We request a response to the questions of the Sufis, which are embodied in the saying: "Where is Allah?", until they reach the multiplicity of the Self and consequently to the Unity of Existence?
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The questioner : Unfortunately, the questions we thought the market had finished with have reappeared on the scene, namely the questions of the Sufis, which are embodied in the saying: "Where is Allah?", until they reach the multiplicity of the Self and consequently to the Unity of Existence. So, is there any statement, if you permit, regarding the answer to: "Where is Allah?" and the refutation of what they claim? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : In any case, this topic has also been addressed by us repeatedly, but it is necessary to say a word to remind you of an authentic hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that many deny—not only the Sufis—because it is the truth, in my belief, no matter how much the adherents of Sufism shout and try to mislead people about their misguidance and cover up their deviation from the circle of Islam by claiming major shirk (associating partners with Allah) greater than the disbelief of the Jews and the Christians. For their greatest one, who is known as Muhyi al-Din ibn Arabi, says: "The Jews and the Christians only became disbelievers because they restricted Allah. As for the Jews, they said: 'Azir is the son of Allah,' so they restricted Allah to Azir. As for the Christians, they said: 'Allah is the third of three.'"
Ibn Arabi, this denier, says: "These people only became disbelievers because they restricted Allah to a Self or to Selves. As for us," he says about himself, "we have released Him in everything, so whatever you see with your eye is Allah." Therefore, their disbelief is greater than that of the Jews and the Christians. If these Sufis today are trying to mislead people about their misguidance and prevent them from knowing the truth of their belief, and that they have exited their Islam, then the danger of others who do not openly claim affiliation with such clear and evident Sufism is that their disbelief is... those are people who claim knowledge and do not affiliate themselves with Sufism, yet they say some words that ultimately meet with the word of that aforementioned one, known as Ibn Arabi, who said: "As for us, we have generalized Him in everything, so whatever you see with your eye is Allah."
Some of those affiliated with Islamic jurisprudence meet with these people in other phrases. The reason for this is that they distanced themselves from the texts of the Book and the Sunnah and relied on their opinions and their own philosophy, which they received from the philosophers of the Romans and the like of them who were before Islam. For example: the questioner here asked about the word: "Where is Allah?" These scholars I am referring to, who meet with those misguided Sufis, deny that a Muslim should ask "Where is Allah?" and consequently that the answer should be: "Allah is in the sky." They say: "This is disbelief and this is misguidance," even though the one who said "Where is Allah?" is the Messenger of Allah, and the one who said "Allah is in the sky" is the Lord of the sky. And all of you read in "Surat al-Baqarah" which it is prescribed for the Muslim not to sleep every night except after reading it:[Al-Mulk 67:16-17], when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked the slave girl: Sunan Abi Dawud 3282Sahih (Al-Albani) because she was a believer in the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). As for these scholars, listen to what they say: "Allah is not above, nor below, nor right, nor left, nor in front, nor behind, nor inside the world, nor outside of it." This is atheism that meets with the Sufis who say: "Whatever you see with your eye is Allah," but with words and phrases other than those explicit phrases. If this speech did not have this clarity in its invalidity, it would suffice that it is contrary to the Qur'an. Our Lord says in other verses: [Al-Ma'arij 70:4], [Fatir 35:10] And when we prostrate, we say in prostration: "Glory be to my Lord, the Most High". As for those whose denial of the divine attributes you have heard, they say: "It is not permissible for us to say Allah is above, nor to say below, nor right, nor left, nor in front, nor behind, nor inside the world, nor outside of it." This is a denial of the existence of the Living, the Self-Subsisting, the One who is free from the needs of the worlds: The meaning of their words is reaching to *hulul* (pantheism), which the extremists among the Sufis say, meaning: that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is mixed with His creation, mingling with them. Even that Ibn Arabi and others give an example in poetry, I forgot some of it, but its beginning is sufficient for you:
"And Allah in the image is like a block of ice in which is water":
Do you separate the water from the ice? This is Allah in their view. As for our Lord whom we worship and prostrate to and say: "Glory be to my Lord, the Most High, so He has the attribute of being above".
The Shaykh : In any case, this topic has also been addressed by us repeatedly, but it is necessary to say a word to remind you of an authentic hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that many deny—not only the Sufis—because it is the truth, in my belief, no matter how much the adherents of Sufism shout and try to mislead people about their misguidance and cover up their deviation from the circle of Islam by claiming major shirk (associating partners with Allah) greater than the disbelief of the Jews and the Christians. For their greatest one, who is known as Muhyi al-Din ibn Arabi, says: "The Jews and the Christians only became disbelievers because they restricted Allah. As for the Jews, they said: 'Azir is the son of Allah,' so they restricted Allah to Azir. As for the Christians, they said: 'Allah is the third of three.'"
Ibn Arabi, this denier, says: "These people only became disbelievers because they restricted Allah to a Self or to Selves. As for us," he says about himself, "we have released Him in everything, so whatever you see with your eye is Allah." Therefore, their disbelief is greater than that of the Jews and the Christians. If these Sufis today are trying to mislead people about their misguidance and prevent them from knowing the truth of their belief, and that they have exited their Islam, then the danger of others who do not openly claim affiliation with such clear and evident Sufism is that their disbelief is... those are people who claim knowledge and do not affiliate themselves with Sufism, yet they say some words that ultimately meet with the word of that aforementioned one, known as Ibn Arabi, who said: "As for us, we have generalized Him in everything, so whatever you see with your eye is Allah."
Some of those affiliated with Islamic jurisprudence meet with these people in other phrases. The reason for this is that they distanced themselves from the texts of the Book and the Sunnah and relied on their opinions and their own philosophy, which they received from the philosophers of the Romans and the like of them who were before Islam. For example: the questioner here asked about the word: "Where is Allah?" These scholars I am referring to, who meet with those misguided Sufis, deny that a Muslim should ask "Where is Allah?" and consequently that the answer should be: "Allah is in the sky." They say: "This is disbelief and this is misguidance," even though the one who said "Where is Allah?" is the Messenger of Allah, and the one who said "Allah is in the sky" is the Lord of the sky. And all of you read in "Surat al-Baqarah" which it is prescribed for the Muslim not to sleep every night except after reading it:
(16) Do you feel secure that He who [holds authority] in the heaven would not cause the earth to swallow you and suddenly it would sway? (17) Or do you feel secure that He who [holds authority] in the heaven would not send against you a storm of stones? Then you would know how [severe] was My warning.
ءأمنتم مَن في السماء أن يخسف بكم الأرض فإذا هي تمور * أم أمنتم من في السماء أن يرسل عليكم حاصبًا فستعلمون كيف نذيرWhere is Allah ? She replied: In the heaven.
أين الله؟ قالت: في السماءThe angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him
تعرُج الملائكة والروح إليهTo Him ascends good speech, and righteous work raises it
إليه يصعدُ الكلم الطيب والعملُ الصالح يرفعهAllah was and there was nothing with Him, then He created the creation.
كان الله ولا شيء معه، ثم خلق الخلق"And Allah in the image is like a block of ice in which is water":
Do you separate the water from the ice? This is Allah in their view. As for our Lord whom we worship and prostrate to and say: "Glory be to my Lord, the Most High, so He has the attribute of being above".