Theodor Nöldeke Explained

Theodor Nöldeke
Birth Date:2 March 1836
Birth Place:Hamburg, Free City of Hamburg, German Confederation
Death Date:25 December 1930 (aged 94)
Death Place:Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Weimar Germany
Occupation:German Orientalist
Notableworks:Geschichte Qorâns, Das Leben Mohammeds

Theodor Nöldeke (pronounced as /de/; born 2 March 1836 – 25 December 1930) was a German orientalist and scholar, originally a student of Heinrich Ewald. He is one of the founders of the field of Quranic studies, especially through his foundational work titled the History of the Quran. His research interests ranged over Old Testament studies, Semitic languages and Arabic, Persian and Syriac literature. Nöldeke translated several important works of oriental literature and during his lifetime was considered an important orientalist. He wrote numerous studies (including on the Qur’ān) and contributed articles to the Encyclopædia Britannica.[1]

Among the projects Nöldeke collaborated on was Michael Jan de Goeje’s published edition of al-Tabari's Tarikh ("Universal History"), for which he translated the Sassanid-era section. This translation remains of great value, particularly for the extensive supplementary commentary.His numerous students included Charles Cutler Torrey, Louis Ginzberg and Friedrich Zacharias Schwally. He entrusted Schwally with the continuation of his standard work "The History of the Qur’ān".

Biography

Nöldeke was born in Harburg, (Hamburg today). In 1853 he graduated from the Gymnasium Georgianum Lingen, Emsland, and went on to study at the University of Göttingen under Heinrich Ewald, and later at the University of Vienna, the University of Leiden and the Humboldt University of Berlin.

In 1864 he became a professor at the University of Kiel and from 1872 at the University of Strasbourg until he retired aged 70.

Nöldeke had ten children, six of whom predeceased him. His son Arnold Nöldeke became a judge and was a Hamburg senator during the Weimar period.

He died in Karlsruhe in 1930.

Research

Geschichte des Qorâns

The Geschichte, a primarily philological work written in German, emerged out of his dissertation he began during his university studies, which was completed in 1856 and titled De origine et compositione surarum qoranicarum ipsiusque Qorani.[2] Compared to earlier works studying the Quran by Western writers, Nöldeke uncoupled the study of the text from inquiries into the life of Muhammad and, unlike predecessors of his such as William Muir, did not have a missionary zeal. Instead, Nöldeke studied the Quran for its own sake. One of the most important aspects of Nöldeke's argument was his periodisation of the Quranic surahs into a tripartite Meccan phase followed by a Medinan phase (an idea already conceived by his predecessor, Gustav Weil). In this, Nöldeke, though he did not follow the traditional chronological division of surahs exactly, did follow it in some detail. At the same time, Nöldeke also considered his division to be malleable and tentative to a degree as opposed to absolute and deciding.[3] [4]

Though Nöldeke's work has been followed closely by some and rejected by others,[5] it has been so influential that at least one scholar has referred to his work as "the rock of our church".[6] In 2013, a complete translation of the volume into English was published.[7]

Chronology

The Nöldeke Chronology is a "canonical ordering" of the 114 surahs of the Qur'an according to the sequence of revelation. Intended to aid theological, literary, and historical scholarship of Qur'anic exegesis by enhancing structural coherence. The Nöldeke Chronology has been adopted for general guidance by some schools of current scholarship. Nöldeke considered the surahs from the perspective of content and stylistic development and linguistic origination to rearrange them in historical sequence of revelation. According to his system Sura 21: “The Prophets,” – 21st of 114 surahs in the Qur'an – is renumbered '65'. His chronology further divided the surahs into two periods: The Meccan (in three phases), and the Medina.

The Nöldeke Chronology of the Qur'an: Four groups of the 114 Surahs:

Mandaeism

In 1875, near the very beginning of the academic study of the religion of Mandaeism, Nöldeke published the Mandäische grammatik,[8] a monumental work of Mandaean grammar that was of such philological depth that it remains the standard work on the subject to this day. It was also the basis of the subsequent Mandaic Dictionary by E. S. Drower.[9]

Alexander the Great

In 1890, Nöldeke initiated the study of Alexander legends in the Arabic tradition with the publication of his Beiträge zur geschichte des Alexanderromans.

Distinctions

Selected works

He contributed frequently to the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, the Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen and the Expositor.

References

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Arjomand, Said Amir. (2022). Messianism and sociopolitical revolution in medieval Islam. Oakland, California: University of California Press. p. 16. . Google Books website Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  2. Book: Nöldeke, Theodor . De origine et compositione surarum Qoranicarum ipsiusque Qorani . 1856 . Officina academica Dieterichiana . la.
  3. Stefanidis . Emmanuelle . ‮ستفانيدس‬ . ‮إيمانيويل‬ . 2008 . The Qur'an Made Linear: A Study of the Geschichte des Qorâns' Chronological Reordering / ‮دراسة لإعادة الترتيب التاريخي لنزول القرآن في کتاب نولدکة "تاريخ القرآن" . Journal of Qur'anic Studies . 10 . 2 . 1–22 . 25728286 . 1465-3591.
  4. Reynolds . Gabriel Said . 2011-01-01 . Le problème de la chronologie du Coran1 . Arabica . en . 58 . 6 . 477–502 . 10.1163/157005811X587903 . 1570-0585.
  5. Book: Shoemaker, Stephen . Early Islam: the sectarian milieu of late antiquity? . 2022 . Éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles . 978-2-8004-1815-5 . Dye . Guillaume . Problèmes d'histoire des religions . Brussels . Method and Theory in the Study of Early Islam.
  6. News: Higgins . Andrew . The Lost Archive . 2024-03-21 . Wall Street Journal . en-US.
  7. Book: Nöldeke . Theodor . The history of the Qur'an . Schwally . Friedrich . Bergsträsser . Gotthelf . Pretzl . O. . Behn . Wolfgang . 2013 . Brill . 978-90-04-21234-3 . Texts and studies on the Qur'an . Leiden; Boston.
  8. Book: Nöldeke . Theodor . Mandaean grammar / Mandäische Grammatik . Nöldeke . Theodor . 2005 . Wipf & Stock . 978-1-59752-238-0 . Repr. . Ancient language resources . Eugene, Or.
  9. Book: Meeks, Wayne . The Prophet-King: Moses Traditions and the Johannine Christology . 2017 . Wipf & Stock Publishers . 258–259.
  10. Web site: Th. Nöldeke (1836–1930) . Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences . 13 July 2020.
  11. Web site: APS Member History . 2024-01-17 . search.amphilsoc.org.

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