Some people say that Allah is above in the sky, and we have scholars of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) in Sudan who say that Allah was and there was no place, and He is free from the directions.

The questioner : This is a listener from Sudan. He says in this question: This question confuses me, and I hope for information on it. It is that some people say that Allah is above in the sky, and we have scholars of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) in Sudan who say that Allah was and there was no place, and He is free from the six directions, namely east, west, north, south, above, and below. We ask for your guidance on this?

The Shaykh : The exaltation of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, above His creation, the exaltation of Allah the Exalted above His creation, is established by the Book, the Sunnah, scholarly consensus, reason, and fitrah (the innate natural disposition). Its evidence is diverse; all possible evidence for establishing a thing is present, indicating that Allah the Exalted is above His servants.
As for the Qur'an, the evidence for the establishment of the exaltation of Allah above His creation is very numerous and diverse, such as His saying, the Exalted: and so on, which are too many to count.
Likewise, the verses indicating that things ascend to Him, as in His saying: , and the verses indicating that a thing descends from Him, as He said, the Exalted: . The verses on this are very numerous.
As for the Sunnah, it indicated the exaltation of Allah in all its types, by speech, action, and approval. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in his prostration: . He addressed the people on the Day of 'Arafah and said: . They said, "Yes." He pointed to the sky and said: . He asked a slave girl and said to her: . She said, "In the sky." He said: . Thus, the Sunnah gathered speech, action, and approval regarding the exaltation of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and that He is above everything.
As for scholarly consensus, the Companions and the Imams of guidance after them agreed that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is above everything. Not a single word was reported from them denying the exaltation of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Rather, they were in agreement that Allah the Exalted is above everything.
As for reason, every person knows by his reason that exaltation is an attribute of perfection, and that the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, has the attribute of absolute perfection. If exaltation is an attribute of perfection, then the absence of exaltation is an attribute of deficiency. And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is free from deficiency. Therefore, it is obligatory to establish exaltation for Him because it is an attribute of perfection.
As for fitrah (the innate natural disposition), no one says, "O Lord," without finding in his heart a necessity to seek exaltation. For this reason, they raise their hands to the sky. Ask those who ask Allah and supplicate to Him: where do they direct their hands? Do they direct them to the earth, or to the sky, or to the right, or to the left? They all direct them to the sky. This is a fitrah (innate natural disposition) in which no two differ, except those whom the Shayatins (Satan) have led astray from the fitrah and who deny this matter upon which creation was created.
If this is the case, then we say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, was, and there was nothing before Him. He is the First, before whom there is nothing. And He was Exalted, Mighty and Majestic, before He created the Throne. When He created the heavens and the earth, He rose above the Throne, as He said, the Exalted: . So the rising of Allah above His Throne was after its creation. Here we say that the rising of Allah above His Throne when He created the heavens and the earth indicates that it was not [the case] before that. As for before that, Allah knows best. And as for after that, meaning after the creation of the heavens and the earth, the verse indicates that Allah rose above His Throne.
As for their saying that Allah the Exalted is free from the six directions, this is the extreme of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes), refuge with Allah. For if they say that Allah the Exalted is not above, nor below, nor to the right, nor to the left, nor in front, nor behind, then this is pure non-existence and pure ta'til (denial of the divine attributes). Where will He be? And if we say that Allah the Exalted is in the direction of exaltation, the exaltation above which there is nothing, then there is no deficiency in the right of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in this. For the exaltation above all created things does not contain anything from the created things that we can say is adjacent to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Rather, everything from the created things, Allah the Exalted is above it, and nothing from His creations is adjacent to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Where is the deficiency in establishing such a thing? And where is the existence if we say that Allah the Exalted is free from the six directions?
Yes, we say that it is not possible for a direction to encompass Allah, because Allah the Exalted encompasses everything, and nothing from His creations encompasses Him. So if He is above everything, then what is above things is not an existential matter such that we would say that this necessitates that the created shares with the Creator in His exaltation, Mighty and Majestic.
It is obligatory for the person to believe with absolute certainty that Allah the Exalted is above everything, and that He is the Most High, the Supreme, and that He, Glorified and Exalted is He, has absolute exaltation: exaltation of the Self and exaltation of the attributes, due to the indication of the Book, the Sunnah, scholarly consensus, reason, and fitrah (the innate natural disposition) to that. Yes.

The questioner : Glorified is He. May Allah bless you.