Explanation by the Shaykh of what is meant by "the sky" in the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Do you feel secure from the One in the sky?" and in the hadith of the girl.

The Shaykh : The sky, whether in the verse or in the hadith, it is not permissible to interpret the sky in either of them as this created body. Consequently, it is not permissible to say that Allah is in the sky with His essence, meaning in this created body, because Allah, as a matter of course for every Muslim, is greater than everything. The small does not contain the large. This is a self-evident truth both religiously and rationally. Therefore, we must remove from our minds, as believers in the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the idea that anything of His creation encompasses Him. He, by the explicit text of the Qur'an, , but nothing encompasses Him. So when we say "Allah is in the sky," it means that the sky has encompassed Him. And do not forget that the interpretation we heard earlier, that Allah is in the sky with His essence, means that we have fallen into what we fled from, namely saying that Allah is in a place. For Allah created the place, and He was before He created the place, and before He created time. So when we say that Allah is in the sky, meaning the sky encompasses Him, it means we have placed Him in a place. He is the Self-Sufficient, free of need of the worlds, free of need of everything, which is His creation. Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is free of need of it. Therefore, our minds and our creed must be completely free of the belief that Allah is in the created sky with His essence. So what is the meaning of the sky? The meaning of the sky in the verse and the hadith is absolute elevation. That is, it is not in the lowest sky, nor the second, nor the third, nor the seventh, but rather, as we said at the beginning of the discussion, ; that is: above the Throne. And it is known religiously that the Throne is above all created things and that it is the greatest created thing Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created. And as came in some hadiths, the Footstool in relation to the Throne is , something beyond what a human can imagine. So Allah is above the Throne, which is above all the skies. If it is said that Allah is above the Throne with His essence, that is sound speech. But if it is said that Allah is in the sky with His essence, meaning in the lowest, second, third, and seventh sky, we say, far be it from Him, He is too great to be encompassed by anything. Rather, He is as He said: . But here, too, clarification is necessary: is there a created thing above the Throne? Here is a question for you, leave us and the Shaykh. Is there a created thing above the Throne, as far as you know?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: No.

The Shaykh : Whereas above the lowest sky there is a second sky, so there is a created thing there. Thus, the matter differs completely between the first interpretation, which is that Allah is in the sky meaning the sky is encompassing Him, and the saying of the scholars of the Muslims that Allah is above the Throne, where above the Throne there is no creation. So above the Throne is nothing but the Creator. The Creator is not in a place, nor is He encompassed by a place or time, but He is the One who created time and place. Perhaps it is good to conclude this very important issue, and perhaps there will be studies in the future, if Allah wills, to discuss other points related to this creed.