Tabatabaie on the Role of 'Itibariyyat in the Interpretation of God’s Possession

Abstract

As a philosophical theory, 'Itibariyyat is one of the innovations of Allameh Tabatabaie. Because of the cruciality of this theory in the framework of Tabatabai's thought, it has influenced his views in various fields including the interpretation of possession as an attribute of God. Using quantitative content analysis, the aim of this article is to explore Tabatabaie’s interpretation of God’s possession, and the extent to which it is influenced by his theory of 'Itibariyyat. Besides, it investigates how his interpretation is different from that of other scholars. It will be argued that, in contrast to other beings, God’s possession is absolute, actual, ontological, imperishable, and pertains to both essence and effect. By contrast, other beings’ possession is limited, metaphorical, revealed, perishable, and pertains to effect alone. One will recognize the relevance of the theory of 'Itibariyyat in his interpretation if one knows that Tabatabaie’s view of God’s possession would not be different from that of others without adopting this theory.

Keywords

• tabatabaie
• 'itibariyyat
• divine attributes
• god’s possession