Qur’anic studies. The presential study investigates whether revelation should be conceptualized as a divine, trans-historical reality or as a religious experience shaped by historical circumstances. Two principal approaches are discernible: "The theological-philosophical perspective of Muslim scholars, which views revelation as the manifestation of divine knowledge within the Prophet's soul, and the historicist perspective of Western Qur’anic scholars, which interprets the Qur’an in relation to the Prophet Muhammad’s religious experience and historical context." The present study undertakes a comparative analysis of these two intellectual frameworks by examining the views of Allamah Ṭabāṭabā’ī and Theodor Nöldeke. To this aim, was used an analytical-comparative method, drawing on primary sources to examine the epistemological and ontological foundations of both perspectives. The findings demonstrated that Allamah Ṭabāṭabā’ī, drawing upon the principles of Transcendent Philosophy, conceptualizes revelation as a form of presential or present knowledge and as an existential connection between the Prophet and the Divine Source. In contrast, Nöldeke, from a historicist perspective, regards the Qur’an as a gradual phenomenon shaped by the cultural and linguistic conditions of its period of revelation. The study concludes that Ṭabāṭabā’ī’s theological and philosophical explanation, due to its greater theoretical coherence and avoidance of historical reductionism, offers a more robust explanatory framework for understanding the nature of the Qur’an. Additionally, it provides a strong theoretical basis for critical engagement with contemporary Western approaches to revelation

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References

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