An Analysis of Angelika Neuwirth’s View on the Structure of the Quran

Nowadays, Orientalists have paid attention to the analysis of the literary and semantic structure of the Quranic text using new approaches. Meanwhile, Angelika Neuwirt is one of the pioneers of this type of study. Based on this, the question of Neuwirt’s view on the structure of the Quran is still in front of us. The analysis of Neuwirt’s opinions indicates that her view on the structure of the Quran is based on presuppositions that are not fully compatible with Islamic principles. Using the historical and literary method, she has analyzed the structure and meaning of the Meccan surahs of the Quran and commented on the continuity of the meaning and literary structure of these surahs, and considers the Madani surahs to lack internal order and coherence. Understanding Neuwirt’s view on the literary and semantic structure of the Quran is something that this research is responsible for analyzing and evaluating. In this research, an attempt has been made to express the advantages and limitations of Neuwirt’s point of view regarding the structure of the Quran and answer the main question by using the analytical-critical method. In fact, it can be said that Neuwirt’s Quranic studies, especially her structuralist topics - if carefully evaluated - can be useful and open the way for Quranic scholars interested in structuralist topics, due to their regularity and text-centeredness