The Shaykh’s speech on the attribute of Allah’s (Glorified and Exalted is He) being above.

The Shaykh : So, if we were to concede for the sake of argument that it cannot be said that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), despite all these texts and this sound reasoning, is above all creation while believing that He is the One who is free of need from all the worlds, then what is to be said? We ask: Where is Allah? What is the answer? The answer is: not above, not below, not to the right, not to the left, not in front, not behind, not inside the world, not outside it, not connected to it, not separated from it. That is severe misguidance. This is what we say. Finally, if we may express it correctly, we say that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the Hidden of the hidden, meaning He is hidden from the sight, from matter, and from the senses. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made the first attribute of the believers in the first chapter of al-Baqarah: "those who believe in the unseen" . And if believing in the unseen is an attribute of the believers, believing in all the unseen, then the first of that is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is hidden from our senses and our eyes, but He is not hidden from our thoughts and our belief. So what should we believe about Allah (Mighty and Majestic), since He is the first pillar of what falls under believing in the unseen? There is no doubt that we must believe in all the verses and hadiths mentioned previously that establish the attribute of Allah’s (Mighty and Majestic) being above His creation. So if a person imagines and doubts what is not befitting for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), he must dispel that imagination and stand firm with the belief in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and not surrender to mere imaginations devoid of the evidence of the Shari'ah from the Book and the Sunnah. And thus it becomes clear that we did not understand the correct creed from the texts except that this necessitates settling upon the creation, whereas we mentioned in the course of the explanation that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the One who is free of need from all the worlds. He is the One who holds the heavens and the earth so they do not collapse. He is not in need of being able to grasp them or to settle upon them, but He has the attribute of being above. And therefore we say: "Glory be to my Lord, the Most High." This is the creed of the Book and the Sunnah, and this is the creed of the righteous Salaf, and this is the creed of the four Imams, all of them, without any disagreement among them. So why does a Muslim insert himself and plunge into the hole of the scorpion, using his narrow, small mind to clash with the decisive texts of the Book and the Sunnah that indicate that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is above all creation? How do we explain that clear, beautiful hadith? So may Allah reward you. It is not permissible for a Muslim to surrender the leadership of his thought, his mind, and his creed to imaginations, because the scholars say on this occasion: "Whatever comes to your mind, Allah is the opposite of that". As for what has come in the Book and the Sunnah, it is obligatory to believe in it, as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: .