Orientalists on Authorship of the Qur’an: A Case Study of Professor Claude Gilliot

Abstract

Claude Gilliot is included in the list of those famous French orientalists and scholars who have studied Islamic sciences critically. His major work is on the exegesis and the history of the text of the Qur'an. He has also expressed his views about the life of Prophet Muhammad (in his research work and articles. After briefly mentioning his thoughts, this paper proves that instead of taking an original view on Qur’an and Muhammad, he completely embraced the ideas of other skeptical orientalist. He repeated the same accusations in many of his books, articles and research papers. This article traces some of his errors and misconceptions spread in his writings on sources of Quran and revelations of Muhammad