Is it true that Allah is in the sky?

The questioner : The questioner heard an answer to a question on our program regarding, or the questioner asks, where is Allah? The answer was that He is in the sky, and the respondent cited verses from the Noble Qur'an as evidence for this, including the saying of Allah the Exalted: However, it appears that this brother found this answer difficult and it did not match the concept he believed, so he sent a message to inquire about it. Please clarify the truth regarding this matter for him.

The Shaykh : The truth regarding this matter is that it is obligatory for the believer to believe that Allah the Exalted is in the sky.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : As Allah mentioned about Himself in His Book, where He said, Glorified and Exalted is He: And as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) testified to this when he approved the slave girl whom he asked: She said, "In the sky." He said: And as he (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated this in the greatest gathering of his Ummah on the Day of 'Arafah when he delivered his famous sermon to the people and said: They said, "Yes." He said: And he would raise his finger to the sky and point it to the people. This is evidence from the Qur'an and the Sunnah that Allah is in the sky. Likewise, the evidence of reason is that Allah is in the sky, for the sky is elevation, and elevation is an attribute of perfection. The Lord, Glorified and Exalted is He, has been established with the attribute of perfection, so elevation is part of His perfection, Blessed and Exalted is He, and this has been established by reason. Likewise, in the fitrah (the innate natural disposition), for people are created with the disposition that Allah the Exalted is in the sky. Therefore, a person finds in his heart a necessity to seek elevation when he asks Allah for something, when he says "O Lord", he does not find in his heart a turning to the right or to the left or downward, but rather his heart turns to elevation by the requirement of the fitrah that is preserved from the plotting of the Shayatins (devils). And no one prays and says in his prostration, "Glory to my Lord, the Most High," without feeling that Allah the Exalted is in the sky. And the consensus of the Salaf (the earliest generations) was established on this, as mentioned by al-Awza'i and others.
And on this basis, the Book, the Sunnah, the consensus, reason, and the fitrah, all these evidences have agreed that Allah the Exalted is in the sky, and that He, (Exalted and Majestic is He), is High in His Essence, just as He is High in His attributes. However, it must be understood, or it must be known, that His being in the sky does not mean that the sky carries Him, or that it surrounds Him, for Allah the Exalted is too Great to be carried by anything of His creation, and He, Glorified and Exalted is He, is free from need of anything other than Him, and every thing is in need of Him, Glorified and Exalted is He: So it is not possible for the sky to carry Him.
And on this basis, the prohibited matter is removed, which I think may have been confused for this questioner, that if we say that Allah is in the sky, it necessitates that the sky carries Him, (Mighty and Majestic), and that is not the case. If someone says, "His being in the sky may be understood to mean that the sky surrounds Him, because "in" indicates containment, and the contained thing is surrounded by the container?" The answer is that this is not correct, because if we make "in" mean containment, we make the sky mean elevation. The sky meaning elevation has come in the Qur'an, as in the saying of Allah the Exalted: And the sky, it is brought down from the clouds, and the clouds are deployed between the sky and the earth. So the meaning of His saying: is that it is brought down from the elevation. And the meaning of His saying: is: from the one in the elevation.
And there is another aspect that we make "in" mean "upon," and we make the sky the preserved ceiling sky. And the meaning of: is: from upon the sky. And if He is upon it, elevated above it, it does not necessitate that it surrounds Him, nor is it possible for it to surround Him. And "in" comes to mean "upon" as in the saying of Allah the Exalted: meaning: upon the earth. And as in the saying of Allah the Exalted about Pharaoh: meaning: upon the trunks of the palm trees. And with this, the difficulty and the illusion that may befall one who does not reflect on the indication of the Book and the Sunnah in this great matter are removed.
And there is no doubt that whoever denies that Allah is in the sky is one who lies about the Qur'an and the Sunnah and the consensus of the Salaf. So he must repent to Allah, (Mighty and Majestic), and reflect on the indication of the Book and the Sunnah in a state free from desire and free from taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), until the truth becomes clear to him and he knows that Allah, (Mighty and Majestic), is too Great and too Noble to be surrounded by anything of His creations.
As for the saying of Allah the Exalted: , the istiwaa' (rising above the Throne) means elevation, as in the saying of Allah the Exalted: meaning: to be elevated above it. And as in His saying: meaning: I was elevated. So istiwaa' in the Arabic language means elevation, and it does not come to mean seizing control or ownership ever. If this were correct, Allah, (Mighty and Majestic), would have clarified it in the Qur'an, even in one place. The istiwaa' upon the Throne is mentioned in the Qur'an in seven places, and in none of them is it ever expressed as seizing control. If it were in that meaning, i.e., the meaning of seizing control, it would have been expressed in some of the places so that the rest could be understood by it. If it is not clarified by the Sunnah, there is not a single letter in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that indicates that istiwaa'—i.e., the istiwaa' of Allah upon His Throne—means His seizing control over it. And there is not a single word from the righteous Salaf and the Imams that the istiwaa' of Allah upon His Throne means His seizing control over it. What is known from them is that it means elevation, settling, rising, and ascending. This is what was transmitted from the Salaf.
And on this basis, the correct meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: And this does not necessitate that Allah the Exalted is in need of the Throne, nor does it require that, for it is known that Allah the Exalted is free from need of anything other than Him, and that everything other than Him is in need of Him. We hope that the brother who heard the first answer will add to it this answer as well, so that the truth becomes clear to him, and that he purify himself above all else from taqlid, so that his heart is sound upon the fitrah upon which Allah created people.

The questioner : May Allah bless you and reward you.