Formulation of the claim
The Qur’anic model continues to be effective thanks to its capacity for mobilization and symbolic transformation.
Explanation
Arkoun links the effectiveness of the Qur’anic model to its capacity for rallying, mobilization, and symbolic transformation, not merely to the persistence of the text or the repetition of practice in a literal manner. What is meant is that its historical impact is renewed because it operates within the social and symbolic field, not because it remains fixed as a purely textual datum.
In this view, effectiveness is understood as the capacity to continue exerting influence within Islamic societies through mechanisms of mobilization, identification, and the reconfiguration of meaning. The Qur’anic model is therefore not presented here as something inert, but as a point of reference that operates historically in multiple forms.
Its place in the book’s argument
This atom falls within Arkoun’s concern in Readings in the Qur’an to show how the Qur’an operates within social and symbolic history, not as a text isolated from the conditions of its reception and use. It supports his broader thesis that distinguishes between the text and its historical effectiveness, and between original meaning and later mechanisms of appropriation.
Limits of the claim
This atom does not mean that the effectiveness of the Qur’anic model is reduced to the symbolic dimension alone, nor that it judges all forms of reception or use in the same sense. Nor is it sufficient on its own to explain the whole of religious or political history.
Brief evidence
By its capacity for mobilization, rallying, and symbolic transformation. Arkoun links the effectiveness of the Qur’anic model more to this capacity than to the mere persistence of the text or the literal repetition of practice. Historical impact is renewed because it operates within the social and symbolic field.
Related links
- Arkoun
- history