Christoph Luxenberg is the pseudonym of the author of The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran: A Contribution to the Decoding of the Language of the Qur'an and several articles in anthologies about early Islam. His book The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran asserted that the language of the early compositions of the Quran was not exclusively Arabic, as assumed by the classical commentators, but rather is rooted in the Syriac language of the 7th century Meccan tribe of the Quraysh, which is associated in the early histories with the founding of the religion of Islam. Luxenberg's premise is that the Syriac language, which was prevalent throughout the Middle East during the early period of Islam, and was the language of culture and Christian liturgy, had a profound influence on the scriptural composition and meaning of the contents of the Quran.
Summary of research
With his approach of research, Luxenberg is a representative of the "Saarbrücken School" which is part of the Revisionist school of Islamic studies.
Use of pseudonym
The pseudonym "Christoph Luxenberg" may be a play upon the name of Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, the "destroyer of myths," since Lux translates as Licht. Luxenberg himself claims to have chosen a pseudonym "upon the counsel of Arab friends, after these became familiar with my work theses," to protect himself against possible violent repercussions. The real identity of the person behind the pseudonym remains unknown. The most widely circulated version claims that he is a German scholar of Semitic languages. Hans Jansen, professor at Leyden University, has conjectured that Luxenberg is a Lebanese Christian, whereas François de Blois, writing in the Journal of Quranic Studies, has questioned Luxenberg's knowledge of Arabic.
Responses
Dutch archaeologist Richard Kroes describes Luxenberg's book in a review article as "almost unreadable, certainly for the layman. One needs knowledge of eight languages and of five different alphabets to comprehend the book fully. A good working knowledge of German, Arabic and Syriac is indispensable to be able to assess the book. Luxenberg's main problem however is that his line of reasoning doesn't follow the simple and strict method that he set out at the beginning of his book." Conclusive remarks about the book are expressed as "certainly not everything Luxenberg writes is nonsense or too far-fetched, but quite a few of his theories are doubtful and motivated too much by a Christian apologetic agenda. Even his greatest critics admit he touches on a field of research that was touched on by others before and that deserves more attention. However, this needs to be done with a strictly scientific approach. In fact, his investigations should be done again, taking into account all the scholarly work that Luxenberg doesn't seem to know." A March 2002New York Times article describes Luxenberg's research: In 2002, The Guardian newspaper published an article which stated: In 2003, the Pakistani government banned a 2003 issue of Newsweeks international edition discussing Luxenberg's thesis on grounds that it was offensive to Islam. Abid Ullah Jan accused Luxenberg of participating in an "discursive assault on Islam," but he has also been called an enabler of interfaith dialogue; a "dilettante"; and the writer of "probably the most important book ever written on the Koran" by ibn Warraq, an also unknown anonymous writer.
