Critical Examination of Orientalist Views concerning the Quranic Approach to Story-Telling

Quranic stories and their method of presentation have prompted orientalists to study and purportedly find fault with them in terms of literature and structure. Some such criticisms include failure to observe chronological order, repetition of stories, and omission of details. In the stories of prophets, the Quran tells the highlights of the stories with specific instructional purposes. Furthermore, for various aims, stories of prophets have been told in numerous Quranic chapters in different manners. Considering the readership as well as the purpose of gradual instruction, the Quran does not provide all details of stories. Thus, various orientalists, including Watt, have called aspects of Quranic stories into question. The present paper examines the views of orientalists in this regard and provides reasons for this manner of story-telling in the Quran.