Formulation of the Claim
Numerical majority contributes to entrenching orthodoxy, so that the dominant opinion becomes the widely accepted one, not because it alone possesses the standard of truth, but because its spread gives it historical and social authority.
Explanation
The text links the prevalence of a reading and the power of numbers to the consolidation of a single position as the orthodox one. Orthodoxy here is not a purely epistemic judgment, but the result of a process in which repetition, dissemination, and general acceptance intersect.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This idea serves a critique of the mechanisms by which dominant opinion is formed within the religious field, and shows that what appears fixed and taken for granted may be the product of social and historical accumulation rather than a final theoretical settlement.
What the Atom Does Not Say
It does not say that every widespread opinion is necessarily orthodox, nor does it make majority alone sufficient evidence of error or correctness; rather, it limits itself to showing its effect in granting some readings a force of presence and practical legitimacy.
Brief Evidence
The very idea occurred to me that occurred to the American scholar David Powers: that I should present the text to many people who speak Arabic as their mother tongue. I discovered the following: those who memorize the Qur’an by heart pronounce the verse exactly as it appears in the Qur’an, with the same case endings and vocalization; it is known that this is the reading that had been adopted in the past after long debate in classical exegesis, and then imposed in the official muṣḥaf at least since al-Ṭabarī. But those who do not memorize the Qur’an by heart and are subject only to ordinary Arabic grammatical and linguistic competence, I noticed that they regularly choose the other readings rejected in the official “orthodox” exegesis. What is meant is t
Related Links
Critique of Islamic Reason, Text and History, Critique of Reason