The Meaning of the Concept in This Book
Islam in this book is not merely the name of a religion as a fixed given, but a historical, political, and theological field in which the first experience intertwines with what later took shape through readings, institutions, and authorities. It is therefore understood as an experience tied to revelation, and then as a historical formation in which legitimacy, jurisprudence, interpretation, and authority became involved.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
Islam represents one of the central concepts through which Mohammed Arkoun tests the possibility of a critical historical reading that moves beyond simplistic conceptions. The core argument here is that understanding Islam requires distinguishing between Qur’anic Islam and classical Islam, between Qur’anic consciousness and later theology, and between the prophetic experience and what was reconstructed in history. In this sense, Islam becomes an object of analysis, not a closed title with a single meaning.
How It Works Within the Atlas
The concept functions as an axis linking the critique of Islamic reason, the reopening of ijtihad, and an understanding of the relationship between religion and politics, and between text and history. It also appears in the atlas through terms such as: political Islam and violence, Islam between theology and politics, the exegetical and juridical tradition as a historical formation rather than a sanctity bestowed from above, and the distinction between the primordial and historical Qur’an. Around it are also invoked issues of traditional interpretation, critical scientific reading, and the crisis of Arab-Islamic critical thought, because for Arkoun this concept can only be understood within a network of epistemic and historical interrelations.