Formulation of the claim
Arkoun expands the concept of the Community of the Book to include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Explanation
This claim is understood within Arkoun’s project as a shift in the concept from its narrow usage to a broader framework that brings the three monotheistic religions together within a single horizon. In doing so, it does not merely name religious communities, but points to a historical and epistemic kinship among them within the monotheistic field.
This expansion is consistent with Arkoun’s interest in reconsidering the boundaries drawn by traditional reading between religions, and in starting from textual and historical commonality rather than confining each religion to a self-enclosed isolation. The aim is to open a space for comparison and mutual understanding within a single civilizational framework.
Its place in the book’s argument
This atom falls within the context of Arkoun’s theses that reorder the relationship among the monotheistic religions on a historical and critical basis, rather than on a closed opposition. It also supports the broader trajectory that seeks to expand the horizon of reading from within Islam to a wider space that includes the Jewish and Christian traditions as well.
Limits of the claim
This expansion does not mean erasing the doctrinal or ritual differences among the three religions, nor does it claim that they merge into a single religion. Nor should it be burdened with a final theological judgment; rather, it is a conceptual specification pertaining to the mode of view and analysis.