Formulating the Claim
Islam reshapes some older elements, and the Hajj appears as an example of this transformed continuity.
Explanation
The text does not present Islam as a complete abolition of what came before it, but rather as a new formulation of certain elements that already existed before it. Within this framework, the Hajj is understood as a sign of the survival of older elements within a new religious structure.
In this sense, the idea is not merely about a formal resemblance between religions, but about the way religious meaning itself is formed in Arkoun’s thought. Inherited elements are not erased all at once; rather, they are repositioned within a different discourse that grants them a new significance.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom belongs to Arkoun’s broader trajectory of reading Islam historically and examining its connections to earlier forms of religiosity, symbols, and rituals. It is close to the book’s theses that reject the idea of Islam as an absolute break with the past and instead prefer to understand it in a context of transformation and reconfiguration.
Limits of the Claim
This atom should not be taken to imply reductionism, or to mean that the Hajj is merely a residue of earlier religions without transformation. Nor does it mean that Islam dissolves into what preceded it; it simply points to the continuity of certain elements alongside their reformulation.