Thanks for your reply, Altara. One thing that I like with Tom Holland, is that he speaks so openly.
He is not involved in any University. This explains what you say :
Many of the academics I follow seem to look to the left, look to the right, look to the left again, then they might say something that can be interpreted in different ways. The way some academics speak about Islam, you can wonder if they are apologists or whatever. Its a kind of strange field.
As Robert Hoyland wrote: among the academics, there many left-leaning liberals that don't want to insult Muslims.
It is not so simple as he says. More I was involved in the field more I have noted (like you) that there is something strange in the behaviour of many scholars. His explication is right especially for the young scholars, but is not sufficient.
Many academic scholars tend to hide what they really think and
understood about the origin of Islam but it has nothing to do with Hoyland's explication . I tend to think that they hide because they fear (for their career) to be marginalized, etc.
When I read this statement of Reynolds (2016) (that I consider a great scholar) for example :
Finally, I might add that I am interested in philology more than history. I am not particularly interested in proposing any new or revisionist context for the Qurʾān’s origins. Instead I am interested in understanding and appreciating the Qurʾānic text and its message.
I'm surprised... I think one cannot know and understand a discourse, whatever it is, without knowing its context of production. Appreciating yes, understanding, surely not.It's all the more curious for him because he had poses good questions about the Quran regarding what says the narrative about it which poses problem.
I am glad that Tom Holland dared to make that documentary and crossed the barrier, though he got many death threats.
Yes. But you have remarked that almost none academics cites Holland. He does not exist.
Here in my country, I have challenged the academics several times, but almost nothing happens.Some historians said that in Denmark and Norway it has not been so rapid changes since the bronze- or iron age. In spite of that, most religion sociologists decide not to take part in the public discussion. They leave that to the amateurs, fundamentalists and Islam haters. That is kind of sad.
When you know that a great scholar (I won't say who...) has been put aside from a high position in Paris you understand many things...
Topic: Qur'anic studies today