Formulation of the claim
The authority’s official discourse entrenched a verbal, literal reading of the Qur’an.
Explanation
This formulation comes to summarize the effect of official discourse in consolidating a particular way of receiving the Qur’anic text, one based on adherence to the direct wording and the privileging of literal reading. In this context, the matter is no longer merely an interpretive choice, but part of an epistemic and institutional climate that makes literalism the most likely and most present reading.
Its place in the book’s argument
This idea enters into Arkoun’s critique of the ways in which the religious text came to be read within the official sphere, and how authority contributed to favoring one understanding of the Qur’an over other possibilities of reading and interpretation. It also aligns with a broader trajectory in the book that links authority and meaning, and the institution and the way the text is understood.
What the atom does not say
The atom does not detail the mechanisms of this entrenchment, nor does it expand on the diversity of readings or the history of their formation; it is content to highlight a general tendency toward privileging literalism within official discourse.
Brief evidence passage
The text indicates that the authority’s official discourse entrenched a verbal, literal reading of the Qur’an. In this way, the matter was no longer merely an interpretive choice, but became part of an epistemic and institutional climate. This climate made literalism the most likely and most deeply entrenched reading.
Nearby links
Islamic Thought: Critique and Ijtihad, Where Is Contemporary Islamic Thought?