Guiding Principles for The Study of Religions (Part One)

By Dr. Zafar Darik Qasmi, New Age Islam

7 February 2026

(With reference to Orientalist approaches to the study of Islam)

Abstract:

This article discusses the importance of honesty and fairness in the study of religions, especially Islam. This explains that in today’s world moral values and serious academic research are declining. One clear result of this decline is academic dishonesty. When studying other religions, scholars should act with neutrality, integrity, and respect, but many Orientalist scholars failed to do so while studying Islam.

The article highlights examples of Orientalists like Theodor Nöldeke and William St. Clair Tisdall, who interpreted the Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through prejudice rather than evidence. They denied the divine nature of revelation and used insulting and unacademic language. The author argues that such approaches ignore historical facts, Islamic tradition, and basic principles of religious studies.

The article concludes that serious research must be based on evidence, ethical standards, and an honest understanding of believers’ perspectives, not on bias or hostility.

Main Points:

·         Moral decline today is clearly visible in social life as well as academic and research dishonesty.

·         Studying other religions requires fairness, neutrality, and respect for the beliefs of followers.

·         Many Orientalists approached Islam with prejudice, despite claiming objectivity and academic honesty.

·         Denying revelation through psychological explanations ignores historical evidence and accepted religious studies principles.

·         Serious scholarship demands proof, ethical language, and integrity, not character assassination or biased assumptions.

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In the present age, which is marked by changing moral values and a decline in serious scholarship and research, talking about knowledge, research, awareness, and the promotion of ethics is certainly a positive and constructive effort.

One of the major values missing in today’s world is morality. This moral decline can be seen not only in social dealings and collective life, but also clearly in the form of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty has many aspects. One important aspect is how honestly we study ideas, beliefs, religions, and philosophies other than our own. In other words, when we study other religions, do we do so with prejudice and narrow-mindedness, or do we act with true fairness, honesty, and intellectual integrity?

When we study history from this perspective, two major trends become visible. One is the Orientalist study of Islam, and the other is the Muslim study of other religions.

As far as Orientalist studies are concerned, it can be said that many Orientalists studied Islam with prejudice and hostility. There are many examples of this approach. The interesting point is that these scholars often used impressive terms such as objectivity, academic honesty, and research methodology, and presented their work as neutral and unbiased. However, the reality is quite the opposite. When we read their books, articles, and reviews about Islam, we not only sense bias and narrow-mindedness, but also clearly smell academic dishonesty. Surprisingly, such weak and unethical research methods are sometimes presented as model examples of scholarship.

Below are a few examples of biased Orientalist studies of Islam

One example is Theodor Nöldeke, a German Orientalist. His work on the Qur’an, published in English under the title The History of the Qur’an, is spread over three volumes. This work is largely a collection of scattered ideas and unnecessary detail. He also wrote an article titled “The Qur’an” for the Encyclopaedia Britannica, in which he criticised the Qur’an in a very aggressive manner:

“How these revelations actually arose in Muhammad's mind is a question which is almost as idle to discuss as it would be to analyze the workings of the mind of a poet. In his early career, sometimes perhaps in its later stages also, many revelations must have burst from him in uncontrollable excitement, so that he could not possibly regard them otherwise than as divine inspirations. We must bear in mind that he was no cold systematic thinker, but an Oriental visionary, brought up in crass superstition. and without intellectual discipline; a man whose nervous temperament had been powerfully worked on by ascetic austerities, and who was all the more irritated by the opposition he encountered, because he had little of the heroic in his nature. Filled with his religious ideas and visions he might well fancy hearing the angel bidding him to recite what was said to him.”

(Theodor Noldeke, The Qur'an An Introductory Essay, Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute,1952, p 5)

From an ethical and academic point of view, this opinion clearly lacks neutrality. It shows that the author had already formed a negative opinion about Islam and then interpreted the personality of the Prophet ﷺ and the concept of revelation according to that preconceived view. This is not a correct method of academic research.

Another negative aspect of this passage is the use of insulting and unacademic language, such as phrases like “little of the heroic in his nature” and “crass superstition”. Such expressions clearly expose the author’s prejudice and are unacceptable in any serious scholarly analysis. Describing revelation merely as a psychological condition, nervous pressure, or emotional excitement is a one-sided assumption. It can neither be conclusively proven nor is it accepted in modern religious studies. Moreover, this view contradicts historical facts. The Prophet’s ﷺ life, wisdom, law-giving ability, moral revolution, and long social and family life clearly reject the idea that he suffered from emotional instability (God forbid).

This type of Orientalist study of Islam is full of bias, lack of seriousness, and clear academic and moral dishonesty. Such approaches have created confusion and mistrust in society.

Another example of biased Orientalist scholarship is William St. Clair Tisdall, a British Orientalist who had command over Arabic and several other languages. He wrote many books on Islam. One of his works is titled “The Original Sources of the Qur’an.” In this book, he presents highly irresponsible criticism of the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

“When the Surahs are arranged in the chronological order of their composition and compared with the events in Muhammad's life, we see that there is much truth in the statement that the passages were-not, as Muslims say, revealed, but-composed from time to time, as occasion required, to sanction each new departure made by Muhammad. The Qur'an is a faithful mirror of the life and character of its author. It breathes the air of the desert, it enables us to hear the battle-cries of the Prophet's followers as they rushed to the onset, it reveals the working of Muhammad's own mind, and shows the gradual declension of his character as he passed from the earnest and sincere though visionary enthusiast into the conscious impostor and open sensualist.”

(William St. Clair Tisdall, The Original Sources of the Quran. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1905, p. 6.)

The core claim of this passage is that the Qur’an is not revelation, but a text composed gradually according to the circumstances of Muhammad’s ﷺ life. He argues that the Qur’an reflects desert life, battles, and the personal thoughts of the Prophet, and he even claims that the Prophet’s character declined over time. In this way, he denies the divine nature of both the Qur’an and prophethood.

Here we see an Orientalist who not only attacks the holy book of Muslims and their Prophet, but also openly rejects historical evidence and centuries of established scholarly tradition. Sadly, such writers present their work as the highest example of objectivity. However, in history, religious studies, and philosophy of religion, it is a recognised principle that to understand any religious text, one must first fairly acknowledge the basic beliefs of its followers.

It is true that the Qur’an was revealed in specific historical contexts, a fact fully accepted within Islamic tradition under the concept of asbāb al-nuzūl (occasions of revelation). But to conclude from this that the Qur’an was invented according to circumstances is incorrect. All divine scriptures were revealed within historical contexts, yet this does not make them human inventions.

Similarly, the claim that the Qur’an reflects a moral decline in the Prophet’s ﷺ character is highly irresponsible. The Prophet’s life in both Makkah and Madinah—his simplicity, financial independence, forgiveness of enemies, and moral self-control even in the hardest conditions—clearly refutes the allegation of any moral corruption.

The truth is that many modern non-Muslim scholars also consider such insulting language and character assassination to be unacademic. Serious research demands evidence, not accusations. These Orientalist statements are based on prejudice rather than proof.

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Dr. Zafar Darik Qasmi is an author and a New Age Islam Regular Columnist.

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/guiding-principles-study-religions-part-one/d/138764

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