Orientalists and the New Approaches to the Compilation of the Holy QUI"an

The Holy Qur'an is the everlasting miracle of the Prophet of Islam (SAW) and the eternal charter of his message. After 15 centuries, this book is still a center of attention and study to the scholars and intellectuals, regardless of their faith. A significant proportion of the Orientalists' studies has been focused on the examination of the Qur'an as the holy book of Muslims. These studies expanded considerably at the end of the nineteenth century and in recent decades culminated' in some new approaches. The history of the Holy Qur'an and in particular the process of the compilation of the Holy Qur'an has been approached in different ways by the westerners in their studies, Although Noldeke, the German scholar, in his valuable book "History of the Qur'an" taking a traditional approach, has accepted most of what Muslims believe about the compilation of the Qur'an, but later scholars have taken a more skeptical approach, even questioning the historical validity of traditions (Hadith) about the compilation of the Qur'an. However, in the recent decades some studies based on the new methodology have been carried out which partially attest the authenticity and validity of these traditions.