Goldziher's love for Islam did not prevent him from being a devout Jew until his death. On the contrary, he tried to reveal the common aspects of the two religions and the areas where they could positively influence each other.
Born in Hungary, Ignac Goldziher went to the Universities of Budapest, Berlin, Leipzig, and Leiden with the help of the Hungarian Minister of Culture Jozsef Eötvös. After graduation, he traveled to Syria, Palestine, and Egypt with the contributions of the ministry. He attended classes at Al-Azhar University in Cairo for a while. In 1890, he published his work titled Muhammedanische Studien, which collected his works. In this work, he claimed that the hadiths reflected the political and legal environment two centuries after the Prophet Muhammad's death, rather than his own words.
Ignác Goldziher (22 June 1850 – 13 November 1921), often credited as Ignaz Goldziher, was a Hungarian scholar of Islam. Along with the German Theodor Nöldeke and the Dutch Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, he is considered the founder of modern Islamic studies in Europe. Goldziher is also known for his foundational work of esoteric exegesis of the Hebrew Bible in the seminal work on the topic in "Mythology among the Hebrews," in which he defended Jewish mythology from accusations by the racists of the time that the Jews "stole" the myths of other peoples by explaining the similarities as a consequence of an origination in star lore and astral theology.
Goldziher claimed that Islamic legal rules actually came from Roman law and defended this in every environment. Some of his colleagues, such as Patricia Crone, declared that Goldziher's theses on this subject were quite weak.
Although he represented the Hungarian government in various academic environments and was awarded a gold medal at the 1889 Stockholm Oriental Congress, Goldziher was not allowed to teach at the University of Budapest until the age of 44 due to his active work in the Budapest Jewish Community. He made history as the first academic of Jewish origin to be accepted as an instructor in this field at Budapest University in 1894. He received his Litt D title at Cambridge University in 1904 and his LL D title at Aberdeen University in 1906.
In addition to his academic studies, Goldziher carefully recorded what he experienced and felt during all these years and later published these records in his work called 'Tagebuch'. We can understand how concentrated Goldziher was during these studies with the following quote from the book:
“During these weeks, I entered the spirit of Islam so much that I convinced myself that I was a true Muslim and realized that Islam was the only religion that had intellectual formulations that would satisfy philosophical minds.”
Because he was active in the Budapest Jewish Community, he was not allowed to teach at the University of Budapest until the age of 44. He made history as the first academic of Jewish origin to be accepted as an instructor in this field at Budapest University in 1894.
Goldziher's love for Islam did not prevent him from being a devout Jew until his death. On the contrary, he tried to reveal the common aspects of the two religions and the areas where they could positively influence each other. In addition, he showed his commitment to Judaism by firmly rejecting the offer to become a Christian while he was an instructor at the University of Budapest, which would relieve him financially and increase his professional success.
Ignac Goldziher died in Budapest on November 13, 1921.