Formulation of the Claim
For Arkoun, understanding the Qur’an is incomplete without studying Muhammad’s conception and his time as part of the analysis.
Explanation
Arkoun holds that restricting the study to institutional reading or to victorious historical Islam narrows the understanding of the Qur’an. For this reason, he links Qur’anic reading to the historical horizon of Muhammad, not as an external detail but as part of the conditions of understanding.
This introduction of conception and time expands the field from later reception to the first moment of formation. At this point, the question of the Qur’an becomes connected to the context of emergence and to the representations that surrounded revelation in its time.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom comes in the context of the call to move beyond a closed reading that is content with what tradition has established, and to recover historical layers usually neglected in scholastic or institutional treatment. It supports the general thesis that makes the Qur’an an object of critical historical understanding, not of inherited exegetical transmission alone.
Limits of the Claim
This atom does not mean reducing the Qur’an to Muhammad’s biography or to his time alone, nor does it make history a substitute for the text. The point is to expand the field of study, not to settle meaning in advance.
Brief Evidence Passage
One must also study Muhammad’s conceptions and his time. For Arkoun, understanding the Qur’an is incomplete without introducing this dimension into the analysis. He therefore links Qur’anic reading to the historical context connected with Muhammad’s conception and his time.
Nearby Links
Arkoun Muhammad Islam the Qur’an