c lo s e u p

Mohammed
Arkoun:
An Intellectual
in Revolt

Ursula Gnther
Mohammed Arkoun was born on February 1, 1928, in Taurirt Mimun in Great Kabylia, Algeria. He passed away on September 14, 2010, in Paris, and was laid to rest
three days later in Casablanca, Morocco.
He studied Islamic literature at the University of Algiers (1950-1954). After leaving
Algeria on the eve of the War of Independence, he continued to study Arabic and
literature at the Sorbonne, where he graduated with an aggrgation in 1956. It took
another 12 years and getting through a
number of conflicts before he established
himself academically with his dissertation
on Ibn Miskawayh in 1968. In 1971, he was
brought to the University of Vincennes
(Paris VIII) as a professor for the Islamic
history of ideas, and he eventually went
back to the Sorbonne as a professor. In
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Foto: Philippe Lissac/Corbis

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1980, he switched to the Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III), becoming director of the
department of Arabic and Islamic history
of ideas, and editor of Arabica. The chairs
he held indicate his major field of interest: a critical reading of Islamic thought
and the consequences this has for new
approaches to Islam, and simultaneously
to the Quran. His approach challenged
and still challenges orthodoxy for going
beyond the borders established and defended by suchneedless to emphasize
that this includes orthodoxy produced by
and within Islamic studies, as well. Since
1993 until his death, he was professor
emeritus and visiting professor at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. Numerous decorations and awards honored
his lifes work.
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The title for these reflections on Mohammed Arkoun appraising him as an intellectual refers to his own expression during
one of our conversations. His conception
of himself as an intellectual in revolt offers but a first approach to one of the key
figures of contemporary Islamic thought.
In addition to Arkouns personal perception, or rather introspection, further aspects complement the presentation of
this chercheur-penseur, or in the English
rendering reflective researcheranother way he used to express his activities as
both a scholar and an intellectual. Particular emphasis needs to be placed on the
general intellectual and academic context for Arkouns becoming an intellectual
in revolt or reflective researcher, since
subjective personal experience provided

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64

the impulse that continued to guide his

thought and criticism. He repeatedly stated that it was existential experience and
not academic training that turned him
into an intellectual (e.g. Arkoun, LIslam 1).
In addition to personal impressions and
insights based on intensive exchanges
over more than 20 years, the above-mentioned aspects will be analyzed against
the background of some general ideas
concerning intellectuals and their social
roles.
Intellectual in Revolt and Reflective
Researcher
Arkoun defined an intellectual as a person capable of questioning and criticizing the ideology within which he or she
was educated and trained. Needless to
say, such criticism only flourishes in a
climate of free expression (Arkoun, Pour
une critique 238). Apart from what political or societal context the intellectual is
located in, his or her belonging to a scientific and/or intellectual communityincluding its stimulating and supportive
poweris indispensable for the unfolding
of a critical mind. There is no doubt about
Arkouns position within the international
scientific and/or intellectual community,
both in the West and Eastbearing in
mind the usual controversiesyet particular attention should be paid to one aspect
Middle East Topics & Arguments

of the perception of intellectuals: the apparently explanatory designation Muslim

for intellectuals and scholars due to their
origin. Although it would be beyond the
scope of this essay to elaborate in great
detail on these controversies, some elements shall be pointed out in the form of
questions in order to illustrate the dilemma about intellectuals that Arkoun often
complained about: What is the rationale
behind the designation Muslim for intellectuals who strive to retain the same
free, independent, and critical position
on themselves and their culture as their
Christian or atheist colleagues? Why are
Western experts referred to as Orientalists, Islam scholars, or Arabists, while their
counterparts from the Middle East are
classed respectively as modern, liberal,
moderate, or Islamist Muslims? Despite
prevalent criticism of Eurocentric positions, does hegemonic Western civilization continue to construct a hierarchical
system of gradations within which not
all intellectuals are held equally capable
of critical distance and independent
thought? However, this is just one side of
the coin, as the other consists of Arkoun
having been accused of Westernization
and betrayal of his own cultural heritage
by orthodox Muslims. The latter position has also been taken by some Western academics, who claim that Arkouns
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work with European philosophy resulted

in a Western influence that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for him to relate
to the Muslim world. Being straightjacketed into religious affiliation and classed
respectively either as modern, liberal, or
moderate Muslim met with his vehement
objection. This dilemma of an intellectual
like Arkoun may be illustrated by some reactions to his positions or his person, such
as: How reassuring to hear/read a liberal
Muslim, or Your discourse stands in
contrast to Islam, or Your ideas are well
known in the West, even trivial, but you
probably need them more as Muslims
do not have modernity (Arkoun, Penser
lIslam aujourdhui 2-3).
Arkouns self-concept as an intellectual in
revolt seems persuasive, even more if one
takes into consideration the context of his
childhood, youth, and his student days in
Algeria under French colonial rule with its
particularly derogatory perception and
treatment of the so-called indigenous
population.1 Let alone the rather complicated and complex love/hate relationship
between France and Algeria, which left
an indelible mark on the young scholar
leaving for France on the eve of the independence war. Intellectual in revolt
alludes on the one hand to Albert Camus
philosophical essay, The Rebel. An Essay
on Man in Revolt, as well as to Arkouns

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utmost concern on how to rethink Islam in

the contemporary world, and simultaneously provides a counterpoint to predominant interpretations of both the Muslim
world and the non-Muslim West. Camus
answer to the question What is a rebel?
was a philosophical one: A man who says
no, but whose refusal does not imply a
renunciation. He is also a man who says
yes, from the moment he makes his first
gesture of rebellion (Camus 19). Arkouns
intellectual revolt was also a philosophical one because he always stressed the
importance of criticism in the sense of a
philosophical category. His revolt consists
of not accepting intellectual or epistemological boundaries and processes of
marginalization produced by these dogmatic closures. The chercheur-penseur or
reflective researcher, a term he first used
in 1997 for himself and fellow researchers (Arkoun, LIslam XIX), clearly indicates
an inherent characteristic of crossing
intellectual and academic boundaries.
By combining critical theology with the
watchful stance of the secular philosopher, a reflective researcher provides an
important contribution to the deconstruction of mechanisms through which meaning and sense are constructed, yet he or
she goes beyond this by deconstructing
the mechanisms of managing meaning,
which the guardians of orthodoxy elevate
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as sacred and transcendent in order to

protect them from subversive scholarship.
Arkoun used the term remembrement (in
the sense of a reintegration of that which
has been excluded) to describe the philosophical and academic achievement of
reflective researchers (Arkoun, Du dialogue inter-religieux).
Intellectuals and Their Social Roles
The humanist Arkoun was not at all a
prisoner of the ivory tower as a number
of other scholars are, on the contrary his
public presencealso internationallywas
quite impressive. His influence on public
and academic discoursesnot only regarding France, his country of residence
was based on numerous forms of engagement: he was a passionate speaker,
political consultant (e.g. he was member
of the Stasi commission concerned with
the laicit principle and the question of
the veil), member of the board of governors of the Institute of Ismaili Studies,
and a visiting professor at numerous universities and institutes. His work earned
him numerous awards and honors. His
writings and interviews revealed a fine
nose for academic, political, and social
tendencies. His sharp-witted intellect, his
crossing bordersto wit, not only intellectually but also with regard to cultures,
languages, traditions, and other systems
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of referenceare partly components of

his Mediterranean Maghreb heritage,
and partly components of personal processes, and equipped him to adopt early
on a point of view lacking certainty, even
if this entailed the end of clearly defined
and unified truths. Today, his post-modern perspective has gained wide acceptancealthough his rather unconventional
approach was not always welcome then.
Arkoun had to cope with the paradox of
being perceived as awkward and avantgarde. However, numerous intellectuals
seem to share the same lot.
Concluding Remarks
Mohammed Arkoun was a challenging
intellectual and scholar who insisted his
entire intellectual life on rethinking Islam
as a cultural and religious system. Since
he never accepted the concept of an
ultimate truth, he pleaded for a radical
change of perspective in order to prepare the ground for an exhaustive and
inclusive vision of Islam, which no longer
excludes what has been banished to the
realm of the unthought and unthinkable
categories he introduced into Islamic
studies. In other words, he was committed
to (re-)establishing a plurality of meaning
in Islam.2 He considered himself part of all
that is capable of conquering new intellectual fields.

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Ursula Gnther
PhD (Hamburg University), is a research
fellow at the Erlangen Centre for Islam
and Law in Europe (EZIRE), currently
conducting an empirical study on
normative practices of Muslims with
regard to property. Her publications
include Mohammed Arkoun: Ein
moderner Kritiker der islamischen
Vernunft (2004), as well as chapters on
Arkouns approach to the Quran, aspects
of Islam in South and sub-Saharan Africa
and in Algeria, Muslim feminism (Die
Frau in der Revolte: Fatima Mernissis
feministische Gesellschaftskritik, 1993)
and gender issues, interreligious
education, and religiosity among Muslim
adolescents. She is completing a book
on Arkouns approach to the Quran.

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These reflections on Mohammed Arkounan intellectual in revoltshall end

with the last section of my obituary for
him: May his idea that thoughts develop
a life of their own prove right, continuing
to take effect beyond the walls of cognitive demarcations and dominant ideologies.

Selected Bibliography
Arkoun, Mohammed. ABC de lIslam:
Pour sortir des cltures dogmatiques.
Paris: Editions Grancher, 2007. Print.3
__. Contemporary Critical Practices and
the Qurn. Encyclopaedia of the Qurn.
Ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe. Vol. 1 (AD).
Leiden: Brill, 2001. 41231. Print.
__. Discours islamiques, discours
orientalistes et pense scientifique. As
Others See Us: Mutual Perceptions, East
and West. Ed. Bernard Lewis, Edmund
Leites, and Margaret Case. New York:
International Society for the Comparative
Study of Civilisation, 1985. 90-110. Print.
__. Essais sur la pense islamique. 3rd
ed. Paris:Maisonneuve et Larose, 1984.
Print.

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__. Humanisme et Islam: Combat et

propositions. Paris: Vrin, 2005. Print.

__. Penser lIslam aujourdhui. Algiers:

Laphomic, 1993. Print.

__. Islam: To Reform or to Subvert?

London: Saqi Books, 2007. Print.

__. Pour une critique de la raison

islamique. Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose,
1984. Print.

__. Islamic Studies: Methodologies.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern
Islamic World. Ed. John L. Esposito. Vol. 2.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
332-40. Print.

__. Rethinking Islam: Common

Questions, Uncommon Answers. Trans.
R.D. Lee. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994.
Print.

__. La Construction humaine de lIslam.

Entretiens avec Rachid Benzine et JeanLouis Schlegel. Paris: Albin Michel, 2012.
Print.

__. Rethinking Islam Today. Washington:

Georgetown University, 1987. Center for
Contemporary Arab Studies Occasional
Papers Ser. Print.

__. La Pense arabe. Paris: Presse

Universitaire de France, 2012. Print.

__. Rethinking Islam Today. Liberal

Islam. Ed. Charles Kurzman. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1998. 205-21.
Print.

__. La Question thique et juridique dans

la pense islamique. Paris: Vrin, 2010.
Print.
__. Lectures du Coran. 2nd ed. Tunis: Alif,
1991. Print.
__. LHumanisme arabe au IVe/Xe sicle:
Miskawayh, philosophe et historien. 2nd
ed. Paris: Vrin, 1982. Print.

__. The Unthought in Contemporary

Islamic Thought. London: Saqi Books,
2002. Print.
Arkoun, Mohammed, and Maurice
Borrmans. LIslam, religion et socit.
Interviews dirigs par Mario Arioso. Paris:
Editions du cerf, 1982. Print.

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Arkoun, Mohammed, and Louis Gardet.

LIslam, hierdemain. 2nd ed. Paris:
Buchet-Castel, 1982. Print.
Arkoun, Mohammed, and Joseph Mala.
De Manhattan Bagdad: Au-del du
Bien et du Mal. Paris: Descle de Brower,
2003. Print.

Notes

Works Cited

1 For further biographical

details see Gnther,
Mohammed Arkoun: Ein
moderner Kritiker 23 ff.

Arkoun, Mohammed. Du
dialogue inter-religieux
la reconnaissance du fait
religieux. Diogne 182
(1998): 103-26. Print.

For an in-depth analysis

of this and further concepts,
see Gnther, Mohammed
Arkoun: Ein moderner Kritiker
and Gnther, Mohammed
Arkoun: Towards a radical
rethinking.

This isaccording to the

prefacemore than the forth
revised and modified
edition of the third edition
(1998) of Ouvertures sur
lIslam, which had the
new title LIslam: Approche
critique.

__. LIslam: Approche critique.

Paris: Jacques Grancher,
1997. Print.
__. Penser lIslam aujourdhui:
La communication
impossible. 1997. MS. Paris.

Second edition of The

Unthought in Contemporary
Islamic Thought.

__. Pour une critique de

la raison islamique. Paris:
Maisonneuve et Larose, 1984.
Print.
Camus, Albert. The Rebel:
An Essay on Man in Revolt.
Trans. Anthony Bower. 7th
ed. London: Penguin Books,
2000. Print.
Gnther, Ursula. Mohammed
Arkoun. Twentieth-Century
Arab Writers. Dictionary of
Literary Biography. Ed. Majd
Yaser al-Mallah and Coeli
Fitzpatrick. Vol. 346. Detroit:
Thomson Gale, 2009. 15-23.
Print.

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__. Mohammed Arkoun:

Ein moderner Kritiker der
islamischen Vernunft.
Wrzburg: Ergon, 2004. Print.
__. Mohammed Arkoun:
Towards a Radical Rethinking
of Islamic Thought.
Modern Muslim Intellectuals
and the Quran. Ed. Suha
Taji-Farouki. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2004. 125-67.
Print.
__. Obituary for Mohammed
Arkoun: A Pioneer of Modern
Critical Islam Studies.
Qantara. 21 Sept. 2010. Web.
28 Feb. 2013.