Syriacism In Contemporary Western Qur’anic Studies

Since the beginning of the 21st century, a group of western scholars have written works on the Qur’an, namely Syriac-oriented. Syriacists believe that the Syriac dialect was being spoken in the world of Arab Christianity and so the Arabic Qur’an originated in this world. Therefore, the Qur’an, the first Islamic hadiths and beliefs need to be interpreted in the light of pre-Islamic Syriac sources or simultaneous with the emergence of these texts and beliefs. Accordingly, the Qur’an and Islamic hadiths are better understood and interpreted in the context of Syriac sources than other pre-Islamic and post-Islamic Arabic sources. Referring to the background and trends of Qur’anic scholarship in the West during the last two centuries and the importance of Syriac in understanding and interpreting the Qur’an, four examples of Syriac-oriented researches are introduced here: “The statements of thālitu thalātha (ثالث ثلاثه) and also shubbiha lahum (شبه لهم) in the Qur’an” by Sidney Griffith; “Joseph among the Ishmaelites: Q 12 in light of Syriac sources” by Joseph Witztum; “Condemnation in the Qur’an and the Syriac Gospel of Matthew” by Emran Iqbal El-Badawi; and finally, an article by Ilkka Lindstedt about the apocalyptic events in the first century AH. In conclusion, although it may be admitted that these sources may have provided the oral context for Bible stories, and therefore sometimes provide a better understanding of Qur’anic verses, especially the stories of the prophets, they could not be giving up altogether, as excuses for flaws in Islamic sources, and turned entirely to sources that were themselves controversial.