Idea
This claim states that the term knowledge in the Qur’an, when it appears in the singular form, refers to knowledge linked to revelation and to knowledge of God. Thus, knowledge here is not understood in its modern school-based or technical sense, but as knowledge connected to the divine source and guidance. This reading makes the term part of a specific religious semantic structure.
Concise Formulation
Knowledge in the Qur’an signifies the knowledge of revelation
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This statement serves the book’s argument by distinguishing Qur’anic meanings from later usages. It reminds us that concepts cannot be understood outside their textual and historical context. Accordingly, recovering the meaning of knowledge in the Qur’an helps reveal the difference between religious knowledge as it takes shape in the text and later conceptions of it in the tradition.
Why It Matters
The importance of this claim lies in limiting the projection of modern meanings onto the Qur’anic text without scrutiny. It also helps explain how Arkoun approaches religious language as bearing specific conceptions of knowledge. This reflects on his project as a whole, because it links reading the Qur’an to the history of meaning rather than to inherited interpretation alone.
Brief Evidence
This evidence passage states that the term “knowledge” in the Qur’an, when it appears in the singular form, refers to revelation and knowledge of God. Here it is not understood in its modern school-based or technical sense, but as knowledge connected to the divine source and guidance. In this way, the term enters a specific religious semantic structure.
Reading Questions
- What does linking knowledge to revelation add to our understanding of the term in the Qur’an?
- How does this distinction affect the comparison between the Qur’anic meaning and the modern meaning of knowledge?
Degree of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear location in the book’s material.