Understanding ‘Ilah’

THE CONCEPT OF RELIGION over the universe to that entity. Similarly, if someone holds reverence and fear toward an entity, believing that its displeasure could bring harm and its pleasure could bring benefit, then this belief stems from a perception of the entity’s power. Furthermore, when someone approaches beings other than the Supreme Lord to fulfil their needs, despite having believed in God Almighty, it is because they consider those beings as sharing some aspect of divine power. … Thus, the true essence of divinity is power.” (p. 17) Here, however, the matter has been completely reversed. The essence of divinity was initially described as a sense of yearning and the desire for protection; the concept of power was included only as a quality, possessed by that being, justifying this yearning. However, in the above explanation, the essence of divinity has shifted to power itself, with all other meanings stemming from it. In other words, the logical connection among the various connotations of “ilah” has been established based on the notion of power, even though this is merely a requirement of the original meaning rather than the core meaning itself. On the basis of this “logical connection,” the author under discussion cites more than a dozen verses from the Quran as evidence, and then goes on to write: