The Idea
This claim holds that popular Islam may take the form of honoring the righteous and saints to the point of coming close to worshiping them in the public imagination. What is meant here is not a juridical ruling, but rather the highlighting of a mode of religiosity that raises certain individuals to a status that grants them symbolic and spiritual power. This reveals that the relationship to the sacred may pass through persons, names, and local sanctuaries.
Concise Formulation
Popular Islam: based on the worship of the righteous
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim is placed within a critique of simplified views that draw a sharp line between “true religion” and “popular practices.” It is part of a broader argument that seeks to understand Islam as it has taken shape in society, not only as it is defined in theory. Thus, the worship of the righteous here becomes a sign of the diversity and complexity of religious experience within the Islamic sphere.
Why It Matters
The importance of this claim lies in showing how sanctity intertwines with social memory and symbolic need. It also explains why some practices endure despite theoretical objections to them. Understanding this point helps one read Arkoun as concerned with what actually produces religiosity, not only with what it is assumed to be.
Brief Evidence
This claim holds that popular Islam may take the form of honoring the righteous and saints to the point of coming close to worshiping them in the public imagination. What is meant here is not a juridical ruling, but rather the highlighting of a mode of religiosity that raises certain individuals to a status that grants them symbolic and spiritual power. This reveals that the relationship to the sacred may pass through persons, names, and local sanctuaries.
Reading Questions
- What does this statement reveal about the way the sacred is constructed in everyday life?
- How does this portrayal differ from viewing Islam as a doctrine stripped of mediations?
Documentation Level
High: the claim appears in a clear location in the book’s material.