The Shaykh Al-Albani’s response to the people of innovation who say that Allah is without a place

The Shaykh: So where were we? What had we reached?

The questioner: My Shaykh, it is the text of the hadith regarding the existential place and the non-existent place.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: So this is the first word you mentioned, and we stopped here at this discussion.

The Shaykh: I actually wished that you would ask that young debater and enthusiast about that da'iyah al-Saqaf, in his ignorance, to ask him: Is the place from which you purify Allah an existential place or a non-existent place? If he says, "I purify Allah from being in an existential place, not a non-existent one," and the meaning of existential and non-existent is: existential means created, and non-existent means that which has no existence except in the mind.

The questioner: Yes.
Meaning, when the Muslim recalls the hadith of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab: Is Allah the true existence? Is there any other existence on the day when Allah was and nothing else was with Him? The answer is obvious to every Muslim: Nothing except Allah. So, is "nothing" existential or non-existent? Non-existent.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: If this debater and those who follow his path of misguidance answered with the correct answer, saying: "I purify Allah (Mighty and Majestic) from being in an existential place, meaning a created place," then we would say to him: This is what the believers in the Book and the Sunnah, following the methodology of the righteous Salaf, say. They believe that Allah is greater than everything, greater than every created thing, that Allah is greater than every created thing, and that nothing encompasses Allah. Rather, the matter is as He (the Exalted) said: And if he intended by the place from which he purifies Allah the non-existent place, then he has been included among the Zindiqs and disbelievers who deny the existence of Allah. Because we would say: In terms of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) not being in an existential place, He is now as He was before He created time and place. Allah was and nothing was with Him. So, in terms of place, meaning in terms of Him not being in an existential place, He is as He was before He brought the place into existence. If he says, "I deny the place for Allah, even the non-existent place," then he has judged that Allah did not exist previously, contrary to the consensus of all Muslims and contrary to the explicit hadith of 'Umar: If he says He was not in a place, and that is the case because we mean by place the existential place, if he says: "Allah was and was not in a place," we say: That is the case. Allah was and was not in a place, and He is now not in a place. But we say, with caution and distance from the misguidance they imply, we say: As He was before, not in a created existential place, so He is also not in a created existential place. If he acknowledges this reality, we will ask him: Is non-existence a thing or not a thing? He must say one of the two: either he says it is a thing, in which case he has fallen into sophistry, because no one says that what is missing is an existing thing.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Or else there is a contradiction: Allah was and nothing was with Him, meaning nothing with Him from non-existence or from what exists?

The questioner: From what exists.

The Shaykh: From what exists.

The Shaykh: And if he answers that non-existence is not a thing, we ask him: This place from which you purify Allah, this returns to what was mentioned before.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Is it non-existent or existential? If he says it is non-existent, then Allah has an existence as He was before, completely, meaning He is not in a place. Because this place, which some people may express as "Allah is in a place," or some people may understand from what they hear of the attributes, that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has the attribute of Highness, they deduce from that that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is in a place. If the deduction is the existential place, it is disbelief. And if the deduction is the non-existent place, it is purification (tanzih); because we return to the hadith of 'Umar: If the man agrees with this result, which is: He is not in an existential place and is purified from it, then he is with us and we are with him. And if he says, "He is as He was when there was nothing," this does not mean He is in an existential place, but rather He is in a non-existent place. And in that case, naming this non-existent place a "place" would be a terminological matter. And the matter is as the jurists say: "There is no dispute over terminology, but on the condition that it does not imply evil, that it does not imply misguidance." So if he reaches with you to this result, meaning purifying Allah from existence in an existential place and not purifying Him from existence in a non-existent place, then we will say to him: What is your statement about the thing: is it existential or non-existent? He will say existential, because Allah was and nothing was with Him. Good. And that which has no existence, is it a thing? He must say nothing. Is it clear up to here?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: The question remains, and perhaps it is the last: Is non-existence in the existing reality or in the non-existing?

The questioner: Non-existing.

The Shaykh: Non-existing.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: So if someone says: "Allah is not inside the world nor outside of it," did he make Him like nothing or not?

The questioner: Obviously.

The Shaykh: Obviously. And here the discussion with him ends, because in that case, as I said in my previous speech, he has become a Zindiq and denied the existence of Allah. Because they say: "Allah is not inside the world nor outside of it." And it is supposed that we agreed in this logical, reasonable sequence, in accordance with the Shari'ah, one hundred percent, that non-existence is nothing, and that outside the universe is nothing except Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So in that case, if they want to purify Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and say "Allah is not inside the world, meaning in the existing created thing, nor outside the world, meaning where there is no created thing," then in that case they have judged Allah (Mighty and Majestic) as having no existence.