Postgraduate students

Katharina Völker MA, PhD candidate

Hermeneutical Access: philosophical and theological approaches to the Qur'an with reference to modern Muslim thinkers

The focus of this thesis is on presenting and analyzing the thought of three contemporary Muslim intellectuals on the theme of Quran interpretation and the application of Islam to Muslim societies. These three scholars are Faziur Rahman Malik, Muhammad Arkoun and Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd. Their thought will be analyzed with special regard to their understanding and treatment of historical criticism, text critique, Sachkritik, the notion of revelation and the possibility of understanding God's will and its application. I will extract the main points of comparison between all three thinkers and produce a systematic analysis. My aim is to evaluate their thought towards the possibility of their application to today's Muslim ummah and to criticize their possible shortcomings.

Supervisor: Associate Professor Greg Dawes and Dr James Harding