The Idea
This claim states that European modernity cannot be extracted from the texts of the Qur’an, Hadith, or Sharia, because modernity was not, in the first place, a ready-made content already contained in those texts. It is the product of a specific history and of human experiences and intellectual and political events that accumulated in a different context. It is therefore not valid to turn the religious text into a prior repository for every modern achievement.
Concise Formulation
European modernity: was not stated in the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sharia
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim directly confronts the reading strategy that seeks to prove that everything modern was already present in the sacred texts. In the book’s argument, this refusal works to delegitimize the later grounding of modernity, and it affirms that understanding it requires studying the conditions of its emergence rather than searching for its origin in earlier texts. It is an essential part of the critique of projecting the present onto the past.
Why It Matters
Its importance lies in that it clearly defines the difference between the religious text and modern history. Through it, we understand that Arkoun does not reject religion, but rejects its use as a ready-made justification for every new achievement, because that obscures the real historical formation of modernity.
Brief Evidence
This claim states that the achievements of European modernity cannot be extracted from the texts of the Qur’an, Hadith, or Sharia. Modernity is not ready-made content within the religious text, but rather the product of a specific history and of human, political, and intellectual experiences that accumulated in a different context. It is therefore not valid to turn the text into a prior repository for everything modern.
Reading Questions
- What is lost in understanding when one tries to prove modernity within ancient texts?
- How does this claim change the way we view the relationship between revelation and history?
Degree of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear location in the book’s material.