Idea
This claim suggests that the Islamic tradition is not presented here merely as a storehouse of ideas, but as a field that carries a profound yearning for continuity and permanence. The phrase the longing of being and survival suggests that tradition expresses the human desire not to see its trace vanish, and to find in religious meaning a support for its existence. In this way, tradition becomes closer to questions of fear and hope than to being simply a system of rulings.
Concise Formulation
The Islamic tradition is linked to the dream of the perfect human being and the longing of being
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim serves the book’s general line of argument, which views tradition as bearing deep human motivations, not merely as rigid texts and inherited relics. When tradition is associated with the dream of the perfect human being, understanding it becomes conditional on understanding what it promises of fulfillment and reassurance. This places it within Arkoun’s larger question about the relationship between religious thought and the human need for meaning and continuity.
Why It Matters
The importance of the idea lies in the fact that it prevents us from treating tradition as a solid mass detached from human experience. It shows that behind many religious propositions there is a desire for salvation, stability, and completeness. This opens the way to a calmer reading of tradition’s presence in Islamic consciousness, a reading that sees it as a response to an existential need rather than merely inherited authority.
Brief Evidence
The text links the Islamic tradition to the dream of the perfect human being, the longing of being, and the desire for survival. This means that tradition is not presented merely as a store of ideas, but as a field that expresses the human longing for continuity and permanence. It is therefore close to questions of fear and hope at the same time.
Reading Questions
- What does linking tradition to a longing for survival reveal about the human needs it addresses?
- Does this understanding help us read tradition as a spiritual experience, or only as a normative system?
Degree of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear location in the book’s material.