Formulation of the Claim
The Qur’anic text is understood as a fixed official codex, not reducible to the first moment of reception.
Explanation
Arkoun distinguishes between the stability of the official codex and oral origins, together with the initial reception that accompanied them. This distinction preserves a distance between beginning and writing, and encourages attention to history and transmission rather than assuming a direct correspondence between them.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This idea serves the book’s line of argument in reading the Qur’anic text within the conditions of its formation and reception, not as a closed datum outside time. It falls within the questions the book raises about the relationship between text and history.
What the Atom Does Not Say
It does not say that oral origins nullify the value of the codex, nor that they alone explain everything in the text. Nor does it detail the stages of codification or their specifics here.
Brief Evidence Passage
The Qur’anic text is understood as a stable official codex, not as a mere first moment of reception. There is a difference between oral origins and the listening and circulation that accompanied them, and the stage of codification and stabilization. This difference preserves a necessary distance between the oral beginning and the final codex.
Related Links
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