Understanding ‘Ilah’

with power that can be rightly regarded as worthy of divinity. Since the perspective under discussion could not accept viewing power as a matter of this kind of “requirement,” it ignored the distinction between the essence and its requirements and placed everything together in a single list, assigning them all equal status. Even this, however, did not fully satisfy the author’s desire. The mere inclusion of power and authority among the meanings of “ilah” was insufficient. True satisfaction could only be achieved if this meaning were established as the foundational concept. Thus, the entire interpretation was reversed: power was made the fundamental meaning of “ilah,” with all other connotations flowing from this central concept. However, the true essence of “ilah” is yearning and seeking refuge, with power being an additional quality that legitimizes this sense of yearning. To comprehend this distinction, consider the following passage in the book under the heading “The Core Concept in the Realm of Divinity”: “All the connotations of ‘ilah’ discussed above are logically interconnected. Whoever, in a supernatural sense, regards an entity as a supporter, problem-solver, responder to prayers, and a source of benefit or harm, does so because they attribute some level of control