Explaining the Belief of the Jahmiyyah and Refuting Them (The Unity of Existence)

The Shaykh : Opposing this misguidance is another misguidance that is more astray than the first. The other misguidance is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is neither inside the world nor outside it. The one who says that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is inside the world, meaning that Allah exists in every place or that Allah exists in every existence, this affirms existence for Allah with likening (tashbih), and likening is false. Therefore, this is misguidance. But more astray than that is to say that Allah is neither inside the world nor outside it. So, half of the first statement is correct: Allah is not inside the world; this is the correct statement, for He is above all created things. But to follow this statement with their saying "and not outside the world," this is called, in the language of the scholars, negating the existence of the Truth (ta'til), meaning denying the existence of the Truth. For Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as we mentioned to you just now in the hadith of 'Imran ibn Husayn, was Allah and there was nothing with Him. If Allah was and there was no creation with Him, but then He created the created things, as is observed, it is obligatory to believe in that, as we mentioned, that there are two existences. So, if Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not inside the world—and it is the truth that He is not inside the world—then if someone says, in addition to that, that He is not outside the world, it means there is no deity. It means atheism and absolute denial. It means returning to the belief of the extremists among the Sufis. And I do not say returning to the belief of the Sufis, because the Sufis are of two types: there are extremists among them and there are those who are less extreme. The extremists are those who say that existence is one. The extremists among the Sufis, and at their head is Ibn 'Arabi, is the one who says that existence is one. As for the Muslims, they say, "There is no deity but Allah." So this verse affirms two existences: the one existence, the True One who is worshipped, and the other existence, the false ones who are worshipped. As for Ibn 'Arabi and those who were led astray by him, they say that existence is one. They have phrases in which they make clear their shirk (associating partners with Allah) and their misguidance. They say, for example: "Everything you see with your eye is Allah. Everything you see with your eye is Allah. Existence is one. What do you see? You see a human, you see a stone, you see a tree, you see the sky, you see the earth. This universe is Allah." This is the belief of the materialists; it is the belief of the communists: there is no deity. This returns to the absolute denial of the existence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So if it is said that Allah is neither inside the world nor outside it, the meaning of that is that existence is one, and it is the belief of the extremists among the Sufis: everything you see with your eye is Allah. When the people of Noah worshipped the deities, as He said in the Qur'an: Did they worship other than Allah? The answer, according to the extremists among the Sufis, is: "When the Majus (Zoroastrians) worshipped the fire, they did not worship anything but the One, the Subduer." This is the absolute denial. So if it is said that Allah is neither inside the world nor outside the world, this belief, which is claimed to be the belief of the people of the Sunnah and the community today—there are individuals among the people who publish some letters and attach some comments, if not sayings—they write this belief as being the belief of the people of the Sunnah and the community: that Allah is neither inside the world nor outside it. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) was and there was nothing with Him, so He is now as He was before. He is now Self-Sufficient, as He was before, Self-Sufficient regarding all created things. So when He created the created things, He said: "He rose above them (istawa 'alayha), He exalted Himself above them. 'Istala' means He rose. And it is necessary here, to clarify this belief with some sound reason: Since we have established by the texts of the Book and the Sunnah that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is above the created things and not inside the created things, we must then discuss those who deny the existence of Allah absolutely. Even if they say, "Allah exists, and there is no deity but Allah," but when they say, "He is not inside the world nor outside it," the meaning of that is that they denied the existence of Allah. We say to these people: You agree with us that Allah was and there was nothing with Him. So when He created the creation, it must be one of three things. It must be that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), when He created the creation, entered into His creation. And they agree with us that Allah is not in every place. So then the second remains: It must be that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), when He created the creation, placed it above Him. And this is false, because Allah is above everything. If that is not the case, then only the third remains: That Allah (Mighty and Majestic), when He created His creation, exalted Himself above them and rose. And this is what is befitting for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Therefore, the statement that Allah is neither inside the world nor outside it is, as Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said, describing two groups, both of which are in misguidance, but one of them is more astray than the other. He said: "The one who likens (mushabbih), who likens Allah to some of His creations, worships an idol. He worships something that exists, but he likens it to the idols that the polytheists used to worship besides Allah. The one who likens worships an idol, and the one who negates (mu'til) worships non-existence. Who is the one who negates? It is the one who says, 'Not inside the world and not outside it.' The one who says He is inside the world is one who likens, and he is in misguidance. And the one who says that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is neither inside the world nor outside it has denied the existence of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So this is more astray than the first. This phrase, 'not inside the world and not outside it,' listen now to its detail on the tongues of some of them—in something—and I will end the word with this word so that you are on clear evidence that everyone who opposes the belief of the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the righteous Salaf is in clear misguidance. One of their scholars of kalam says: "Allah is not described as being above or below, right or left, front or back, inside the world or outside it, connected to it or separated from it." Say to me, by your Lord, is this not a description of the non-existent? If it were said to any rational person who was given some intellect, understanding, and eloquence: "Describe for us the non-existent, which has no existence and no reality," he would not be able to describe this non-existent with more than what these described their deity when one of their scholars said: "Not above, not below, not right, not left, not front, not back, not inside the world, not outside it, not connected to it, not separated from it." As for us, we say: , and Glory is to You, O Allah, and praise. I bear witness that there is no deity but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You. Yes.