Formulation of the Claim
Legislative verses received special attention in Orientalist reading because they are read as more readily connected to history and context.
Explanation
Arkoun holds that this type of verse attracted clear Orientalist attention, because its structure allows it to be situated within the social and legislative history of Qur’anic discourse. Thus, Orientalist reading here appears more inclined to trace the connection between the text and the historical circumstances surrounding it.
This does not mean that Arkoun makes this Orientalist focus a general criterion for understanding the whole of the Qur’an. Rather, he presents it as a specific angle of vision on the legislative verses, not as a comprehensive method of reading.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom appears within Arkoun’s discussion of the ways of reading the Qur’an in modern studies, where he distinguishes between levels of engagement with the text and indicates that the legislative verses were more amenable to being employed in historical reading among Orientalists. It serves to clarify a methodological tendency to select what can be easily linked to context, without reducing the Qur’an to this aspect alone.
Limits of the Claim
This atom should not be made to bear more than it says: it does not pass judgment on Orientalist reading as a whole, nor does it settle the value of legislative verses from within the Islamic tradition itself. Rather, it is limited to describing the locus of their interest in some Orientalist studies.