Formulation of the Claim
Language is the medium in which religious experience is embodied and through which alone it can be understood.
Explanation
Arkoun links the human experience with God to a human linguistic formulation, so revelation and religion do not appear outside this domain. Understanding religion in his view therefore depends on understanding the language in which that experience manifests itself.
This does not mean that language precedes religious experience as an independent end; rather, it is the framework that gives it a form that can be understood and shared. Hence linguistic analysis acquires importance in approaching religion within Arkoun’s thought.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom appears within Arkoun’s argument, which stresses that religion is not treated as an abstract given, but as a historical and cultural experience mediated by language. It is close to his theses that make reading, language, and expression essential elements in understanding the human formation of Islam, and in critiquing views that separate religious meaning from its linguistic conditions.
Limits of the Claim
This atom should not be taken to mean reducing religion to language alone, or denying the spiritual dimension of religious experience. The point is to show that the presence of that experience in human consciousness passes through linguistic formulation.