Where is Allah? Part 4

Where is Allah? Part 4


We asked them "Why do you deny that Allaah is above the 'Arsh when He has said:
'The Merciful has the 'Arsh? [55] And again,' 'Who in six days created the
Heavens and the earth then the 'Arsh,' [56] They replied: "He is under the seven
earths as He is on the 'Arsh; He is in heaven, on earth and in every place;
there is no place where He is not, nor is He is one place to the exclusion of
any other." And they quoted the verse: "And He is Ilaah in the heavens and He is
Ilaah on the Earth!" If you wish to prove the falsehood of the Jahmites who
claim that Allaah exists everywhere, not in one particular place, ask them, 'Is
it not true that Allaah was existent when there was nothing in existence?' The
Jahmites' answer would be: "Certainly, there was nothing before Allaah." Then
ask them, "Did Allaah create the creation within Himself or outside of Himself?"
The Jahmites would be compelled to choose on of the following three answers:



1. If the Jahmites assert that Allaah created the creation within Himself, they
would then become apostate instantly by claiming that the Jinn, humans and
Satans are all dwelling within Allaah.



2. If the Jahmites assert that Allaah created the creation outside Himself but
dwelled in them afterwards, they would also become apostate instantly by
claiming that Allaah dwells in His creatures.



3. But if the Jahmites say that Allaah created the creation outside Himself and
has never dwelled in them, they would by giving this answer, join the folds of
Ahl-As Sunnah, for by giving this answer they denounce their own deviant
beliefs.



Allaah, the Exalted, described Himself in the Torah too that He is above His
creatures. Ka'bul-Ahbaar said: "Allaah, azza wajall, [57] said in the Torah, 'I,
Allaah Am above My slaves, and My 'Arsh is above My creatures, and I am upon My
'Arsh running the affairs of My slaves. Nothing is hidden from Me neither in
heaven nor on the earth." [58]



Finally, it may be worthwhile to say that even the enemy of Allaah, Fir'awn (Pharoah),
who flagrantly claimed to be a god of his people, knew where Allaah is more than
the followers of Jahm today. Allaah says: And Fir'awn said, 'O, Haman, build for
me a tower that I may reach the ways; the ways to heavens so that I may have a
look at the Ilaah of Musa.' [59] Now consider the words of Fir'awn who wanted
Haman to build a tower for him that he might climb all the way to the heavens to
see the Rubb of Musa, for Musa already told him that Allaah to Whom he is
inviting him is above the heavens, and compare this with the groundless argument
of the Jahmite off-shoots of today. A Muslim wonders how could those who believe
that Allaah is Omnipresent rationalize such assertion knowing that Allaah, the
Omnipotent, will collect the earth in His hand and fold the heavens in His right
hand, as evidenced by the following divine stern warning. And they have not
venerated Allaah with the veneration that is due Him, for on the Day of
Resurrection, the earth will be collected in His hand and the heavens will be
folded up in His right hand. [60] Were the above verse to be the only proof of
Allaah's Loftiness, it would have been more than sufficient. It is certainly
sufficient to those who fear Allaah and give Him the true veneration that is due
to Him.



CONCLUSION



The first three Muslim generations whose righteousness the Messenger of Allaah
sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam testified for, and whose merits surpassed the
merits of all succeeding generation. They are the Companions of the Prophet
sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and the two generations that followed them. They
all believed in the apparent meaning of the Qur'aanic ayaat that deal with the
divine attributes without giving them farfetched interpretations based on Greek
philosophies.



The Believer must believe that there is none like unto Allaah, the Exalted, in
His essence, attributes, nor His actions. He must also believe that Allaah
stands in need of none of His creatures. Neither a thing nor a place encompasses
Him. He is above His 'Arsh, above the seventh heaven, and above all His creature
essentially and realistically not allegorically.



There is none of His creatures that touches Him. Based on this it is not
permissible to say that Allaah is everywhere, or He inheres in any of His
creatures, for Allaah was when there was nothing. He who asserts that Allaah is
not outside the universe, not only denies the existence of Allaah, but he
worships a non-existent god. We ask Allaah to keep us on the straight path of
His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and his Companions and to make us
join their company on the Day when neither wealth nor offspring would avail.
Walhamdu lillahi Rabbil-aalameen.



This discourse has been based mainly on two books: Ithbat Uluwil-Lah, by Usamah
bin Yusuf al-Qassas, may Allaah grant him His mercy, and Ar-Rahman alal Arsh
Istawa, by Dr. Awad Mansoor





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FOOTNOTES:



6. Q 4:59



7. Q 87:1



8. Q 87:1



9. Q 16:50



10. Q 20:2



11. Q 7:54



12. Q 67:17.18



13. Q 6:3



14. Q 58:7



15. Q 58:1



16. Pantheism is the belief that Allaah and the universe constitute one being,
as opposed to the fundamental belief of the Oneness of Allaah and the
separateness of His creations, as stressed by Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah.



17. Imaam al-Bukhaaree, Imaam Muslim and others.



18. Q 2:150



19. Ibid.



20. Q 35:10



21. Ar-Rooh is Jibreel, peace be upon him.



22. Q 70:4



23. Q 32:5



24. Q 3:55



25. 'Istawa' p.t. is derived from the verb sawiya and its derivative form
istiwaa' to mount on the Throne. The Ash'arites, the Mu'tazilites, the Jahmites,
and those who uphold their belief, hold the attribute of Istiwaa' to be only
symbolic, whereas Ahlus-Sunnah accept this and the other essential attributes of
Allaah literally without drawing parallels.



26. Q 7:54



27. Q 53:4.527 Q 53:4.5



28. Abu Dawood.



29. Imaam al-Bukhaaree, Imaam Muslim and others.



30. This is the strongest category of the authentic ahadith.



31. Imaam al-Bukhaaree, Imaam Muslim, and others.



32. Imaam Ahmad, al-Hakim, and others.



33. Imaam al-Bukhaaree, Ahmad, and others.



34. Imaam Muslim, Abu Dawood, and others.



35. Imaam Maalik, Imaam al-Bukhaaree, Imaam Muslim, and others.



36. At-Tirmidthi and others.



37. Al-Bukhaaree.



38. The verses in question are in surat An-noor #24:11 thru 20.



39. Imaam al-Bukhaaree and others.



40. Ath-Thahabi.



41. He was a great scholar and a leading authority in the Prophetic traditions,
and a contemporary of Imaam ash-Shafi'ee, (135-198H.)



42. Al-Bukhaaree, adth-Thahabi and others.



43. Abu Hanifah, one of the four Imaam was prominent jurist living from 80 to
150 AH.



44. Sharhut-Tahawiyyah, p.288



45. Maalik bin Anas, one of the four Imaams, was prominent jurist and
traditionist (93-179 H).



46. Abdullah bin Ahmad, as-Sunnah, and others.



47. Abdullah Muhammad bin Idris ash-Shafi'ee one of the prominent four Imaams.
Prominent jusrit (150-204 H).



48. Al-Juyoosh al-Islamiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, p.93



49. The Muslims in general.



50. Christian or Jewish subjects of a Muslim country.



51. Ibid.



52. Ibid.



53. Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal, the great Imaam, was nicknamed the Imaam of
Ahlus-Sunnah. This name was to become in Islam the watchword for uncompromising
belief. Imaam Ahmad, may Allaah be pleased with him, was a hero and victim of
the violent inquisition during the reign of the Caliph al-Ma'moon, who ordered
his subjects, under pain of severe punishment, to adopt the belief that the
words of Allaah of which the Qur'aan is composed are created, thus resembling
the belief of the Christians. Imaam Ahmad, who refuted to endorse this belief
was subjected to harassment, imprisonment, and torture.



54. Al-Juyoosh al-Islamiyyag, Ibn al-Qayyim, p.123.



55. Q 20:4



56. Q 25:60



57. Azza wajall, Allaah is the Powerful, the Glorious.



58. Ath-Thahabi and others.



59. Q 40:36,37



60. Q 39:67