The Answer to the Doubt That Says: Allah Is Not in a Place.

The Shaykh : In response to the doubt that says that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not in a place, we say to them: He is not in a place. But we must all know that among the creed of the righteous Salaf is that they do not affirm anything except by an explicit text regarding matters of the unseen. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as we all know, is the unseen of the unseen, ; therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim to affirm anything pertaining to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in His essence or attributes except by an explicit text, just as it is not permissible to deny anything except by an explicit text. We have no explicit text that Allah is in a place, nor do we have an explicit text that Allah is not in a place. So if someone says: "Allah is in a place," we ask him to clarify what he means by "in a place"? Is it this place, or another place, sewers and such, all of which are places, the bellies of dogs and pigs, all of these are places? Does he mean this when he says: "Allah is in every place"? Some of them return to their reason, then quickly they go astray. No, we do not intend that Allah is in every place by His essence, but we intend that Allah is in every place by His knowledge. Good; this interpretation works. So when one of them says "Allah is in every place" meaning by His knowledge, that is fine. But the question is not about this. If you answer with this, it means you have not answered the question. Now, let us define the question: Where is Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), the One described with all attributes of perfection and free from all attributes of imperfection? Here you see the confusion. They can no longer say: "Allah is in every place by His essence," because they know this is forbidden by reason and self-evidence, let alone by the Shari'ah. So they say: "We do not know." The interpretation of "we do not know" is: not above, not below, not to the right, not to the left; what came in the science of Kalam.
For about twenty years, I have been in the season of Hajj in Mina. In a scholarly session, there were pilgrims from various countries, from Egypt, Syria, and Algeria. An Egyptian shaykh came in and sat down. He started speaking and accused the Najdis of being those who ascribe a body to Allah and liken Him to creation. I said to him: Why? He said: Because they say: "Allah rose above the Throne." I said: Glory be to Allah! I know that this is not their saying; this is the saying of Allah in the Noble Qur'an. How do you, first, attribute the saying of the Lord of the Worlds to humans, and then accuse them of bad creed when they say what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said, ? He said: No, I mean they say: "Allah rose above the Throne by His essence." I said: Yes, they say that. But you do not say that they say such and such, and that is the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So what do you say? They say: "Allah rose above the Throne by His essence." Do you not say what they say? He said: No. I said: What do you say? He answered with this standard phrase: "Allah is in every place." I spoke with him to explain the danger of this phrase, and I returned to him. Why do you not say that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is above the Throne, having risen and exalted Himself, as the Salaf said, by His essence (Blessed and Exalted is He)? He said: Because that means we have placed Him in a place. Look at the contradiction. In the pure place, if there is a place and there is no place, as will be detailed, they purify Allah from it. But in the dirty place, which is in the created things, they describe Allah with it. So He is not in the place of elevation, but in the place of nearness, dirt, and sewers, and such, and they describe Him with that. I said to him: Why do you deny this denial and say that Allah did not rise above the Throne by His essence? He said: Because that means we have placed Him in a place. I said to him: You previously placed Him in a place, you placed Him in every place, so let this place be among the places. But consider: We are the ones who purify Allah from a place, and you are the ones who restrict Allah to a place. He said: How?
I am asking you now; he is an Azhari man, well-versed and educated. I said to him: "Place" is a name for a place linguistically; is it not derived from "being" from "was, is, will be" in a place? He said: Yes. I said to him: Is a place a matter of existence or non-existence? He said: No; it is a matter of existence. I said: Good. Are we now in a place in Mina? He said: Yes. I said to him: What is above us? He said: The lowest heaven. I said: A place? He said: Yes. And above the lowest heaven, the first heaven? He said: The second, and the seventh heaven, are all these places? He said: Yes. I forgot to mention something, I said to him: Since a place is created and derived from the word "place" from the saying of Allah: "was," is it limited or unlimited? He said: Limited. I said: Remember this, do not go back from it later. He said: I am with you. A place, as it is created, is limited. I chained the question: the lowest heaven, the second, the seventh. I said: And what is above the seventh heaven? He said: The Throne. I said: Created? He said: Created. Limited? He said: Limited. I said: And what is above the Throne? I thought he would say: Nothing. It is over, creation is over. And lo, he surprised me with something I had not heard in my life. He said: Above the Throne are the Kerubiyun angels. I know something about the Kerubiyun angels in books of mixing and what is narrated haphazardly, so I ignored it and said: What are the Kerubiyun angels? He said: These are angels arranged, chosen by Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. I said: Are these above the Throne? He said: Yes. I said: Do you have a verse that above the Throne there are angels named the Kerubiyun angels? He said: No. I was truly pleased with his lack of evasion and turning around, as we do in Syria and elsewhere. He was straightforward and answered.

Another questioner: Good.

The Shaykh : Ah; good, this type of person is relieving, whereas that one... He said: It is like this. I said: Are the Kerubiyun angels in a verse? He said: No. Okay; do you have a Prophetic hadith? He said: No. I said: Then where did you get this from? He said: This is how we were taught in the Noble Azhar! I said: Glory be to Allah! The Azhar is more knowledgeable, I am certain from my association with many of their graduates, some of whom were Azhari and then became Salafi, praise be to Allah. I know from them that the shaykhs of the Azhar, the scholars of Kalam, tell them—we know this from their books as well and from the books of some of the early scholars—that creed is not established except by a decisive text from the Book of Allah or a Sunnah from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, even if it is a sound hadith, creed is not established in it. I said: Glory be to Allah! A creed with no verse and no hadith, and you believe in it and take it from the Noble Azhar, how is this? The poor man was confused. I said to him: In any case, this is a word on the margin.
Now I am walking with you, I assume with you that there are Kerubiyun angels; where are these? Above the Throne of the Most Merciful, Allah is the Greatest! = -- ... -- = And above the Throne, in your claim, are the Kerubiyun angels; so what is above the Kerubiyun angels? He said: Nothing. And this is my whole goal. The logical sequence, my goal is for him to say this word: "Nothing." I said to him: Is nothing a place? He said: No. The place has ended. I said: Then how do you accuse the Salafis that they place Allah in a place, and you admit that there is no place? You are the ones who place Allah in a place, not the Salafis who say: where there is no place, no time, and nothing else. So the man was stunned and fell silent.
And this research is, in fact, that the saving faith with Allah is the faith in what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded and legislated. So whoever believes in Allah with a general faith and denies the details or some of them that are mentioned in the Book and the Sunnah, this is... the faith that is the first condition and the first pillar of the pillars of faith.