ABSTRACT
Previous chapters established that tawḥīdic thinking and practices display an ambiguous attitude towards the transcendence of Allah. This chapter argues that tawḥīdic authorizing discourses adjusted to this ambiguity by establishing divine attributes of omnipotence as meta-attributes and giving them primacy over al-Quddūs in the construction of the concept of God. The discursive and non-discursive processes involved in this shift in ontological emphasis are examined, focusing on, (1) the ambiguity of the Qur'ānic text, (2) the inherent instability of the concept of transcendence, (3) human inclinations towards contradiction, doubt, ambiguity, and scepticism, and (4) human hierarchical and authoritarian tendencies and susceptibility to the lure of power.
Previous chapters established that tawḥīdic thinking and practices display an ambiguous attitude towards the transcendence of Allah. This chapter argues that tawḥīdic authorizing discourses adjusted to this ambiguity by establishing divine attributes of omnipotence as meta-attributes, giving them primacy over al-Quddūs in the construction of the concept of God. The discursive and non-discursive processes involved in this shift in ontological emphasis are examined, focusing on, (1) the ambiguity of the Qur'ānic text, (2) the inherent instability of the concept of transcendence, (3) human inclinations towards contradiction, doubt, ambiguity, and scepticism, and (4) human hierarchical and authoritarian tendencies.
