Formulation of the Claim
Arkoun sees the presence of Islam in Europe as not limited to a religious or doctrinal matter; rather, it is also tied to issues of integration, legal organization, and coexistence within a plural society.
Explanation
In this view, Islam in Europe is understood not merely as a practice of worship, but as a presence that enters into questions of citizenship, rights, and the limits of law. The discussion about it therefore becomes a civic one that is broader than a discussion of ritual alone, because what it raises concerns how coexistence is organized within the public sphere.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This idea appears within the book’s argument as an example of Islam’s transition from the strictly religious sphere to the public sphere. It does not address Islam in Europe as a question of identity alone, but as a matter of social organization, which is consistent with Arkoun’s linking of religion to the conditions of political and legal association.
Brief Evidence
«(Q) For the first time, Islam has become taken into consideration by French thinkers. It has now entered the public debate on the French scene because of the presence of a large number of Muslims in France. Arkoun is one of those leading this debate in the academic sphere. He welcomes this opening toward Islam after Western thought had excluded it from its domain for a long time. But he fears that ideological and political considerations will prevail over scientific and epistemological ones. That is why he calls on Muslims to think seriously about the epistemological break with medieval theology and the old rational space. In light of this reflection, the future of Islamic and Arab societies depends. The fact is that these societie
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