Where Is Allah?

Where Is Allah?

compiled by Mahmud Murad




CONTENTS


Who is Allaah?

Where is Allaah?

Proof from the Qur'aan

Proof from the Hadiths

View of the Companions

View of the 4 Renowned Imaams

Dubious Arguments

Conclusion


WHO IS ALLAAH?

Allaah is the proper name applied to the true God who exists necessarily by Himself comprising all the excellent Divine names and attributes of perfection. Allaah is One and Unique. He has no son, no partner, nor equal. He is the sole Creator and Sustainer of the universe. Every creature bears witness to His Oneness, Divinity, and Ruboobiyyah [Ruboobiyyah, inf. of Rubb], and to the uniqueness of His attributes and names.

His essence does not resemble the essences. He does not inhere in anything, nor does anything inhere in Him. "There is none like unto Him." He is the One, the Sole, the Indivisible. He is the Rubb [Some translate the term 'Rubb' into 'Lord', the meaning of 'Rubb' is far more comprehensive than to be restricted to a single word such as 'Lord'. Rubb, means, among other things, the Creator, the Sustainer, the Provider, and the One in whose hands is the disposal of all affairs], who accomplishes all affairs, Allaah is the Omnipotent and the Omniscient.

His knowledge comprehends in perfect manner all things, hidden or manifest. He is greater than can be encompassed by the knowledge of His creatures. He knows everything, and He is aware of all that takes place in the earth and the heavens. Allaah, the Supreme, is the Rubb of everything and has a free hand in disposal of all affairs. His mercy encompasses everything. He is far removed from injustice or tyranny. He is wise in all His actions, just in all His decrees. His justice ensures order in the universe in which nothing is out of order.

There is no one to share His dominion, nor does He take an aide or supporter from His creatures. He is nearer to man than man's own jugular vein
[The Quran 50:16].

Whenever a believer is in need or distress calls on Him, He responds. Allaah has revealed His final scripture, the Qur'aan, to that last of His Messengers, Muhammed sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam who was responsible for conveying the Message of Islam to mankind. He is the Exalted Allaah. Glory is due to Him.


WHERE IS ALLAAH?

Allaah, the Exalted, has described Himself in His Book, and by the tongue of His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam as Sublime, Supreme, and Lofty. The Qur'aan is full of proofs relevant to the Loftiness of Allaah.

Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah believe in and confirm all of the attributes of Allaah without distorting their meaning, and that Allaah is above His seven heavens, above His 'Arsh, and separated from His creatures, and His creatures are separated from Him.

This discourse will provide the scriptural proofs of the Loftiness of Allaah is an indivisible part of the inherent faculty of knowing Allaah with which Allaah has created mankind. Although the aqeedah of Loftiness of Allaah is part of man's innate knowledge and cannot be subjected to hypothetical of philosophical argumentation, there are some deviated sects who follow their whims and deny this intuitive and self-evident fact. For this reason, they have twisted scriptural proofs and distorted them, and manipulated the texts to conform with their deviant argument.

All of the divine attributes are intrinsically related to the attribute of divine Loftiness. Therefore, accepting or rejecting them must be based on accepting or rejecting the Loftiness of Allaah. Whoever believes that Allaah is above His 'Arsh [The Throne of Allaah] and separated from His creatures, also believes in the rest of the attributes of Allaah, and believes as well that the heaves and the earth submit to His will, and that He is the Great Rubb of the worlds. Allaah does whatever He wills and rules according to His Own wishes. Glory be to Him.

Denial of the divine Loftiness is one of the basic doctrinal heresy promoted by the Jahmites [Jahmites are the followers of Jahm bin Safan (d. 128-745), a radical heretic. Among other things, they deny that Allaah, the Exalted, is above His Arsh, and they allege that He is everywhere] and their off-shoots of today in order to confuse the Muslims' minds. Denying this divine attribute also leads by necessity to the denial of the attribute of the istiwaa of Allaah above His Arsh. There is no doubt that the denial of the attributes of Allaah clashes with the clear Qur'aanic verses in which the unique essential attributes and beautiful names of Allaah confirmed. These attributes must be affirmed as identical with Allaah.

The essential divine attributes of Allaah constitute an integral part of His essence and are not superadded to it. They are accepted literally by Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'h without questioning the 'how' of these attributes. To deny them is clear unbelief and heresy. It is for this reason this discourse has been prepared to deal with the creed of Loftiness of Allaah, or the question, 'Where is Allaah?' with the scriptural evidences from the Qur'aan and the authentic prophetic traditions, as well as the traditions of those early Muslims, the pious predecessors.


THE QURANIC PROOFS

Allaah, the Exalted, commands the believers to refer their disputes and differences to His Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam saying: "And when you differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allaah and the Last Day." [6]

Therefore, the words of Allaah, the Exalted, as well as the words of His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam must be held as the ultimate and decisive judgment. No judgment or decision should take precedence over theirs whether in issues related to the divine attributes, or any other religious issue.

By their emphasis on reason in establishing religious truth, the rationalists, the modernists, and the Jahmites assert the preeminence of reason over the divine revelations. Whereas the Loftiness of Allaah which is clearly enunciated in the Qur'aan and the Sunnah, is beyond the reach of reason.

The true believers, contrary to the rationalists, believe that the 'Arsh of Allaah is above the seven heavens. They also believe that having created the seven heavens and the earth and what is in them, Allaah, the Exalted, has His great 'Arsh. Allaah says: "Declare your Rubb, the Supreme, to be far removed from every imperfection or impurity." [7]

The "Supreme", linguistically, is in the superlative signifying that Allaah is higher than everything and is above all things in essence, power, and invincibility. Commenting on this verse, Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah grant him His mercy, said: All Muslims in the past and in the present, when supplicating Allaah or imploring His help, they always raise their hands with palms towards the heaven. They do not lower their hands with palms towards the earth, nor do they turn them right or left, nor towards any other direction. They raise their hands up, knowing that Allaah is above them. The Muslims also say in prayer while prostrating, "I declare my Rubb, the Supreme, to be far removed from every imperfection or impurity."[8]

If Allaah is everywhere, as the deviated sects allege, why then the above verse does not read, 'Declare your Rubb, (around you), (below you), or (everywhere)?' Allaah says: "They fear their Rubb above them." [9]

This verse refers to the angels who are above us, and above them is our Rubb, the Blessed, the Exalted. Lest anyone be confused, Allaah confirms in this verse that He is above the angels who are the residents of the heavens: "The Compassionate has rose over the 'Arsh." [10]

And: "And verily, your Rubb is Allaah who created the heaven and earth in six days, and then rose over the 'Arsh." [11]

Allaah also says: "Are you sure that He Who is Above the heaven will not cleave the earth beneath you? Or are you sure that He Who is above the heaven will not send against you a stone-charged hurricane." [12]

The renowned exegetes and commentators are agreed that the One Who is above the heaven is none but Allaah Who has rose over His Arsh and is above it in the manner which suits His Majesty.

Those who believe that Allaah is everywhere base their argument on verses such as:"And He is Ilaah in the Heavens and He is Ilaah on the Earth!"

The term, 'Ilaah' is classical Arabic means, 'the worshipped'; thus the meaning of the above verse is, "It is He Who is worshipped in the heaven and worshipped on the earth". It would have been redundant were the verse to speak about the existence of Allaah in the heaven and on the earth, for the term Illah' is an adjective of Allaah, while the pronouns, 'He' in the verse is used in lieu of the name 'Allaah', therefor, when the name 'Allaah' replaces the pronoun 'He', we get the proper meaning of the verse: 'And it is Allaah Who is worshipped in the heaven and on the earth'. But according to the deviated sect who consider the term, 'Ilaah' as 'Allaah', we get the redundant meaning, 'And Allaah is Allaah in the heaven and Allaah is on the earth,' a sentence which is grammatically, linguistically and logically incorrect. Qatadah, a renowned exegete, interpreted this verse as: 'He is worshipped in the heaven and on the earth'.

Imaam al-Aajurri said: 'al-Ilaah, is the worshipped. He is worshipped in the heaven as He is worshipped on the earth.'