The Idea
This idea holds that when ijtihad loses its capacity for renewal, the production of jurisprudence in its living form comes to a halt. The point is not to deny every later effort, but to indicate that inherited formulations can turn into repetition if they become detached from new questions. At that point, generativity weakens, and retrieval prevails over creativity.
Concise Formulation
The exhaustion of ijtihad: halts jurisprudential generativity
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This idea appears within a critical structure that links the history of religious thought to its contemporary vitality. It represents a diagnostic point in the book, because the argument does not merely describe the tradition; it asks about the causes of stagnation within it. Through this claim, the text moves to the question: why has ijtihad no longer opened up sufficient horizons for understanding?
Why It Matters
The importance of this idea lies in the way it makes jurisprudential stagnation a historical outcome that can be understood, rather than a quick moral judgment. This helps the reader grasp that Arkoun views religious knowledge as a practice that requires continual renewal. When generativity stops, the relationship between society, the text, and ijtihad itself changes.
Reading Questions
- What does the text mean when it links the exhaustion of ijtihad to the halt of generativity?
- Is the critique directed at jurisprudence itself, or at the way it has been handled over time?
Degree of Documentation
Medium: the claim is composed from more than one place within the book’s material.