allah exists without a place and is not in every place-english

8/7/2019 Allah exists without a place and is not in every place-English

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Allah exists without a place and is not in every place.

There is absolutely nothing like Allah, this is the creed of the Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam, the companionsand all the Muslims who came after them and that will come until the Day of Judgement and this will always remaintheir saying. The evidence for this is ayah 11 of Surat Ash-Shooraa (S42):

Which means: there is absolutely nothing like Allah, i.e. there is nothing similar to Allah.Once some people from Yemen came to the Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam and told him, we want to be moreknowledgeable about the religion and our beloved Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam said to them:

Which means: Allah existed and there was nothing other than Him.Allah existed and there was nothing other than Him, i.e. there was no place, no time, no direction, no era, and ifsomebody asks what is the sanad for this, then the answer is this is narrated by Al-Bukhariyy, Al-Bayhaqiyy and IbnAl-Jarood and it is saheeh.We have not come with anything new in confirming that Allah exists without a place. This was the belief of theProphet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam and the belief of his companions. As is evidenced by the saying of Imam Âliyyradiyallaahu ânhu:

.

This means: Allah existed eternally and there was no place, and He now is as He was. [i.e., without a place]. This wasrelated by Imam Abu Mansur al-Baghdadiyy in his book, Al-Farqu Baynal-Firaq.Furthermore every Muslim knows and recites daily that Allah is not a part of the creation, nor is the creation a part of

Allah. Allah said, in the Quràn in Surat Al-fatihah:

In this verse, Allah taâla confirms the existence of Himself, the Creator and also the existence of the creation andthat He is rabbul âalameen. This means that Allah was rabbul âalameen even before creating the creation, that isHe had this status even before creating the creation, as no change takes place in the Creator. Moreover, every Muslimknows that Allah is the Creator and this universe is creation.

If somebody says that Allah taâla is with us in this room in terms of place, then it said to him these words of yoursare against the ijma^ (consensus) of entire ahlus-sunnah because Shaykh Fakhr-ud-deen Ar-Raaziy who lived over800 years ago and who wrote a tafseer for the Quràn in 30 volumes, said in volume 29:

Which means: and the ijma^ has been established (on the saying) that Allah taâla is not with us in terms of place,direction or occupancy. More than 15 scholars conveyed the ijma^ that Allah exists without a place.The person who says, Allah is everywhere and from this sentence he understands that Allah by His Dhaat is in oneor every place then he blasphemes. However, if from this sentence he understands that Allah taâla knows abouteverything or that everything is under the control ofAllah, then he did not blaspheme, and many people who say thissentence have this understanding, but it is still necessary to leave this statement. It is an obligation upon us to warnpeople from saying this statement, because its origin is not from the companions, nor the taabiêen nor the atbaaut-taabiêen. Rather, this saying started with the Mu^tazilah and then it became famous amongst some people of lessknowledge. Hafidh Ibn Hajr said in Al-Fathul Baariy: ba^dul mu^tazilati al-qaaìleena biànnallaah fiy kulli makaan,wa huwa jahlun waadihun, which means: some of the Mu^tazilah claim that Allah is everywhere and this is blatantignorance. The Jahmiyyah used to also say this statement, their leader was Jaham Ibn Safwaan; the Muslims declaredhim a blasphemer and killed him according to the rules of apostasy. Hence, he who says Allah is everywhere with themeaning that Allah knows everything or that everything is under His control then we do not declare him a blasphemerbecause Allah said in the Quràn in Surat An-Nisaa` (S4) part of ayah 126:

which means: and everything is under the control ofAllah.If somebody says that Allah taâla in terms of place is bigger than everything and is inside the universe and outside it,then this is blasphemy, because the meaning of this saying is that Allah wal îyaadhu billaah has two parts, one insidethe universe and the other outside of it!


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Shaykh Âbdul Ghaniy An-Nabulsiyy An-Naqshabandiyy has stated that he whose creed/belief is that Allah fills theearth and the heavens, i.e. the universe or says that Allah is a body on top of the ârsh, then he is a blasphemer even ifhe thinks (about himself) that he is a Muslim.Imam Muhammad ibn Badr-ud-deen ibn Balbaan Ad-Dimashqiy, wrote a book called, Mukhtasar Al-Ifadaat FiyRubîl îbaadaat wal-adaab wa ziyaadaatabout 400 years ago and he explicitly said, the one who believes or saysthat Allah by His dhaat is in every place or in one place is a kafir.

Some Fatwas of scholars from India and Pakistan.

If somebody said, everything is God, then this is explicit kufr, many fake Sufis nowadays say such a thing whilstthinking that this is a high status amongst the Sufis, but to believe as such, in reality is explicit kufr.

If somebody says Allah is in a direction, then this is kufr, i.e. if somebody says, Allah is in the direction of above etcthen this is kufr. (Al-Bahrur-Raaìq vol 5, pg 203; Mujma^ Al-Anhar vol 2, pg 505; Fataawaa Âalamgheeriy, vol 2

pg 259; Fataawaa Taataar Khaniyyah vol 5, pg 467).

If somebody said Allah is in the skies or heavens then this is kufr. (Al-Bahrur-Raaìq vol 5, pg 203; Tahtaawaa

Âlal Darj, vol 2, pg 478; Mujma^ Al-Anhar vol 2, pg 504; Fataawaa Âalamgheeriy, vol 2 pg 259; Fataawaa

Taataar Khaniyyah vol 5, pg 464).

Such statements are found very often amongst the people, to the extent that children are taught, Allah is in the

heavens on top of the ârsh, and then the children are asked, where is God? And they say, in the heavens. All such

statements are kufr and objecting to them is fard, obligatory. Eemaan Ki Hifaazat.

If somebody says, Allah is on the ârsh, or if somebody says, Allah is in the heavens (aasmaan) or if somebody

says, there is no place that is empty of God, then all such statements are kufr. Fataawaa Âalamgheeriy, vol 2 pg259; Fataawaa Taataar Khaniyyah vol 5, pg 464).

If somebody says, there is no direction or place in which the Dhaat of God is not found (koy goshah ya makaan

aysaa na-heehn ja-haahn zaatay khudaa maw-jood na-heehn), then this is a kufr statement. (Mujma^ Al-Anhar vol

2, pg 505; Fataawaa Âalamgheeriy, vol 2 pg 259.

If somebody says that you are going too much into the reality of the Dhaat of Allah and this is not permissible. Thenthe answer to this is we completely go according to the saying of ibn Âbbas which was narrated by Al-Bayhaqiyy,i.e. think about the creation ofAllah, but do not think about the Dhaat of Allah; and we go into the depths of thereality of the creation and we thus say that this is creation and cannot be God.Some people say that Allah exists without a place and they mean by this that Allah is not just in one place, but He isin every place and they claim that if one says that Allah is not here by His Dhaat then you are limiting Allah!The answer to this blasphemous claim: Allah existed and there was nothing else in existence, no era, no time, nolight, no darkness, no earth, no sky, no left, no right, no in front, no behind, no above, no below and nor any directionand Allah was not limited; and after creating the entire creation, and after creating time and place, Allah still existswithout these things and without a limit. That is prior to creating the universe Allah taâla was not limited and aftercreating it He is still not limited; no change occurs in Allah taâla and He is beyond/outside our imagination, He isthe creator and everything other than Him is creation.Al-Mutakallim Shaykh ibn Foorak Al-Ashâriyy (D. 406 A.H.) in his book Al-Mushkil Al-Hadeeth; Imam AbuMansoor At-Tameemiyy Al-Baghdadiyy (429 A.H) in Tafseer al-asmaa` was-sifaat; Hafidh Al-Bayhaqiyy (458A.H.) in Kitaabul I^tiqaad; Imam Al-Ghazaaliyy (505 A.H.) in Al-Arbaêen Fee Usool-ud-deen; ibn Katheer in his

tafseer; Hafidh ibn Hajar Al-Asqalaaniyy (852 A.H.) in Al-Fathul Baariy; [?Ismaaêel Haqqiy Al-Brusawi (1137A.H.) in Roohul-Bayaan] and others mentioned that the Mu^tazilah were the first people to start the statement, Allahis everywhere. This saying resembles/likens Allah (to the creation), because we are here, so our Creator cannot behere. Allah existed when there was no place and after creating the place, He exits as He was, without being limited.And if somebody who claims to follow Shaykh Ahmad Raza Khan Brailwiyy says: it is mentioned in the Quràn,that wherever you turn your face there is the Dhaat of Allah, and thus Allah is in every place. It is said to him,Shaykh Ahmad Raza Khan Baraylwiyy in Kanzul Eemaan interpreted this ayah, 115 of Surat Al-Baqarah as:wherever you turn your face there is wajhullaah (Gods mercy inclined towards you). And Imam Mujaahid whowas the student of ibn Âbbas said that the meaning of this ayah is qiblatullaah, as was narrated by At-Tabariyy andothers, i.e. if you are riding an animal and you want to read an optional prayer then the direction in which you aregoing is your qiblah.

If somebody says, if the meaning of the ayahs is as you and Shaykh Ahmad Raza Khan Brailwiyy said, then why didAllah not mention them like that, to make things clearer and easier for the people?Respond to them: Allah said that by one specific thing, He guides some and He misguides others, for it is mentionedin ayah 26 of Surat Al-Baqarah:


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which means: and by it [referring to what Allah mentioned in the Quràn] Allah guides some and He misguidesothers.And remember, Allah is not the one questioned, we are the ones questioned, forAllah mentioned in ayah 23 of SuratAl-Ambiya` (S21):

which means: Allah is not asked about what He does, but they will be asked.

Imam Abu Ja^far At-Tahaawiyy said in his famous âqeedah which is the âqeedah of Imam Abu Haneefah:

Which means: Allah is not (contained) in any of the 6 directions like the rest of the creation.Imam Abu Haneefah said in his book Fiqhul Absat:

Which means: whoever says, I dont know if Allah is in the heavens or on earth, he is a kafir. [Because Allah isneither in the heavens nor on earth, He exists without a place]. As Imam Abu Haneefah clarified in another statement

in the same book by saying if someone asks where is Allah, then say to him:

which means: Allah existed and there was no place prior to creating the creation, and Allah existed and there was nosuch thing as where (place etc), no creation or anything else, and Allah is the creator of everything. The aboveanswers the one who asks, where is Allah, i.e. it is not that we dont know where Allah is, but rather that wheredoes not apply to Allah. Also Imam An-Nawawiyy & others stated: we raise our hands to the skies, because the sky isthe qiblah of the duâ` just as the Ka^bah is the qiblah of the prayer (salah).

If somebody says that Allah knows about this page, and Knowledge is an attribute of Allah and thus Allah is alsopresent here! Answer him: the Imam of the âqeedah of Ahlus-Sunnah, Imam Abu Mansoor Al-Maatureediyy aftermentioning the Mu^tazilah, said in his bookat-tawheedpg 75:

Which means: and he who says that Allah is in every place, then this saying is against the reality, that is Allah knowsabout everything, when a place did not exist then Allah knew about that place, and after creating that place Allahknows about that place.Allah knows about everything but He is not by His Dhaat here inside the creation. This page is in front of you andtherefore you know about it, you are not sitting on the moon, but you have some knowledge about it; some people

who have died and are no longer here, you know about them, i.e. it is not always necessary for the creation that theyhave to be in a place to know about that thing and if this is the situation of the creation, then what about Allah who islaysa ka mithlihi shay` i.e. there is absolutely nothing like Him!? And if somebody says that for Allah to know abouta thing it is necessary for Him to be here, then this is blasphemy. Allah taâla knows about everything, what willhappen and what will not happen and if it will happen how it would happen. Allah knew about a place before itexisted and He did not dwell in that place with His Dhaat or attributes. And after creating that place, He knows aboutit without being in it. Similarly if someone questions, if Allah is not here then how does He hear our supplications.The answer to this is that Allah hears absolutely everything without an ear, without a direction, without a place.Saariyah heard the voice of Ûmar ibnul Khattab when he was in another country and if this is the situation of thecreation, then what about the Creator Who is not like what we imagine and is absolutely not like the creation; thenhow can somebody ever say that Allah is here and therefore He hears everything!? Rather saying such a thing isblasphemy because this is likening Allah to the creation. Allah hears everything, without an ear, Allah sees everythingwithout an eye, without a direction; Allah knows about everything and He is absolutely not like His creation. If agroup of pigs was gathered together, then Allah knows about them, but this does not mean that Allah is inside thosepigs! And just like this Allah knows about every dirt and urine and He is not by His Dhaat inside them. Allah existedand there was nothing else, no era, no place, no direction, no universe and Allah was not inside, nor outside and Allah


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was not limited and after creating the entire universe, He is not inside it nor outside it and He is not limited. He isoutside/beyond our imagination and He is absolutely not like the creation, He is the Creator and He is free/exaltedfrom whatever the blasphemers say about Him.

If somebody says, but I have never heard the likes of what you say and thus claims that by the above we are declaringmany millions of people as blasphemers.Imam Âliyy said, the people are known by the truth, the truth is not known by the people, know the truth and youwill know the people of truth. In other words if a billion people said the wrong thing, their large number does notmake it correct. It is estimated that the world population is nearly 6 billion and the majority of them are non-Muslims

(blasphemers) and their large number is not in itself an excuse for them. The Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallamwas one, the companions were a few, and blasphemers of Makkah were many, but this was not a proof for them,although they also claimed that this is what their fathers and forefathers said, so how can it be wrong!?

mam Abu Mansoor At-Tameemiyy narrated in his book Al-Farqu Bayn al-Firaq, that Imam Âliyyradiyallaahu ânhu said: Kaanallaahu wa laa makaan wa huwal aana âlaa maa âlayhi kaan.which means: Allah existed eternally & there was no place, and He now is as He was, (without a place).Some people question about the authenticity of this narration. It is mentioned by a Hafidh of hadeeth in a book that he

authored about the issues of âqeedah to clarify the belief of Ahlus-Sunnah and a Hafidh would not mention a weakor fabricated narration as a proof in this regard.

Furthermore, the same meaning is taken from the saheeh hadeeth of the Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam: Allahexisted and there was nothing else. This excludes the place, time and all other created entities. Two intellectual

principals further demonstrate this fact:

1)Who created the place? Allah. Just as Allah said in the Quràn that He created everything.2) Following on from this: if it was asked, when there was no place did Allah exist? Of course He did. Hence, Allahexisted when there was no place and after creating the place Allah exists without a place.

It is therefore confirmed with certainty that Allah created the place AND Allah existed when there was no placewithout a place. Hence, also after creating the place, Allah exists without a place. Allah existed when there was no

such thing as where, place, above, below etc and after creating these He still exists without a place. This is all what

the saying of Imam Âliyy states AND what the hadeeth proves. Moreover, take note that the attributes ofAllah arenot based upon the saying of any scholar or companion. We mention the sayings of scholars as a way of further

supporting what is mentioned in the texts of the religion. For example we don't say Allah exists without a place just

because Imam Âliyy said so. It is because the ayahs, hadeeth and the sound proofs of the intellect tell us. In otherwords for the attributes ofAllah we don't rely on my or your saying, nor merely on the saying of any companion or

scholar himself. In the first instance one needs an ayah of the Quràn or a mutawatir hadeeth and according to some

scholars at least a saheeh hadeeth about which there is no difference in opinion about the narrators.

As for the one who says, but Allah says in the Quràn that He is closer to us than our jugular vein. He is told that

aqrab in the ayah: Surat Al-Qaf (S50) ayah 16, does not mean a

physical closeness. As aqrab can bear more than one meaning. Just as is explained by the hadeeth narrated by Imam

Muslim in his saheeh. The Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam said:

This means: The slave is aqrab (literally closer) to His Lord when he is making sujood(prostration). And it is NOT

permissible to say that the slave gets physically closer to Allah by prostrating on the ground. Hence, the words of theProphet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam teach us that aqrab, does not mean a physical closeness. In the ayah it is used to

mean that Allah knows about us better than our ourselves. No Mujtahid ever said, aqrab, means physically closer.

Hafidh As-Suyootiy and others mentioned that aqrab in the above ayah means by knowledge.Ignorance is not a general excuse: If ignorance had been a general excuse, then it would be better than knowledge,for the ignorant person would say on the day of judgement, I didnt know, and the knowledgeable one wouldpotentially be punished for his ignorance.

The scholars said, even if you see a person walking on water, then dont follow him blindly. A person might do such

a thing and not really be a waliyy, so dont focus on this walking but rather look to see if the person is walking

according to the rules of the religion; if what he says and does complies with what the Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wasallam came with then such a person is the one who should be followed. This issue is summarised by the sayings of

two of the greatest sufis and awliyaa:Shaykh Âbdul Qadir al-Jeelaniyy radiyallaahu ânhu said, if the follower knew a mistake of the Shaykh, then lethim bring it to his attention, if he does not go back then let the follower be with the shar^, the rules of the religion.

Shaykh Ahmad Ar-Rifaaîyy radiyallaahu ânhu said, submit to the highly righteous in their state for as long as

they do not contradict the shar^; if they contradict the rules of the religion (shar^), then be with the shar^.


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Note the relationship with our teacher, father, mother or friend, husband or wife will be of no benefit to us nor to

them in the hereafter if we follow them just because of our ties with them, and we leave following what the Prophet

sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam came with.Some people wrongly say that if a person misunderstands a nass then we never call such a person a kafir. To refute

this it is important to first understand what the scholars mean by the term nass.

An-Nass can bear two meanings. In one respect this term is used to refer to a text which has only one meaning. AsImam-ul-Haramayn Al-Juwayniyy said in his bookal-waraqaat: that which its interpretation is its revelation and it is

derived from minassatil-âroos which is the chair. So in this regard an example would be the noun Zayd in the

statement, I saw Zayd. In other words nass is used with reference to a text whose understanding is not contingentupon an interpretation.

An-nass is derived from minassatil-âroos, which means: the seat on which the bride sits, so as to be apparent to theonlookers. So an-nass linguistically is elevation, since the meaning of the text is evident in the text itself. This carries

the meaning of that it is elevated above other texts. When Imam-ul-Haramayn said, derived from minassatil-âroos,he did not intend by his statement, the linguistic derivation rather he meant that they share the same root.

The second meaning with which an-nass is used, is that utilised by the faqeehs in general. Hence, an-nass to the

faqeehs is used with another meaning, which is that which stands as proof to a religious judgement, be it from the

Quràn or sunnah. Whether or not it is actually an explicit or implicit text. Thus with the faqeeh an-nass can be in

reference to an explicit or an implicit text, this means it is nass in a certain context, i.e. the context in which thescholars of fiqh are talking. So for example in reference to the issue of setting a slave free as a kaffaarah, then

according to the Shafiîyys the slave has to be a believer. The faqeeh would say, and the proof of that is hadeeth-ul-jaariyah, so this hadeeth is nass in that area of fiqh, but when you are talking in the area of tawheed, in âqeedahthen you cannot mention hadeeth-ul-jaariyah and say that it is nass. In this case, this is not nass, it doesnt work.

Some people misunderstand hadeeth-ul-jaariyah and say it means: Allah is in the sky. Hence, a text, from the Qurànor hadeeth in respect of certain issues might be taken as nass, but not as a rule for absolutely everything in its own

right.

As to the issue of a mistaken ta`weel, then this is not an excuse in absolutely every case. Dont you see that many of

those who claim to be Muslim, such as the wahhabies and the qadiyaanies, they went out of the religion by

misinterpreting the religious texts. Also before them those who believed in the saying of the eternity of the world out

of their misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Despite the fact that this was as a result of a misinterpretation, the

Muslims came to consensus that they are blasphemers, as was mentioned by Al-Muhaddith Al-faqeeh Badr-ud-deen

Az-Zarkashiyy in sharh jamûl jawaami^, similar to this was also mentioned by Al-Ghazaliyy and explained byMaghrabiyy Ar-Rasheediyy.

Judging someone as a blasphemer:

Al-Bukhariyy, Muslim, At-Tirmidhiyy and others narrated that the Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam said:

which means: the slave may utter a word, which he deems harmless, but this utterance results in him falling the depth

of 70 years into Hellfire.

When does a person utter a word thinking it is harmless?? When he is ignorant or he thinks it is a joke and if it wasnt

possible for us to know who is a blasphemer and call them as such then why did the Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa

sallam say, kill whoever leaves Islam!?, narrated by Al-Bukhariyy in his saheeh.The Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam told the people about the two shahaadahs, thats it, he did not give all ofthem details and test to see how much they knew, or what their forefathers claimed etc, if they did not believe, he

considered them accountable, not just that, he fought and killed some of them without calling them again to Islam.

Thus it is possible for us to know who is a kafir and declare them as such. Note: it is not permissible to call a Muslim

a kafir, but it is an obligation to call a kafir, a kafir.

If somebody says that who are you to judge a person as a blasphemer and condemn him to hellfire when this is only

forAllah? The answer is: Allah and His messenger taught us that the blasphemers are going to be tortured in hellfireforever, and they also taught us who the blasphemers are, what makes a person a blasphemer. Hence, we are not

giving the judgement upon a person from ourselves, but rather we are just narrating the judgement that Allah and His

messenger conveyed. The way of dealing with this issue is to educate the people, and it is not to call blasphemy,

belief.

We are Ahlus-Sunnah and we believe that whatever the Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam came with is the correctthing and the better thing, whether we find it is easy or difficult to follow, whether we understand it immediately ornot; whatever the Prophet sallallahu âlayhi wa sallam came with is the correct thing and the better thing.

allah exists without a place and is not in every place-english

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