Examining the Scope and Scope of Quranic Studies by Orientalists (Case study of Alford T. Welch)

The speed of information transmission in the present era, on the one hand, and the wide range of studies of Orientalists on the Qur'an, on the other hand, doubles the necessity of explaining their opinions and opinions in detail, so as to provide a basis for criticism and investigation and to eliminate the possible shortcomings of their works. Due to the fact that some modern religious thinkers are influenced by the opinions and thoughts of Orientalists, therefore the scholarly response to these Orientalists is actually a criticism of the method of these Muslim intellectuals. From this point of view, considering the authority of the Encyclopedia of Islam as the most reliable source of Islamic studies in the West and the fact that Alford T. Welch is one of the prominent figures in the writing of this scientific work who has special opinions about the Qur'an, it is necessary to explain his views. Therefore, in this article, we will analyze the angles of Quranic studies of orientalists and their fields of entry in Quranic sciences with an emphasis on Alford T. Welch's Quranic studies. Alford T. Welch, American Orientalist since 1965. He focused his studies especially on the Qur'an and published articles in the "Encyclopedia of Islam" about the Qur'an and the life history of the Prophet of Islam. Some of the points mentioned in his works indicate that he does not know enough about the religion of Islam and the Qur'an. In fact, he has a special presupposition about the Qur'an. He studied the Qur'an as a phenomenon and instead of exploring its authenticity and understanding its enlightenment and benefiting from it; he entered more into the field of Qur'anic sources and dealt with categories such as collecting and compiling the Qur'an and the course of historical developments or examining theological literature. And it has not entered the field of content.