ABSTRACT
The Psychological Distance from Sayyid Qutb to Mohammed Arkoun is greater than the geographical span between Cairo, where Qutb lived and died, and Paris. For Arkoun, "authenticity" in the context of Arab-Islamic thought translates as 'asala in Arabic, a word linked to the Islamic revival movement. For Arkoun, the 'asala movement asserts an exclusive claim to the truth without confronting the problem of truth itself and the historical conditions under which Islamic truth emerged. Arkoun's search for authenticity can be understood as a search for foundations in the reconstructed collective memory of the community. Arkoun's radicalism carries him a step beyond Iqbal, Shari'ati, and Qutb. Neither Shari'ati nor Qutb was less hesitant than Arkoun to attack existing regimes. Arkoun sees reality as the standard. Science produces ever more accurate images of reality, which is itself changing. Institutions constitute the key to authenticity and the great stumbling block for Arkoun as for other authentics.
