Formulation of the claim
Religious rituals reactivate the sacred in daily time and space, and they also play a role in building collective identity and distinguishing the community from others.
Explanation
From Arkoun’s perspective, rituals are not understood as rites detached from life, but as repeated acts that make the sacred present in everyday experience. They connect religious meaning to the temporal and spatial framework within which the community practices its faith.
These rituals also contribute to consolidating collective belonging through repetition and participation, making faith visible in daily conduct rather than in abstract belief alone. In this way, the function of ritual is tied to the social presence of the sacred, not merely to its symbolic expression.
Its place in the book’s argument
This atom appears in a context that highlights how religion is embodied in practice and shared life, not in ideas alone. It is close to theses that link the sacred, identity, and the reproduction of meaning within everyday life, in keeping with the book’s interest in the historical and human formation of Islam.
Limits of the claim
This atom should not be taken to mean that religion is reduced to social function, nor that rituals are confined to their collective dimension alone. Nor does it imply a normative judgment about rituals so much as it describes their role in renewing the presence of the sacred.