The Idea
This claim connects the rise of the Umayyad state with the growing importance of writing and learned culture, and then with the emergence of a stricter form of orthodoxy. The point here is that power is not understood as political administration alone, but as a force that reorganizes religious knowledge and gives it an official form. In this way, writing becomes an instrument of consolidation, not merely a means of transmission.
Condensed Formulation
Rise of the Umayyad state ← state, writing, learned culture, and orthodoxy go together
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This statement lies at the heart of the book’s argument when it explains how early Islam moved from a space of plurality and movement to a more orderly and codified one. It supports the idea that the formation of religious meaning was linked to the building of power and institutions, not to the appearance of doctrines in a vacuum. Writing here is therefore not a secondary detail but a sign of the historical shift in the organization of authority.
Why It Matters
The importance of this claim lies in the way it reveals how Arkoun understands the relationship between politics and religious knowledge. Orthodoxy does not appear here as a truth that descended all at once, but as the outcome of a long history of consolidation and selection. This opens the reader to the question: who has the right to define religious meaning?
Brief Evidence Passage
This claim connects the rise of the Umayyad state with the growing importance of writing and learned culture, and then with the emergence of a stricter form of orthodoxy. Power here is therefore not understood as political administration alone, but as a force that reorganizes religious knowledge and gives it an official form. In this way, writing becomes an instrument of consolidation, not merely a means of transmission.
Reading Questions
- How does writing change the nature of religious authority in this context?
- Does the text understand orthodoxy as an intellectual development or as political consolidation?
Degree of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear location within the book’s material.