Formulation of the Claim
Arkoun holds that traditional Islamic interpretation suffers from gaps, contradictions, and epistemic weakness.
Explanation
Arkoun describes traditional Islamic interpretation as an interpretation that is not free of gaps and contradictions, and whose weakness appears in its very epistemic structure. He therefore does not present it as a complete or decisive reading of the text, but rather as a field in which its limits can be exposed.
He places this judgment within his call for modern historical criticism, seeing this criticism as bringing to light what remains hidden within inherited interpretive formulas. The issue here is not merely a difference of opinion, but a deficiency in the tools of understanding themselves.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom falls within the book’s broader line of inquiry into the tools of understanding dominant within Islamic culture, especially when inherited commentaries are treated as though they were final authorities. It converges with Arkoun’s theses on the need for a more historical and critical reading of religious texts.
It is also connected to what the book proposes in terms of dismantling the limits of traditional knowledge when it closes the door to questioning and replaces scrutiny with submission. Hence, this atom comes as part of a broader critique of the interpretive structure, not of a single religious content.
Limits of the Claim
This judgment does not mean denying the value of traditional Islamic interpretation altogether or reducing it to a single error. Nor should it be read as saying more than it does: it is a description of a methodological and epistemic deficiency within a certain interpretive framework, not a final ruling on the entire exegetical tradition.
Brief Evidence Passage
”We had already spoken at length in the previous pages about various topics pertaining to Islamic thought. Everything said above clearly invites us to the necessity of going beyond the traditional classical concept of ijtihad and the mode of rational practice associated with it, for it is no longer fit for this age, or rather, no longer sufficient. Thus, this old ijtihad must be surpassed through the new criticism carried out by modern reason, what I have called Critique of Islamic Reason, which is far more powerful and radical than the ijtihad practiced by the ancient Muslim scholars. There is no doubt that the interpretive effectiveness stirred by the Qur’an is an act of scientific knowledge at the highest level; our aim is not to belittle the ancients or diminish their worth and achievements, but”
Nearby Links
- Arkoun