The views of the German orientalist josef Horovitz (1874-1931) about prophet Mohammad and hadith

In this thesis, the life of Jewish-born German Orientalist Joseph Horovitz, who lived between 1874 and 1931, and his views on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), hadiths, Ravi and isnad have been studied. In this study, the questions of Josef Horovitz's place in German Orientalism, and his views of the former orientalists and how he influenced the subsequent orientalists have been searched and evaluated. This study consists of four parts. In the introduction, the purpose, the scope, the methodology and the limitations of the subject have been touched on. In the first part, the short history of German orientalism's adventure until Horovitz has been given, the essential representatives have been mentioned, and a general picture of their studies on Islam has been drawn. In the second part, Horovitz's life, method, works and sources have been examined. In the last part, his envision of the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad have been (PBUH) mentioned and how he evaluated the Hadiths which were used in the traditions of hadith, prophetic biography, meğâzî and tafsir have been analysed, also his views about miracles and Miraj have been discussed. In addition to that, his views of the Ravis who are the hadith carriers and the Isnad which has a significant place in terms of the hadith history have been analysed by being brought together. Horovitz's claims attracted the attention of Muslim scholars, and the refutations have been written upon it. However, both Turkish and Arab world have benefited from Horovitz's studies and his views, predominantly from the secondary sources. In this study, after compiling Horovitz's works in German language and giving his views, we endeavoured to criticise them.