Formulation of the Claim

Arkoun rejects separating the heart from reason, and holds that this separation is not in the spirit of the Qur’an.

Explanation

The objection holds that the heart in Qur’anic discourse is not to be understood as a domain separate from reason, but as part of a single human constitution in which understanding and response intertwine. This separation is therefore not read as an original meaning in the text, but as a later conception projected onto it.

At this point, Arkoun appears in the position of a reading that is being reviewed with respect to its conception of the relation between the human being’s inner faculties. The issue is not an isolated linguistic detail, but rather the way meaning is constructed in the Qur’an when it speaks about knowledge, consciousness, and reception.

Its Place in the Book’s Argument

This atom comes within a broader discussion of the concepts Arkoun relies on in reading the Qur’an, especially when he rearranges the relation between what is mental and what is affective in the text. It illuminates one aspect of the book’s objections to his conceptual approach, because the question of heart and reason here connects to a wider area of critique of modern conceptions when they are read within an ancient Qur’anic context.

Limits of the Claim

This atom does not require saying that Arkoun denies reason or neglects the heart; rather, its scope is limited to the objection to a sharp separation between them in Qur’anic reading.

Brief Evidence Passage