The Structural Architecture of the Qur'an: An Analysis from the Perspective of Retrodictive Structural Hermeneutics (RSH)

This book is the product of a research program that examines the Qur'an from a structuralperspective. The methodology we term "Retrodictive Structural Hermeneutics" (RSH), whenapplied to the Qur'an, provides an analytical and methodological framework that enables theexamination of the text as a tawḥīd-centered, ontologically economical, structurally coherent,and restorative system.The fundamental question of this study is straightforward: "What kind of structural systemdoes the Qur'an establish within its own text?" This question approaches the Qur'an from anangle distinct from historical, literary, or theological inquiries. The historical question asks,"When and how did it come into being?"; the literary question asks, "What kind of style andmode of expression does it exhibit?"; and the theological question asks, "What doctrines offaith does it teach?" RSH, by contrast, centers on the question, "What kind of structure does itconstruct?"In the emergence of this approach, certain blind spots in existing approaches to Qur'anicstudies have been decisive. The classical tafsīr tradition offers an extraordinary accumulationin uncovering the meaning of the text (al-Ṭabarī, 2000; Ibn ʿĀshūr, 1984); however, thisaccumulation focuses predominantly on the semantic layers of the text rather than itsstructural organization. The historical-critical approach illuminates the process of the text'sformation; yet it relegates the structural system that the text itself establishes to a secondaryposition. Literary and canonical readings examine the rhetorical power and doctrinal content of the text; however, they do not systematically analyze how tawḥīd functions as anontological and cosmological center. RSH aims to fill this gap.The purpose of this study is neither to debate nor to prove the truth or divine revelatory originof the Qur'an. RSH is a methodological approach that analyzes the Qur'an's own textual andstructural data. This establishes an academically defensible ground: the study is concerned notwith what the Qur'an says, but with what kind of system it constructs. RSH does not beginwith ontological premises; however, when RSH is applied to the Qur'an, the findings thatemerge as the ontological architecture of the text becomes visible are evaluated not as thepresuppositions of the methodology but as the natural outcomes of the analysis. One of the most original contributions of this book is the concept of "Structural Iʿjāz" (seeChapter 7). The classical iʿjāz literature has focused on the Qur'an's eloquence (balāgha),composition (naẓm), eschatological news, and scientific and numerical miraculous aspects(al-Bāqillānī, 1954; al-Jurjānī, 1992). The application of RSH to the Qur'an adds a new analytical layer to this literature: the inimitability of the Qur'an's tawḥīd-centered, non-contradictory, ontologically economical, and restorative system. This layer does not replace classical iʿjāz theories; it complements them. The book is divided into four parts:- Part I (Chapter 1): How the Qur'an defines itself, whom it addresses, what it narrates, andhow it establishes its own criteria of verification are set forth based on the text's own preface. - Part II (Chapter 2): The methodological tools of RSH (fundamental assumptions, the five-stage structural transformation model, the Retrospective Diagnosis Model, the seven hermeneutic principles, and the conditions of testability) are presented in a single referencechapter.- Part III (Chapters 3–7): RSH is applied to the Qur'anic text. The structural architecture oftawḥīd, functional representation mechanisms, the rejection of structural inflation, therestorative relationship with previous traditions, internal coherence, and the Qur'an'smultilayered taḥaddī are analyzed.- Part IV (Chapters 8–9): The explanatory capacity of RSH's application to the Qur'an iscomparatively evaluated against other approaches, limitations are discussed, and suggestionsfor future research are offered.This study is the first step of a research program. RSH is a framework open to development.Future studies may relate RSH to historical context, apply it to legal (aḥkām) verses, integrateit with literary structure, or apply it to contemporary issues. This book is the beginning of thatjourney. There is a millennium-old tradition of understanding and interpreting the Qur'an. RSH aspiresto be a small link within this tradition and to offer a new awareness regarding the structuralarchitecture of the Qur'an.