broad but unequal periods. The early period starts with the first Latin translation of the Qur’ân made in 1143 CE. and runs till roughly the end of the eighteenth century. The second or modern period covers the nineteenth and the first three quarters of the twentieth century; and the third and the latest period began from the mid-seventies of the twentieth century and is still holding sway today. Each of these periods has some landmarks in the progress of Qur’ânic studies that are indicated in italicised sub-headings.

II. The First Period and the Method of Translation-Refutation

(a) The first Qur’ân translation and the beginning of orientalism

Even before the launching of the Second Crusade, Christian thinkers realized the need for combating Islam on the intellectual level and forging what P. K. Hitti calls "an instrument of pacific crusade". (1) Foremost among such thinkers were the Archbishop Raymond of Toledo (1126 - 51) and Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny (d. 1157). The former was instrumental in establishing a school of translation at Toledo where important Arabic works on theology and science were translated, while the latter, Peter the Venerable, commissioned the first translation of the Qur’ân with the declared objective of refuting Islam. This translation was made in Latin and completed, as mentioned above, in 1143 by Robert Ketenensis of Chester, Hermann of Dalmatia and two other associates, assisted by an Arab Muslim. The initiatives taken by Archbishop Raymond and Peter the Venerable led ultimately to the establishment of the first School of Oriental Studies in Europe at Toledo in 1250, the College of Friars at Miramar in 1276 for the study of Arabic in which Raymond Lull of Catalania played an important part, and the resolution of the Council of Vienna in 1311 creating chairs of Arabic at the universities of Paris, Louvain and Salamanca.

As the objective of the translation of the Qur’ân was to defend Christianity and to "refute" Islam, Peter the Venerable had prepared a "Refutation of Islam" in Latin to accompany the translation. This