RİCHARD BELL, KURAN ÇALIŞMALARI VE KURAN VAHYİ HAKKINDAKİ GÖRÜŞLERİ
RICHARD BELL, THE QUR'ANIC STUDIES AND HIS OPINION ABOUT THE QUR'AN REVELATION

Summary/Abstract: The earlier modern Western literature on the Qur'an mainly concentrates on two issues. The first group try to seek to trace the influence of Jewish and Christian ideas in the Qur'an while the second group pay more attention to the reconstruction of the chronological order of the Qur'an. This article deals with one of the important figures in the West whose works are still being read in the Universities. Richard Bell, a Scottish orientalist, focused on both issues in his writings. Having disclosed his dissatisfaction with tradition, and acknowledged his exclusive reliance on the Qur'an he insisted that Christianity was the chief historical antecedent of the Qur'an and that the Prophet was a pupil of the Church. Instead of looking deeply into the content, presentation, structure and so forth, he preferred to find materials with which to invalidate the opinion of his Jewish opponents. Regarding the revelation, Bell preferred the idea that the prophet's inspiration derived from his creative 'brooding' mind. Clearly, this approach disregards the Divine origin of the Qur'an. However, it is impossible to find any evidence to support such a view. His main ideas (bias!) regarding Qur'anic arrangement, compilation, narratives, names etc are summarised. In addition, a brief criticism is also provided. To know an occidental scholarship on the Qur'an, Bell is the right person to begin with.

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