Formulation of the claim
Arkoun rejects reading the Qur’an as a simple linear text, and calls for uncovering the internal structure of the text.
Explanation
This claim means that understanding the Qur’an does not stop at tracing meaning according to the apparent order or the direct lexical sense, but instead looks at the relationships that bind the passages and verses within the text itself. For Arkoun, meaning is not extracted from an isolated phrase, but from a broader semantic network in which elements overlap and support one another.
From this perspective, a simple linear reading becomes an incomplete reading because it isolates the verse from its textual surroundings and turns it into an independent unit. What Arkoun has in mind, rather, is attention to the internal structure of the text as an entry point to understanding, not mere reliance on the surface sequence of sentences.
Its place in the book’s argument
This atom falls within Arkoun’s position on interpretive methods that reduce the Qur’anic text to a direct and fragmented reading. It is connected to his broader argument, which calls for reconsidering the mechanisms of traditional understanding and for treating the Qur’an as a text with an internal organization that requires a reading linking its elements rather than breaking it down into separate meanings.
Limits of the claim
This claim does not mean denying the apparent meaning or abolishing familiar reading altogether, but rather limiting its adequacy when it stands alone. Nor should it be loaded with a final judgment on all forms of interpretation; rather, it is an objection to reducing the text to a simple linear path.