ABSTRACT
The discursive process of establishing divine unity (tawḥīd) and constructing the representation of Allah is called tanzīh. Providing a rationale for the difference, or incomparability of God, tanzīh generally focuses on questions of anthropomorphism (tashīh) and corporality (tajsīm), but resolving these issues requires a disposition of the question of ontology: the relationship of God to being. Although this is a philosophical question, it is relevant to anthropological meaning of boundaries, difference, identity, and alterity. What follows is a discussion of how the tawḥidic discourses approached the nature of God, and how these approaches have remained ambivalent regarding transcendence as established in the Qur'an.
The discursive process of establishing divine unity (tawḥīd) and constructing the representation of Allah is called tanzīh. Providing a rationale for the incomparability of God, tanzīh generally focuses on questions of anthropomorphism (tashīh) and corporality (tajsīm), but resolving these issues requires a disposition of the question of ontology: the relationship of God to being. Although this is a philosophical question, it is relevant to the anthropological meaning of boundaries, difference, identity, and alterity. What follows is a discussion of how the tawḥidic discourses approached the nature of God, and how these approaches have remained ambivalent regarding transcendence as established in the Qur'an.
