Formulation of the Claim
Arkoun proposes looking at the religious and social field as shaped by two interwoven systems: a historical system that ties meanings to their circumstances, and an imaginary mythical system that gives them images, symbols, and continuity.
Explanation
The idea does not rest on eliminating one system in favor of the other, but on understanding how they work together within religious consciousness, and even within some forms of modern thought that imagine themselves to be outside this entanglement. For that reason, Arkoun does not stop at the apparent meaning of texts or at an abstract rational stance toward them, because every religious discourse lives between historical narrative and symbolic formulation. From here, critique moves toward uncovering this intertwining rather than deciding it in advance.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This idea lies at the heart of the reading method adopted by the book, because it explains the limits of relying on apparent meaning or on an abstract rational stance. It also shows that serious critique begins with understanding the relation between what is narrated, what is believed, and what is lived, not by reducing the Islamic experience to pure history or to pure myth.
Brief Evidence Passage
Arkoun proposes understanding the religious and social field through the intertwining of a historical system that ties meanings to their circumstances, and an imaginary mythical system that gives them images, symbols, and continuity.