Formulation of the claim
The meaning of the Qur’anic text cannot be reduced to a single literal meaning.
Explanation
Arkoun sees Qur’anic language as metaphorical and open in character, and therefore its significance is not confined to a closed literal reading. From this perspective, the text allows more than one level of understanding and cannot be reduced to a single fixed meaning.
This plurality does not mean unregulated ambiguity; rather, it indicates that meaning is formed within the horizon of language, context, and interpretation. From this standpoint, Arkoun rejects restricting reading to an outward literal sense that cuts off other possibilities of understanding.
Its place in the book’s argument
This atom appears within Arkoun’s broader argument, which criticizes reducing the Qur’an to a closed fundamentalist use and calls for a reading that takes into account the historicity of understanding and the richness of signification. It is also connected to his critique of any conception that makes the religious text governed by a single final meaning.
Limits of the claim
This atom should not be taken to mean denying the text’s authority or calling for an arbitrary reading. What is meant is the rejection of a solitary literal interpretation, not the cancellation of the possibility of meaning or of distinctions among readings.