Mohammad Arkoun’s Approach to the imaginary in Reading of the Islamic Thought

Abstract

This study examined the subject of the imaginary in Arab-Islamic, as it is a concept that overlaps in several-levels in the Arabic-thought and falls under-different names such as religious-imaginary, political-imaginary and social-imaginary. In addition, the study addressed the role played by the imaginary-imagination in forming the identity of-the group and the manifestations of-religious belief through this imaginary, as well as the extent of its impact on the awareness of individuals and the community-reflected in their perceptions, actions, their perception of themselves, their beliefs and the other. The study aims to identify and appreciate the research-efforts of the thinker Arkoun in his abstraction to the imaginary in general, and of the Islamic-imaginary in particular, where he clarified the circumstances that make up this imaginary and the nature of the functions and roles it performs, as-well-as its levels within the reality of living in Muslim-sOcieties. The study concluded that Arkoun found out that there is an Islamic-imaginary for the concept of Islam in general, that moves-Muslim-Individuals and groups, and that this concept was formed by the founding-efforts of the scholars in the early period of Islam-through an interpretive and interpretive speech-of-Islam, just as there are other forms-of-Islamic subversion that belong to the sects and schools-found in-the history-of-Islam, as-well-as the movements that are still-producing their discourse today, where the effect of-the Imaginary appears-strikingly in their speech