The Idea
Arkoun holds that Qur’anic discourse broke with tribal solidarism and established a new kind of belonging whose legitimacy derives from God. Instead of a bond founded on lineage and blood, it becomes a bond grounded in a religious reference that transcends the tribe. In this sense, human association is not abolished, but it is reorganized around a new symbolic center that gives the community a different identity.
Concise Formulation
Qur’anic discourse: established a new solidarism whose legitimacy derives from God
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This idea occupies a central place in Arkoun’s interpretation of the beginnings of Islamic formation. It explains how belonging shifted from the tribe to a broader religious community, a transition he sees as decisive for understanding the birth of the Islamic field. The idea is therefore not an incidental description, but part of his explanation of the transformation of loyalty and legitimacy in Qur’anic discourse.
Why It Matters
This idea helps explain how Arkoun reads the Qur’an as a constitutive force, not merely a collection of sermons. It shows that the text contributed to reorganizing social bonds and giving them a new foundation. From here, it becomes clear why Arkoun is concerned with the relationship between religion and the formation of community, rather than with the text in isolation from history.
Brief Evidence
He sees Qur’anic discourse as having broken with tribal solidarism He sees Qur’anic discourse as having broken with tribal solidarism and established a new “solidarism”
Reading Questions
- How can the break with tribal solidarism be understood as a re-founding of belonging?
- What is the difference between tribal solidarism and the new solidarism that Arkoun attributes to Qur’anic discourse?
Degree of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear passage from the book’s material.