The Idea
The idea here is that European modernity did not merely change some institutions; it touched an old bond between religious authority and legal legitimacy. Breaking the alliance between God and the Sharia means that law was no longer presented as a direct extension of the sacred, but came to be understood within new political and social conditions. The transformation therefore appears profound because it alters the very source of obligation.
Concise Formulation
European modernity: breaks the alliance between God and the Sharia
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim appears in the context of a critique of the way Western modernity took shape, not as a simple liberation from religion, but as a reorganization of the relationship between the sacred and governance. In this sense, it serves the argument that modernity changed the structure of power, and that understanding it requires tracing its effect on legitimacy and interpretation together, rather than relying on broad slogans.
Why It Matters
The importance of the idea is that it reveals that the religious question in the book is not separate from the political question. If the relationship between the Sharia and the sacred changes, then the image of law, power, and the right to interpret changes with it. This helps explain why Arkoun insists on studying the formation of religious meaning in the public sphere rather than treating it as a fixed truth outside history.
Brief Evidence
The idea here is that European modernity did not merely change some institutions; it touched an old bond between religious authority and legal legitimacy. Breaking the alliance between God and the Sharia means that law was no longer presented as a direct extension of the sacred, but came to be understood within new political and social conditions. The transformation therefore appears profound because it alters the very source of obligation.
Reading Questions
- How does this transformation alter the meaning of legitimacy in modern society?
- Does the text understand the separation between God and the Sharia as liberation or as a redistribution of power?
Level of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear place in the book’s material.