The Idea
Arkoun points to a paradox between principle and practice: the Qur’an is supposed to be the primary reference, but legal work in reality does not often return to it directly. Instead of returning to the foundational text, layers of inherited discourse intervene, until these layers become the practical reference to which one appeals.
Concise Formulation
The jurists: avoid a direct return to the Qur’an
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim occupies a crucial place in the book’s argument because it reveals the distance between the text and interpretive authority. The issue is not the existence of the Qur’an as a reference, but how it becomes, over the course of history, material that passes through jurisprudence and tradition. In this sense, the book calls attention to what happens to a reference when it is used within a cognitive institution.
Why It Matters
Its importance lies in the fact that it explains one aspect of Arkoun’s critique of the religious structure as it became historically settled. The idea does not challenge the text, but rather the mediations that may obscure its direct presence. This helps explain his interest in reopening the relationship between the Qur’an and reading, and between the text and renewed meaning.
Reading Questions
- What follows from the shift of authority from the text to inherited fatwas?
- Does the claim aim to weaken the reference, or to reveal the layers of mediation surrounding it?
Degree of Documentation
Medium: the claim is composed from more than one place within the book’s material.