Old, New or Digital Philology

Abstract

Manuscript studies overlap with and make use of other disciplines such as diplomatic, philology, palaeography, and codicology. The focus of these fields together is to examine the intellectual history in a particular period or culture. In the Islamic manuscripts’ realm, various approaches and methods exist to study the text and decipher the content to make it available for scholarship. The outcome of this text-centric approach attempts to recreating the closest text intended by the author. Textual analysis, text criticism or critical editing of manuscripts brings the content to the forefront of scholarship, passing through many interconnected steps. However, there are methodical differences between western and eastern approaches to scholarships in this regard. This chapter aims to demonstrate the development of the textual studies of Islamic manuscripts (manāhij al-taḥqīq) in the past two centuries, including the newly established method of Digital Humanities. The chapter also suggests that working toward an integrated approach to study Islamic manuscripts will directly impact the field of Islamic studies. One immediate advantage is to assist in speeding up the analysis and publishing of the vast volume of still unedited collections of manuscripts, especially in some contentious areas in Islam.