The Idea
The text argues that what is needed today is not the exclusion of religion, but a new spiritual and humanist secularization. What is meant here is a reordering of the relationship between human beings and meaning, so that the major questions do not remain hostage to rigid traditions or emotional reactions. The idea seeks a broader space that allows religious consciousness to meet human dignity and critical reason without a sharp rupture.
Concise Formulation
The contemporary need: a new spiritual and humanist secularization
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This idea stands at the heart of the argument the book makes about the crisis of contemporary Islamic thought. The issue is not a passing description, but a proposal for a way out of an intellectual and spiritual impasse. The text sets this demand against reactionary religious return, to affirm that the renewal required will not be achieved by restoring the past as it was, but by rethinking the place of the human being and meaning within the present.
Why It Matters
The idea matters because it condenses a central direction in Arkoun’s reading: the search for a reform that does not stop at slogans, but reaches the very way of thinking. It also shows that his critique is not meant to demolish faith, but to free it from stagnation. This is why the phrase helps clarify the tension between the need for meaning and the need for reason.
Brief Evidence Passage
The text calls for a new spiritual and humanist secularization, not for the exclusion or sidelining of religion. The aim is to reorder the relationship between human beings and meaning, so that the major questions do not remain hostage to rigid traditions or emotional reactions. It also opens a broader space in which religious consciousness meets human dignity and critical reason without rupture.
Reading Questions
- How does the text distinguish between a new spiritual secularization and reactionary religious return?
- Does the claim propose reform within religion itself, or within the way it is understood in society?
Documentation Level
High: the claim appears in a clear location within the book’s material.