a novel critical approach to the leiden encyclopedia of the qurʾān (eq)

In this article, after briefly introducing the leiden encyclopedia of the quran, the strengths and merits of this work are mentioned, and its structural and methodological problems are highlighted. then, the most important problems with the content of this encyclopedia are deliberated on and discussed in a logical manner with complete references and documentation. in this way, through the use of the descriptive-analytical method, the shortcomings and methodological errors in islamic and quranic studies are identified and explained. some of the shortcomings of the orientalists’ works are as follows: 1. lack of references to the primary sources in their analysis of quranic verses, hadiths, and terms; 2. failure to comprehend the status of the prophet and the quran, thus treating the prophet like an ordinary person and the quran as a book written by him; and 3. lack of expertise in assessing the authenticity of the hadiths they refer to, or in explaining the meaning of such hadiths. the writer believes that the orientalists' failure to understand the spirit of islam and the quran is the cause of their unfair and inappropriate presentation of the teachings of the quran.