Leone Caetani'nin Annali Dell’Islām Adlı Eserinde Kur’an-ı Kerim’in Mushaf Hâline Getirilmesi Hakkındaki Görüşleri

Abstract

The research and studies within the scope of Orientalism that emerged in Western countries became systematic towards the end of the 17th century. Subsequently, the number of publications by orientalists on Islam has been increasing since the beginning of the 19th century. The Eastern studies that started in countries such as the Netherlands, France, and England also attracted the attention of Italian scientists. Leone Caetani is one of the representatives of Italian Orientalism. Caetani, who was positivist, materialist, Machiavellian, and Darwinian, wrote a comprehensive work called "Annali Dell'Islām" in which he portrayed the life of Prophet Muhammad according to his thoughts. This work was translated into Turkish as "İslam Tarihi" (History of Islam) by Hüseyin Câhid Yalçın in 1924. While this extensive work written with biased thinking was followed with great admiration in Italy, it also caused a great stir among the academic circles of the Republic of Turkey. Caetani used the primary sources of Islamic history in his Annali Dell'Islām. However, it has been understood that Caetani made incorrect assessments about the information in the primary sources when examining the life of Prophet Muhammad.  The main reasons for the criticism directed towards Caetani's work are his use of untrue statements and falling into contradictions regarding values that Muslims consider sacred without any doubt. Our study aims to examine Caetani's work regarding the developments that occurred during the compilation process of the Quran, which is the most reliable religious source of Muslims. It has been seen as a result of the research that Caetani exhibited a disrespectful attitude towards Islam, Prophet Muhammad, his Sunnah, and his companions, and that the claims about these subjects do not correspond to the truth according to the primary sources of Islamic history.