Formulation of the Claim
Contemporary Islamic thought is epistemically lagging and suffers from two epistemic ruptures.
Explanation
Arkoun holds that contemporary Islamic thought has not kept pace with the major transformations undergone by modern thought, and that it still bears the marks of a clear epistemic lag. He situates this lag within a broader context, comparing it with the renaissance and deep transformations experienced by European Christianity since the sixteenth century.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This idea falls within Arkoun’s diagnosis of the condition of contemporary Islamic thought, as a thought that needs to revise its epistemic structures before undertaking any partial renewal. It prepares the way for understanding the crisis as a crisis in the very tools of understanding, not only in the results.
What the Atom Does Not Say
This formulation does not distinguish among the different aspects of lag, nor does it break the two epistemic ruptures down into their constituent elements.
Brief Evidence Passage
- In this sense, “orthodoxy” becomes a vast field and fertile ground for modern historical research. It should be known that al-Tabari represents a very precious chronological marker in this regard, for he stands on the dividing line between the pre-orthodox and the post-orthodox. Why do we say that orthodoxy becomes an important domain of historical research? Because, from the stabilization of the Qur’anic readings and the first exegetical solutions on the one hand,¹⁵⁴ and then from the autonomous and competitive development of the basic legal schools on the other, the topics addressed, the rational tools employed, the cultural data, the doctrinal interests, and the historical vision of Islamic thought continued to shrink, become impoverished, and harden until they turned into rigid dogmatic molds and
Nearby Links
Islamic Thought: Critique and Ijtihad · Where Is Contemporary Islamic Thought?