Criticism of Gerald Hawting’s Methods of Quranic Studies

Examining the methods of Quranic studies by Orientalists is one of the most recent topics in the field of Quranic studies. Gerald Hawting is a contemporary British orientalist and a continuation of Wensbrough’s controversial ideas. In this research, the most important methods of his Quranic studies are briefly discovered, explained and analyzed. The most important method of Hawting’s Quranic studies is historical criticism, whose sub-branches are literary criticism, content criticism, and source criticism. Being influenced by post-modernism and the lack of convenient practical results are among the most prominent criticisms of the historical critical method and its sub-branches. Hawting’s methods of studying the Quran are influenced by the common intellectual and scientific foundations in the West, especially his teacher Wansbrough and the criticism of the Bible. Since Hawting has considered the Quran as a human text, he has imposed on it methods compatible with the materialistic and specific worldview of human texts