The Shaykh's remarks on the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Do you feel secure from the One in the heavens?"

The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar. It occurred to me, while you were speaking about that doctor who claimed that he does not say that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is in the heavens, just as he does not say that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is on the earth, that I said of him that he does not say that Allah is on the earth because that would necessitate indwelling. But we did not understand from you why he does not say what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: Is it for the same reason, or for another reason? Either you did not hear us, or we did not hear you?

The questioner : He says that the verses mentioned regarding elevation are verses concerning attributes, not concerning the Essence.

The Shaykh : Do not specify, do not specify. I specified the verse for you. Why does he not say what Allah said: What is the objection in his view? We know the objection in his view from the fact that he does not say that Allah is on the earth. He does not say this, and this is the truth without doubt, by transmission and by reason. But my question is: why does he not say what Allah said: Why does he not say what Allah said? What is his viewpoint and what is his interpretation? Have you known this about him or not? I want to know the answer for the sake of being fair to the man. Otherwise, the word in my heart does not depend on this knowledge. So what is the answer?

The questioner : Our Shaykh, he mentioned in his book, as I recall, I read it a while ago.

The Shaykh : I beg you, do not specify the verse.

The questioner : He speaks about this verse and similar ones, that they speak about elevation and that He is in the heavens.

The Shaykh : This verse does not speak about elevation in its apparent meaning.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : What does he say about it?

The questioner : He said it means... What does he say about it?

The Shaykh : Ah.

The questioner : I do not know exactly about this verse.

The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you. We have not benefited from anything. First you told me about the verse, and the second time you told me about the verse, and then you do not remember!

The questioner : I mentioned the verses that...

The Shaykh : My brother, you started talking about the verses, so I am returning you to the subject of the question, may Allah pardon what has passed. Look, our brothers, this verse is either interpreted according to its apparent meaning, in which case, as we learned from the scholars of language, it is a preposition of place (zarfiyyah). So either it remains as a preposition of place, or it is taken out of this meaning and interpreted to mean "above" (ala). If it is interpreted to mean "above," then the sky is not a preposition of place for Allah, just as the earth is not a preposition of place for Allah. So if the problem for the doctor is that he stopped at the apparent meaning of the verse which is a preposition of place in the Arabic language, then there is no difference for him between one who says that Allah is in the earth or that Allah is in the sky, because Allah is greater than all of that, and this is a fact. So how do we interpret the verse? The answer, based on the fact that "in" (fi) is in its proper place as a preposition of place, is that we say: if we keep "in" as a preposition of place, we interpret "the sky" to mean absolute height, not the created sky which is the seven heavens. Do you understand? In that case, the problem falls from the root, because the problem is based on "in the sky" meaning this sky which is a creation of Allah, like the earth. So just as He is not in the earth, He is not in the sky. From here, they come to the problem, so they deny it and say, "No, Allah is not in the sky." First, out of respect for the divine speech, it is not permissible to say this. But what is permissible, indeed obligatory, is to understand the Quranic verse correctly. So the first interpretation of it, based on keeping in its proper place, in this case, we interpret "the sky" in the Arabic language to mean absolute height. So if we say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is in absolute height, it means He is not in a creation, and the problem falls. And it is not equivalent to say that Allah is in the sky as it is to say the denied statement that Allah is in the earth. First, because there is nothing in the Book or the Sunnah that Allah is in the earth. Second, the meaning we interpreted earlier has no prohibition, whereas a prohibition follows from saying Allah is in the earth. So if we interpret and keep it in its proper place, we have interpreted "the sky" to mean absolute height. In that case, the other verses that establish the height of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, meet with this verse. Okay. Or we can say here that means , and as we also learned from the scholars, prepositions can stand in place of one another, especially in such a place. So it is said, "Allah is in the sky," meaning . So here is in the place of , or the reverse, is in the place of . And there are many witnesses to this in the Book and the Sunnah. So the verse of , , "Who is in the earth" does not mean the inside of the earth, but rather on the earth. "He who is in the sky" does not mean who is in the inside of the created sky, but rather on the sky. And for this reason, you find the deniers of the divine attributes (mu'attilah) in the present age, and at their head is this Sakhaf, who is rightly called Sakhaf, denies the authenticity of this hadith, because for him it is a dividing line (qasimah) that splits his back, because he cannot interpret to mean the worms and insects in the earth, but rather these animals which Allah has tamed for us and created for our sake . So just as "be merciful to those " here means "on," so "He who is in the sky" means "on." Therefore, he exerted his effort to weaken this hadith, because from a hadith perspective, they found no way to weaken it, so they authenticated it, even the Ghumariyyun, which is a sin for them, they authenticate this hadith.
Mashhur: Our Shaykh, al-Kawthari denies the authenticity of attributing this hadith. He says that the correct copies of Muslim do not contain this hadith.

The Shaykh : You have gone and perished to other than my hadith. You have gone and perished to the hadith of the girl. I did not touch the hadith of the girl.
Mashhur: No, it is the beginning of the hadith for the speech.The Shaykh .

The Shaykh : The beginning of the discussion is for me, so do not hold me to strict account. The important thing is that this hadith was authenticated by a group of scholars, and this one denied its authenticity because it is stronger in indicating the meaning than the hadith of the girl. The professor has a virtue in reminding me of the hadith of the girl. This one is more explicit in indicating the correct meaning of the verse, because the hadith of the girl asks, "Where is Allah?" She said, "In the sky." So she answered with the Quranic answer. But she is an Arab; she understands what the meaning of is, not that it means like worms in their burrows, and so on. No, the important thing is that this hadith means "above the earth," means "in the sky." Up to here, I have finished what I wanted to say as a comment on what you may have heard from that doctor's interpretation of that verse. But what I want to say now is that this doctor and those like him, their error comes from the initial interpretation of as "upon its door," and then their negligence of the original meaning of "the sky," which is "height." So when they fall into this negligence, they look and say, "We cannot say that Allah is in the belly of the sky, meaning the created sky surrounds Him." We agree with them on this, but they are led astray from the truth by their false understanding and their fleeing from it. Then they do not find a refuge in knowing the correct opinion or understanding. Why? Because they also understand that when we interpret "in the sky," the problem remains for them and in their minds. The problem remains because they imagine that above the sky is what? The Throne. And above the Throne, if we say Allah as Allah said, and we interpret it with the meaning of as is the Salafi interpretation, then you have also crammed Him into a place! Here their misguidance begins. So what I want to remind you of now is that we should not get entangled in their false understanding and imagine that the verse of means that Allah with His essence is in the belly of the sky. No, rather Allah with His essence is above the absolute height, and the absolute height is above the Throne. Above the Throne, there is no place. From here they are led astray, imagining that above the Throne is a place. So if we place Him in a place, then there is no difference at that time between a place above the Throne, a place above the seven heavens, a place above the sky of this world, or in the sky of this world, or on the earth, or in the earth. All of it is not befitting of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We say all of it is not befitting except the being above the Throne, because above the Throne there is no place. And we know, as they know, but they neglect or feign ignorance. Allah was, and there was nothing with Him. So when Allah was and there was nothing with Him, we and they agree, or they agree with us, that when Allah was and had not created anything, He was not in a place. If someone calls that "belly," I do not want to call it a place, because it will be a repetition of words. If someone calls that "belly" in which Allah was a place, then that is a convention, because "place" is derived from "existence" . So Allah was, and there was nothing with Him, then He created the creation. With the existence of the creation and His creation of them, place came into being. But Allah did not come into being in this place, because Allah was before place, and He was before time. So if we say: and we cite all the verses and hadiths that establish the attribute of height, that does not mean that we assign a place to Allah, nor does it mean that we have made Him contained by a created thing. Consequently, it does not mean what this fool and those like him attribute to us, that we have ascribed a body to Him. Glory be to Allah, did we ascribe a body to Him? Are you with us? Did you ascribe a body to Him when I said, "Allah was, and there was nothing with Him"? Was He a body? So from this perspective, He is now as He was. From the perspective that He has no body and that He is , He is now, after the creation of the universe, as He was before the creation of the universe. The only thing is that we differ from these misguided ones in that we affirm the existence of the Lord of the worlds above the created things, above the Throne, He rose above it. As for them, as that wise prince said when he heard the sheikhs who opposed the call to the truth, the call of the Salaf, the call of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), which he revived through his struggle. Ibn Taymiyyah, this is the summary of his views. As for those, they said: "No, Allah is free from place. Allah is not above, not below, not right, not left, not in front, not behind, not inside the world, not outside it." That prince said, "These are a people who have lost their Lord." Indeed, I say, if it were said to the most eloquent of those who spoke in the Arabic language, "Describe for us the non-existent," he would not be able to describe it except by describing it as these fools describe their Lord, the Creator of all things: not above, not below, not right, not left, not in front, not behind, not inside the world, not outside it. Some of them, but I do not say from these Muslims, these philosophers, say, "Not connected to Him, not separated from Him," affirming the greatest misguidance. This fool came in the last of time and found that he could not establish before these facts, meaning he could not say as the Mu'tazilah say, and as the Asha'irah say, and as the Maturidiyyah say, that Allah is in every place. This is the most foolish thing that can be said regarding the Lord of the worlds, who is free from all imperfections. This fool and some of his sheikhs found that this speech is not acceptable. So what does he say? He says, "He exists without a place." A cunning deception: He exists without a place. But ask him, "Where is He?" There is no answer. So they say that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) exists, but without a place. In truth, this answer leads to what we mentioned of the sayings of these fools: not above, not below, not right, not left, to the end of the formula. And so, this fool, if you are afflicted with him or with some of his followers, know how to handle the shoulder. When he tells you, "He exists, not in a place," and you say, "Okay, where is He?" he tells you, "This question is not valid." Why is it not valid, when it is valid in the authentic hadith? This hadith is weak. Who weakened it? The Dajjal of the last of time, and he is al-Saqaf. But in truth, he is preceded, preceded, as the professor al-Kawthari said, and I responded to al-Kawthari in the introduction to the explanation of the Tahawiyyah. Because this one known as Abu Ghuddah, who claims affiliation with al-Kawthari due to his intense obsession with him and his following of him, belongs to his school. So al-Kawthari said, "So he took some formal objections against me because I said, 'Authentic, narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.' Authentic, narrated by al-Bukhari, authentic." This means that the hadith will not become authentic until al-Albani authenticates it. If this is the meaning, then there are many hadiths that al-Albani weakens from what al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated. I slapped him that slap. Look at your sheikh al-Kawthari, who explicitly states that such-and-such hadith, and such-and-such hadith, and such-and-such hadith, despite the narrationThe Shaykh : by one of them or both, is a weak hadith. I brought him this hadith among the things I brought him. So the point is, al-Kawthari weakens this hadith, the hadith of the girl and al-Ghumari. This one named Abdullah also weakens this hadith. And one of the worst things I recently read in the Tafsir al-Bahr al-Muhit by Abu Hayyan is that he interpreted the previous verse "Do you feel safe, O you polytheists, from the One in the sky as you claim!" Allah is the Greatest. Meaning, a person is bewildered at how great scholars fall into such an interpretation, or rather, such a denial of the divine attributes.
The questioner : O our Shaykh, you have been generous in addressing the issue of the preposition in , and you have pointed out what al-Razi fell into. Al-Razi posed a great problem and wrote long pages in the interpretation of the verse, and he said regarding the preposition, and began to deny that it is Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and said it is the command of Allah or the angels of Allah.