The Shaykh's clarification regarding the issue of whether Allah is in a place, and what is meant by a non-existent place.

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.

The questioner: The elevation, if we explain, O our Shaykh, regarding the term "non-existent place."

The Shaykh: The universe is limited because it is created, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not limited. Many people, when they hear those texts that are decisive in their indication that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) possesses the attribute of absolute elevation, imagine that believing in this elevation is believing that Allah is in a place. I have explained previously that a place is an existent, created thing, so Allah (Mighty and Majestic), in this sense, is not in a place. When they hear the affirmation of elevation for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), they infer the affirmation of a place. We deny this attribute for Allah, and they agree with us in the denial, but they differ from us in that they deny what we affirm based on those decisive evidences on which there is consensus to affirm elevation for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). I recall that I once entered into a discussion with one of the Azhar scholars in a story whose details I do not need to mention now; rather, the discussion was about the following point: he heard a lecture like the previous one, the gist of which is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is above all created things, so they attributed to us the charge of ascribing a body to Allah. To refute this suspicion, I asked him the following: I said to him, "Is a place an existent thing or a non-existent thing?" He said, "No, it is an existent thing." I said, "Did it exist after it was non-existent?" He said, "Yes." We said to him, "Are we now in a place on the earth?" He said, "Yes." I said, "And what is above us?" He said, "The sky." I said, "A place?" He said, "Yes." I said, "And what is above the sky?" He said, "The second sky, and so on up to the seventh." I said, "Is all of this a place?" He said, "Yes." I said, "And what is above the seventh sky?" He said, "The Throne." I said, "A place?" He said, "Yes," meaning: a created thing. We said, "Okay, and what is above the Throne?" I was surprised by a strange answer; he said, "The Cherubim angels." I said, "Where are these Cherubim angels? And do you have a hadith, let alone a verse, that there are angels above the Throne called the Cherubim?" He said, "By Allah, this is how we received it at the Noble Azhar." I said, "Amazing! We know from the scholars of the Azhar that they state that a correct hadith is not permissible to be taken in creed unless it is authentic, mass-transmitted, decisive in its establishment and decisive in its indication. So how did you believe that above the Throne, which is the greatest of created things, are angels, and not just any angels, but specifically called the Cherubim? So according to your methodology, it is not possible to affirm this creed, namely that above the Throne are angels who are the Cherubim, unless there is a text from the Book or the Sunnah that is decisive in its establishment. So how, when there is no authentic hadith here?!" Then I said to him, to reach the conclusion: "Suppose there are Cherubim angels above the Throne, so what is above the Throne?" He said, "Nothing." I said, "No place?" He said, "No place." So I said to him, "How do you attribute to us, when we affirm what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) affirmed for Himself of the attribute of elevation, that we placed Him in a place? You just said now that above the Throne, or above your Cherubim angels, there is no place. So Allah is not in a place. For this reason, may Allah reward you, the correct, sound mind follows the correct transmission. And this is the creed upon which the scholars of the Muslims are, from the Companions, the Tabi'un, and the mujtahid imams; they all agreed that Allah is above the Throne:
"And the Lord of the Throne is above the Throne, but *** without the description of being situated in it or connected to it."