Luling and Shoemaker notice the dip in historical critique of Islam in the 20th century.

Gunter Luling is one example of a scholar who was dismissed as a direct result of his thesis that posed a challenging historical critique of Islam, specifically the Qur'an. He notes the dip in interest in serious scholarship in this area from the early part of the 20th century. In the US, Stephen J Shoemaker notes the oversized influence of Wilfred Cantrell Smith in discouraging the historical critique in relation to Islam. The University of Harvard, where he held a taught (on and off) from the 60s to the 80s, has received at least 30 million dollars from the Muslim donors.