Evaluation of the Quiddity and Quality of Applying Context (Siyāq) In Nöldeke’s Theory of Revelation Order

In his most important Qur’anic work entitled “Tārīkh al-Qur’an", Nöldeke has brought up various discourses with Qur’anic sciences and by presenting new and detailed viewpoints has attained a high reputation among the orientalists. His theory of the revelation order is among the most detailed theories that, despite its widespread influence in the West’s academic, it has not been systemically and accurately evaluated yet. In this theory, he has utilized various tools for unveiling the revelation order, one of the most important of which is the principle of context that is used in the revelation order of the statements, verse, and verses. With a descriptive-analytical method, this writing is intended to identify and study instances of Nöldeke’s using these tools and to elucidate and evaluate his impression of the principle of context and the way it is applied in his theory. The outcome of this study indicated that he has considered context by the meaning of unity and resemblance with the subject and ground of the verse and used it in segmentation of a verse, separation of a verse from the adjacent verses, and separation of several verses from the sūra, although his method in using context for unveiling the revelation order sounds incomplete and incorrect and his achievements in unveiling the revelation order of the statements, verse, and verses have not gone very far.