An important paper (Early Islam in British Higher Education) of Philip Wood who rises many questions about the teaching of Early Islam, related somehow to the paper in French about Crone I was talking about some weeks ago :
"However, I recognise that my sympathy for this approach [sceptic] has much to do with my own training as a historian of late antiquity, especially in the Syriac world, and in my own interest in comparative history. Many scholars studying or teaching the seventh century in Arabia have degrees in Arabic and Islamic studies or Arabic and Persian language. If one begins in AD 600, or prioritises texts in Arabic over texts in Greek and Syriac, one’s first instinct may not be to situate the world of the Qur’an against interlocutors writing in the late sixth century (cf. Hodgson 1977, 41)."
All is
said. A teacher of Arabic (Anthony et al.) (or Arabic as a mother tongue Shaddel, etc) cannot be called "historian" because he is not, whereas they present themselves as ones. They are not trained as "historian", but teaching Arabic and civilization and nothing else.
"The current state of scholarship essentially requires agnosticism about the relevance of the traditional sources of the narrative that links Muhammad and the Qur’an.
This is not possible for someone who states : I'm a "Muslim". He is naturally a believer of the traditional sources of the narrative that links Muhammad and the Qur’an. It is then impossible to this guy to teach, he will teach Islam, not history.
And this is not possible for Anthony et al. because they believe in the narrative, as they are not trained as historians but as teaching Arabic. They did not realize they were framed because scholars trusted the narrative 300,200,100 years ago. But now it is not possible any more to trust it. But they continue to believe ; I see here none difference between a Anthony, a Gorke, a Shaddel et al. and a mere Muslim guy.
"But this poses a major problem for teaching: students will want to know what the Qur’an ‘means’, but the uncertainties of the text make it a poor starting point. As Muhammad Arkoun (1994, 38) observed, it is almost impossible to describe the Qur’an without engaging in interpretation. "
I'm not agree with Arkoun statement. It was a statement of a Muslim.
The diagnostic of Wood is good, he is perfectly right : "But this poses a major problem" Yes. A must read paper.
https://www.academia.edu/37148444/Early_Islam_in_British_Higher_Education
Topic: Qur'anic studies today