Formulation of the Claim
Contemporary Islamic discourse employs the Qur’an in political and social mobilization.
Explanation
Arkoun holds that this discourse does not treat the Qur’an as an object of historical and critical understanding; rather, it invokes it in the public sphere in order to mobilize groups and direct them politically. The Qur’anic text, within this usage, therefore becomes part of the struggle over legitimacy and influence, not merely a field for reflection or interpretation.
He places this employment within a broader contradiction: benefiting from modern means of mobilization, media, and organization, while rejecting the scientific method that made these means possible. In this sense, Arkoun does not criticize religion itself, but rather the way it is transformed into a discursive instrument tied to social and political competition.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom falls within Arkoun’s critique of forms of contemporary Islamic discourse when they deal with the Qur’an outside the conditions of historical and rational reading. It converges with his broader thesis on the difference between the founding text and its later uses in the ideological sphere, where selective reading becomes a means of producing a political stance more than of disclosing meaning.
Limits of the Claim
This claim does not mean that every presence of the Qur’an in the public sphere is a political employment, nor that it negates its religious or ethical value. What is meant is a specific pattern of usage that makes Qur’anic discourse serve mobilization and alignment.