Theodor Nöldeke’s Approach to the Qur’an
“Geschichte des Qorâns” Example
Geschichte des Qorâns is a book which was written by Theodor Nöldeke about the history
of the Qur’an and was completed after nearly a century with the contributions of
Friedrich Schwally, Gotthelf Bergsträßer and Otto Pretzl. This study, in which Nöldeke’s
approach to the Qur’an is discussed, consists of four sections. In the first chapter, we
studied the life and the works of Nöldeke and also the life and the works of Friedrich
Schwally, Gotthelf Bergsträßer and Otto Pretzl who contributed to the completion of the
book. In the second chapter, we discussed the approaches of Nöldeke to the source and
chronological order of the Qur’an. In the third chapter, we gave the approaches about the
process of gathering the Qur’an. In the fourth chapter, we discussed the approaches to
the official Qur’an and the qırâat. We have included some assessments at the end of each
chapter and after some subjects. In the supplementary part of our study, we presented a
list of Nöldeke’s articles and review articles, and included some of the Qur’an fragments
which were cited as references in Geschichte des Qorâns.
Keywords: Tafsir; Qirâʾa; Mushaf; Orientalizm; Nöldeke; Schwally; Bergsträßer; Pretzl;
Geschichte des Qorâns (The History of the Qurʾân)