Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Aqeedha Lesson - Belief In Thawheedh - Part 8

Where is Allah?

Allah has clearly stated in the Quran that He is above the Arsh (Throne)

His saying:
"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." [Quran 67:17-18]


And His saying:
"They fear their Lord above them, and they do what they are commanded." [Quran 16:50]

And His saying:
"Ar Rahmaan (The Compassionate) has rose over the 'Arsh' (The Throne)." [Quran 20:5]

Prophet (sal) has always taught us that Allah is above.

Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-As (rali Allahu anhu) related that the Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said,
"Allah grants mercy to the merciful. Be merciful to those who are on the earth, (then) He Who above the heavens will be merciful to you."
[Abu Dawood & At-Tirmidhi]

And through a very clear statement in the hadeeth below

Muawiyah bin Al-Hakam As-Salmi (rali Allahu anhu) said:
"I had a slave-girl who used to herd sheep for me. One day I discovered that a wolf had killed one of her sheep, and I'm a man from the children of Adam, I get upset like they get upset, and I slapped her in the face. Then I went to the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) who impressed upon me the seriousness of my act. I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, should I not set her free?' He said, 'Bring her to me.' He asked her, 'Where is Allah', She said, 'He is above the heavens.' He said, 'Who am I?' She said, 'You are the Messenger of Allah.' He said, 'Free her, for she is a believer.'
[Saheeh Muslim]

The prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) bore witness to her belief just because of her declaration that Allah is above the heavens and the Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) is the Messenger of Allah.


Arsh is the last of the creations and it’s above the heavens, This is made clear in the hadeeth below

Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam)  said, "There are one-hundred degrees in Paradise which Allah has prepared for those who carry on Jihad in His Cause. The distance between every two degrees is like the distance between the sky and the Earth, so if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for it is the last part of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise."
[Saheeh Bukhari]

How has Allah rose above the throne is not known, Allah and His messenger (sal) have only taught us that Allah is above the throne.

We should not resemble it to the ascendency of the creations (without Tamtheel) and we should not tell or imagine how Allah has ascended over the throne (without Takyeef)

Thus, it is obligatory to believe that Allah has rose above the Throne, in a manner that befits His Majesty, of which only He has knowledge.


Some misguided sects, allege that the Quran supports their argument that Allah is everywhere, they quote verses such as

His saying:
"Do you not see that Allaah knows all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth? There is no secret counsel of three, but He is their fourth, nor of five, but :He is their sixth, nor of fewer than that, nor of more, but He is with them wherever they may be. Then on the Day of Resurrection He will inform them of what they did. Surely, Allaah knows all things full well." [Quran 58:7]

But this only means that Allaah is well acquainted with their utterances, and private talks and thoughts. He knows and hears their private counsel. This is evidenced by the fact that the opening and concluding clauses of this verse confirm the knowledge of Allaah.
And they also quote some other verses such as

His saying:
Indeed, Allah is with those who fear Him and those who are doers of good. [Quran 16:128]

And His saying:
And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would depart; and be patient. Indeed, Allah is with the patient. [Quran 8:46]

But these verses does not mean that Allah is present everywhere in His Essence, it only means that Allah is presesnt with patient, doers of good, and with those who fear Him through His Knowledge.
its evident in the verse below:

His saying:
"He is the One Who created the heavens and the earth in six days; Then He Settled on the Throne. He knows what goes into the earth and what comes out of it and what descends from heavens and
what ascends into it; He is with you wherever you are; Allah sees all what you do." [Quran 57:4]

In the beggining of the above verse Allah says that He has rose over the throne, and at the end He says He is with you wherever you are; but How is He with you wherever you are? is answered in the next part "Allah sees all that you do." which means that He is with you through His divine knowledge.

This is what the well known salaf, Abdhullah ibnu Al Mubarak (rahimahullah) said:
Allah is above the throne in His Essence, seperate and distinct from His creations, and He is with them (creations) in His knowledge.

The fact that Allah is above the throne was even preached by Prophet Moosa (alaihi salaam), the verse below is proof enough that Moosa (alaihi salaam) had preached that Allah is above the heavens.

His saying:
And Pharaoh said, "O Haamaan, construct for me a tower that I might reach the ways – The ways into the heavens – so that I may look at the deity of Moses; but indeed, I think he is a liar." And thus was made attractive to Pharaoh the evil of his deed, and he was averted from the [right] way. And the plan of Pharaoh was not except in ruin. [Quran 40:36-37]

Even the Sahabaas (rali Allahu anhum) believed that Allah is above the heavens:

Zainab (rali Allahu anha), the wife of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam), used to claim excellence over the rest of his wives by telling them, 'It is only your parents who gave you in marriage to the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam), while it is Allaah Who gave me in marriage to him from above the seven heavens.'
[Saheeh Bukhari]

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