Ghada Ghazal

Proposed Title

Naẓm al-Qur’ān and the Hermeneutics of Sūrah Structure:
A Comparative Study of Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī and Michel Cuypers

Supervisors

Principal Supervisor: Dr. Mahsheed Ansari
Co-Supervisor: Dr. Hakan Çoruh

Research

This research examines the theory of naẓm al-Qurʾān (structural and thematic coherence of the Qurʾān) through a comparative study of two major interpretive frameworks: the Farāhī–Iṣlāḥī school of Qurʾānic interpretation and Michel Cuypers’ Semitic rhetorical analysis. The study explores how both approaches understand compositional unity, textual structure, and the relationship between form and meaning in the Qurʾān. By placing these traditions in comparative dialogue, the project investigates convergences and divergences in their hermeneutical assumptions, analytical methods, and interpretive outcomes. The research contributes to contemporary Qurʾānic studies by examining structure as a hermeneutical principle and by engaging both Islamic and Western scholarly approaches to Qurʾānic interpretation.

Why I chose Charles Sturt

My academic background and research interests in Qurʾānic studies, Islamic hermeneutics, and contemporary approaches to tafsīr led me to pursue doctoral research at Charles Sturt University. The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation (CISAC) provided a strong academic environment for advanced research in Islamic studies, particularly in the areas of Qurʾānic interpretation and interdisciplinary scholarship. My research developed from a broader interest in textual coherence and rhetorical analysis in the Qurʾān, which gradually evolved into a comparative study of the Farāhī–Iṣlāḥī school and Michel Cuypers’ Semitic rhetorical analysis.

Engagement and Memberships

• PhD Candidate, Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation (CISAC), Charles Sturt University
• Participant in national and international academic conferences related to Qurʾānic studies, Islamic thought, and hermeneutics

Publications

1. Ghada Abdul Salam Ghazal and Kate Kelly Middleton, “Comparative Scriptural Reading of Muslim-Christian Marian Texts: How God Reveals through the Embodied Experience of Pregnancy,” Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 34, no. 2 (2024): 211–236.
   https://doi.org/10.2143/SID.34.2.3293937
2. Ghada Ghazal, “Qurʾānic Hermeneutics in the Ottoman Context: Abū al-Suʿūd’s Irshād al-ʿAql al-Salīm as an Example,” Australian Journal of Islamic Studies 11, no. 2 (2026): e102.
   https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v11i2.1141