Formulation of the Claim
Modern Islamic societies produce ideologized pseudo-intellectuals who advance to public positions by virtue of partisan affiliation more than scholarly competence.
Explanation
Arkoun understands this group as one of the outcomes of political and social transformation in modern Islamic societies, not as an isolated individual case. The problem is not merely the presence of an enthusiastic intellectual, but the formation of a position in which ideological loyalty prevails over critical knowledge.
It follows that these figures do not perform the intellectual mediating function that Arkoun expects from the intellectual, because they operate within a logic of mobilization and alignment. They therefore appear in his text as more of an obstacle to free thought than as a force that pushes knowledge forward.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom falls within Arkoun’s critique of the cultural and political field in modern Islamic societies, where partisan struggle intersects with the production of knowledge discourse. It is linked to his broader thesis about the stalling of critique and the absence of conditions that would allow the emergence of independent thought outside ideological hegemony.
Limits of the Claim
This atom should not be taken as a sweeping judgment on all intellectuals in Islamic societies, nor as a description of every form of political commitment. It refers to a specific category that emerges when ideological function outweighs scholarly rigor.