Al-Thuluthiyya Event with Dr. Awad Al Nahhi

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Abha - Mar'i Asiri:

Dr. Awad bin Abdullah bin Nahhi, associate professor at Najran University, presented a paper titled 'Islam in the New Orientalist View through the 'Revisionist School',' which is one of the most prominent patterns of new orientalism that emerged in the second half of the 1970s. He highlighted the intellectual roots of this school, which trace back to classical orientalism and its European figures such as Goldziher, Schacht, Nöldeke, and others, at the monthly Al-Humaid Al-Thuluthiyya.

In his paper, he discussed the emergence of the revisionist school, also known as the skeptics, noting that in 1977 two books were published that sparked widespread controversy in Islamic studies: 'Quranic Studies' by John Wansbrough, and 'Hagarism' by Michael Cook and Patricia Crone. Crone emerged as one of the most prominent figures of this trend, with some of her theses characterized by sharp criticism of Islam and its early history. He also addressed the transmission of some of these theses into Israeli orientalist circles, which attempted to use early historical evidence to cast doubt on the origins and tenets of Islam.

The lecturer then addressed academic responses to the revisionists' theses, which he called the 'revisors of the revisionists,' who confronted these theses using the same critical methodologies but arrived at more balanced results and a better understanding of Islamic heritage, free from preconceptions or dependence on religious texts. Prominent among them are Montgomery Watt, Robert Serjeant, Hugh Kennedy, Robert Hoyland, and others.

He referred to the state of the school after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the flourishing of scientific production during this period by some researchers who adopted the revisionists' methods and critical tools, most notably the American researchers Shoemaker and Gabriel Said Reynolds, by recycling early revisionist theses that call for doubting the fundamental tenets of Islam.

After the lecture, the session witnessed a scholarly discussion from the attendees, who were impressed by the presented material, with some commenting on it, along with other interventions that enriched the topic. Then, the Al-Thuluthiyya honored the guest with a commemorative shield presented by the sons of the late writer Muhammad Al-Humaid.

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