Formulation of the Claim
Ijtihad in Arkoun’s thought needs a renewal that keeps pace with a new epistemic horizon.
Explanation
Arkoun sees ijtihad not merely as a tool for issuing rulings, but as a theoretical and research-based act that interprets revelation and justifies rulings within Islamic history. It is therefore part of a creative civilizational force, and it loses its meaning if it remains confined to inherited formulas that do not renew themselves.
This means that ijtihad, in his view, should be reconstructed rather than merely repeated. What is required is to place it within a new epistemic horizon that allows it to recover its effectiveness as an intellectual practice capable of interrogating meaning, not simply reproducing what has already become settled.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom belongs to a broader thesis concerned with critiquing the intellectual structures that have frozen religion and confined interpretive work within narrow limits. It is connected to what Arkoun proposes regarding the need to rethink the tools of religious understanding, within a project that links history, critique, and the expansion of the horizon of reading.
Limits of the Claim
This atom does not mean that Arkoun rejects ijtihad or denies its value in the Islamic tradition; rather, he assigns it a broader function and calls for its renewal. Nor should it be understood as a technical judgment on the details of jurisprudence, but rather as a call to reestablish the horizon within which ijtihad operates.