Category:Early Islamic Studies--1700s

Portrait of Voltaire by Nicolas de Largillière

New translations of the Qur'an were published in the early 18th century; into Russian (1716, by Postnikov, based on Du Ryer's) and English (1734, by George Sale, the first English version made directly from the Arabic). Henri de Boulainvilliers in 1730 and Jean Gagnier in 1732 also published the first scholarly biographies of Muhammad.

In 1741 Voltaire's Le fanatisme; ou, Mahomet le prophete exploited and propagated the popular prejudices against Islam in a highly popular and influential play, which however was meant to be a criticism of any form of religious fanaticism (including Christian, which could not be attacked directly).

In spite of any polemical approach, by the end of the 18th century, early Islamic texts were now easily available in Europe in reliable translations along with the first scholarly accounts of early Islamic history.

The founding in Paris in 1795 of the École Spéciale des Langues Orientales Vivantes marked off the beginnings of modern Islamic studies, for it was under the school's second director, Antoine Isaac Silvestre de Sacy, that the first systematic curriculum for the teaching of Islamic languages, culture and civilization was established in Europe.

• La vie de Mahomet (The Life of Mahomet / 1730 Boulainvilliers), book
• La vie de Mahomet (The Life of Muhammad / 1732 Gagnier), book
• The Koran, Commonly Called the Alcoran of Mohammed (1734 Sale), book
• Le fanatisme; ou, Mahomet le prophete (Mahomet the Prophet / 1741 Voltaire), play

English -- French -- German -- Italian -- Spanish -//- Arabic -- Croatian -- Czech -- Danish -- Dutch -- Estonian -- Greek -- Hebrew -- Hungarian -- Japanese -- Latin -- Maltese -- Persian -- Polish -- Russian -- Serbian -- Slovenian

2010s (Top) -- 2000s (Top) -- 1990s (Top) -- 1980s (Top) -- 1970s (Top) -- 1960s (Top) -- 1950s (Top) -- 1940s (Top) -- 1930s (Top) -- 1920s (Top) -- 1910s (Top) -- 1900s (Top) -- 1850s (Top) -- 1800s (Top) -- 1700s (Top) -- 1600s (Top) -- 1500s (Top) -- 1400s (Top) -- Pre-Modern (Top) -- Medieval (Top)

• Fiction -> Literature - Music - Cinema

Second Temple Studies -- Enochic Studies -- Apocalyptic Studies -- Qumran Studies -- OT Apocrypha Studies -- Wisdom Studies -- OT Pseudepigrapha Studies -- Hellenistic-Jewish Studies -- Philo Studies -- Josephus Studies -- Historical Jesus Studies -- Pauline Studies -- Johannine Studies -- Petrine Studies -- Gospels Studies -- Christian Origins Studies -- New Testament Studies -- Early Christian Studies -- Early Jewish Studies -- Early Islamic Studies -- Early Samaritan Studies -- Hebrew Bible Studies