The Shaykh asked them to bring evidence proving their claim that Allah exists without a place.
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The Shaykh : But we [Al-Ghashiyah 88:22]
The questioner : Several pieces of evidence, I will answer you.
The Shaykh : You are free, but the first verse you showed me does not mention a place. Listen, it does not mention a place, neither negatively nor affirmatively.
The questioner : Your statement is correct.
The Shaykh : Correct.
The questioner : Your statement is sound.
The Shaykh : Then withdraw your statement.
The questioner : I did not withdraw the verse.
The Shaykh : My statement is sound, and I will not withdraw it, heh.
Ali: What do you think, Abd al-Rahman, should you switch to Iyad for a bit?
The questioner : No, no, I won't.
The Shaykh: Hehehehe
The questioner : .. The Shaykh : He claimed he knew my point of view, but he did not know it, unfortunately.
The Shaykh : Heh heh, there is no power or might except with Allah. Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, "Understand before you are appointed to authority." Allah is the Greatest.
The questioner : Let me finish my point.
The Shaykh : No, do not finish. Prove to me where the place is in this verse, negatively or affirmatively.
Another questioner : From your notes, my dear?
The questioner : I told him several verses, he said okay, bring me a verse, I brought him a verse.
Another questioner : ... there is no evidence in it.
The questioner : I told him several verses, I did not tell him one verse, unfortunately he asked for one verse.
Another questioner : There is no evidence in this verse.
The Shaykh : And I will bring you verses now, I will bring you verses.
The questioner : And I want to bring you all the verses.
The Shaykh : I will bring you verses proving the existence of a place, and that Allah has no place, I will bring him verses.
The questioner : Yes.
Ali: What do you think?
The Shaykh : Listen, I will bring you verses proving the existence of a place for Allah, and that Allah has no place.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh :[Al-Ikhlas 112:1-3]
The questioner :[Al-Ikhlas 112:4]
The Shaykh : Heh, finish it, memorize it, heh, okay,[Al-Kawthar 108:1] finish it so we can see.
The questioner : I do not have it memorized.
The Shaykh : Yes, I brought you two surahs containing several verses proving the existence of a place, where is the place?
The questioner : There is no evidence in them regarding a place.
Another questioner : Or...
The questioner : No, my two verses have it.
The Shaykh : Heh heh heh, listen everyone, listen now, we...
Another questioner : We do not agree with our brother.
The Shaykh : Sorry, may Allah reward you with good, may Allah reward you with good.
Another questioner : He did not hit the mark.
The Shaykh : Okay, may Allah reward you with good, do you have an answer to the question, and what is the question?
The questioner : Yes, is there in the Book and the Sunnah anything indicating our belief that Allah is not...?
The Shaykh : No, that is not the question.
The questioner : Well, repeat it to me.
The Shaykh : No, when will we stop changing and altering?
The questioner : No, by Allah...
The Shaykh : There is no power or might except with Allah, you say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, exists without a place.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Without a place.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I want a verse proving that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is not in a place.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This is first.
The questioner : By implication, of course, this is it.
The Shaykh : Please, please.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I said this first.
The questioner : This is first.
The Shaykh : When I say "first," what does it mean?
Another questioner : There is a second.
The Shaykh : There is a second, second, we want you to explain the word "place" to us. If you wish, you explain it, and if you wish, we explain it. The important thing now is that we want a verse negating a place for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. One verse, and as I told your friend and he refused, I am content, please, one verse.
The questioner : The verse indicating that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is free from a place and exists without a place is His saying:[Ash-Shuraa 42:11] Since every created being in this universe is in need of a place for its existence, but Allah, Mighty and Majestic, there is nothing like Him, so in His existence He is not in need of a place.
The Shaykh : Very good.
The questioner : And by that He differs from His creation, meaning He is unlike them.
The Shaykh : Very good.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So the one who believes in His saying:[Ash-Shuraa 42:11] Hearing and seeing are also attributes of humans, and Allah, Mighty and Majestic, described Himself as All-Hearing and All-Seeing. So do we affirm these two attributes for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, or do we deny them? Or do we affirm them and free Him from resembling the transient and created things?
The questioner : We affirm them and free Him, the Exalted.
The Shaykh : Very good.
The questioner : From resembling the created things.
The Shaykh : Then this evidence alone is not sufficient to negate a place, it is not sufficient to negate a place. Knowing, knowing, perhaps you remember with me, I said earlier, drawing the attention of this brother who is bringing a verse to negate a place, and the verse is not in that context. So I confronted him, I will bring you verses proving the existence of a place, and that Allah has no place. Did you notice this statement or not? And peace be upon you. I said earlier to draw the brother's attention that his argument with the verse is loading the verse with what it does not bear, because it did not mention a place, neither negatively nor affirmatively. So from the perspective of...
The questioner : implication.
The Shaykh : Yes, but from the perspective of drawing his attention, and I told him I will bring you verses to prove a place by them, arguing for a place by them, and that Allah has no place, and that Allah has no place, even...
The questioner: I mean...
The Shaykh : Even so that it does not come to your minds that I am saying Allah has a place, but to draw his attention that it is not permissible to argue that merely because we recite this verse, this verse negates a place. It is like me when I negated a place, I affirmed a place in Surah al-Ikhlas, "Indeed, We have given you al-Kawthar."
The questioner : We agree with you in correcting him.
The Shaykh : Fine, but I wanted to draw your attention, I wanted to draw your attention, I said Allah has no place, pay attention.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because what we understand from what was previously published of the disputes between the Khalaf and the Salaf, and what is being published now of what was published of the madhhab of the Khalaf, is that they understand from the belief of the Salaf who say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is above all created things, that they affirm a place for Allah. They understand this, and this understanding is wrong by a million percent. Therefore, I now want to say that it is not permissible for a Muslim to affirm something or deny something about Allah, Mighty and Majestic, except with evidence from the Book of Allah and the authentic Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : ... on the eye and on the head.
The Shaykh : And this is a word in which there is no disagreement, if Allah wills.
The questioner : But I want to ask a simple thing.
The Shaykh : The explanation is coming to you, the explanation is coming to you.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, this is a statement on the eye and on the head.
The Shaykh : Okay, now we say, does the word "place" mean an existential thing or a mental thing? If you did not understand the question.
The questioner : I understood.
The Shaykh : Here, may Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : I mean, do you want to say that a place is a conceptual matter or a tangible one?
The Shaykh : Well done.
The questioner : And this is a tangible matter, a place.
The Shaykh : Okay, so now if a place is existential.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, so does any Muslim believe that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, was from eternity in a place, where Allah was and nothing was with Him?
The questioner : No Muslim believes that.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : No, of course.
The Shaykh : No.
The Shaykh : Then do you believe that there is a learned Muslim who believes that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is in a place?
The questioner : Of course not.
The Shaykh : Then what is the disagreement now between you and those who believe in all the verses that affirm the elevation of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, above all His creations, by the verse by the verse [Taha 20:5] by all the verses, and so on, we have nothing against them because they are all known and recited, praise be to Allah, day and night. So by what have you distinguished yourselves now in this moment, after two things have become clear to you: that a place is an existential thing, meaning a creation from nothing, and that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, was, and there was no place and no time.
The questioner : Authentic
The Shaykh : Good.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Then, then, all the scholars of the Salaf who believe in the verses of attributes and the hadiths of attributes, including the Most High, the Most Elevated, why do you understand from these texts and their statements that they placed Allah in a place?
The questioner : ..
The Shaykh : Allow me, allow me.
The questioner : Please go ahead.
The Shaykh : You distracted yourselves from them and said He is not in a place, why?
The questioner : I want to answer you.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Excellent, his statement, by Allah, this statement is excellent for me. We always say regarding the statement of the Salaf that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is above the created things, and that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is High or has the attribute of elevation. So we agree with them on this matter completely. But of course, we say that the statement of the Salaf is understood to mean that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is above the created things and High above the created things by elevation of rank, not tangible elevation.
The Shaykh : No, it is not only elevation of rank.
The questioner : Tangible elevation, no.
The Shaykh : Allow me, because the issue of sensation, my brother, is where your error came from. Sensation has to do with the universe, sensation has to do with the universe, meaning the created, not the Creator of the universe.
The questioner : You are correct.
The Shaykh: Okay
The questioner : This is excellent tawhid (the oneness of Allah) speech.
The Shaykh: Okay
The questioner : This is the speech of the monotheists, and we agree with you on this.
The Shaykh : But pay attention, watch yourself, you did not give me an answer to my question. I repeat it: by what have you distinguished yourselves from the scholars of the Salaf who believe that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is above the Throne, He rose above it, while believing that He is not in a place, because Allah was before He created the place, and He is now as He was before the creation of the place?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, by what have you distinguished yourselves? It will become clear now, it will become clear shortly, the difference between the belief of the Salaf and the belief of the Khalaf, and you are on this belief, meaning the one you fled from earlier. We do not say Allah is in every place.
The questioner : I want to answer, excellent, correct, yes.
The Shaykh : This is what you fled from. We fear that you have fallen into what is worse than what you fled from. Now.
The questioner : But you asked me and I did not answer, professor.
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : I told you, by what have you distinguished yourselves from the Salaf who say...
The Shaykh : I have not finished my speech; I am saying this now.
The questioner : It has not ended yet.
The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar, I am saying now that I want to complete my speech.
The questioner : Please go ahead.
The Shaykh : Now, I think it is clear to you that we do not say that Allah is in a place, correct?
The questioner : Excellent, this is what we need to agree on.
The Shaykh : Correct.
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh : But you do not say what Allah said, that Allah is in the sky and He is established above the Throne, and so on?
The questioner : Rather, we say that.
The Shaykh: I don't think so
The questioner : We say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic,
The Shaykh : I do not think—allow me, when I say "I do not think," stay with me. If you do not listen to my speech and proceed with your own, we will not understand each other.
The questioner : I want to prove to you
The Shaykh : I say I do not think you say this, because the source from which you derived these words, and those who provided this source for you, say that the statement that Allah is in the sky is the belief of the polytheists, and you said that just now.
The questioner : My sir, this is conjecture without knowledge, allow me, I mean.
The Shaykh : I am telling you, you said it just now. What conjecture without knowledge? May Allah guide you.
Ali: ... When I said that the word "in the sky" ... is it shirk or tawhid, because this is the word of the polytheists from before, I forgot.
The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar, oh, conjecture without knowledge.
The questioner : I mean, he is telling me that ... I mean, this
Ali: It will be conveyed to you what you said at the beginning of the session, if you remember.
The Shaykh : How quickly you forgot. Were you not the one who said, my brother, may Allah guide you, that the answer that Allah is in the sky is not an answer, because this is the belief of the polytheists? And I said to you, my brother, is it necessary that we contradict them in every belief they hold? You said no. So, if the polytheists say that Allah is in the sky, do we contradict them just to spite them?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : Or they might say Allah exists, Allah exists, and we say we, Allah does not exist, just to spite them?
The questioner : Of course, no.
The Shaykh : So, you forgot what you said, so I
The questioner : No, I did not forget, but the context in which you took my words ... I said that the belief that Allah is in the sky, in the sense of affirming a place for Allah, is what the disbelievers affirm, and the bare question about it is not useful. We need to be precise and understand what the context is for this.
The Shaykh : My brother, may Allah bless you.
The questioner : This is my intention.
The Shaykh : You are attributing to the verse what it does not bear. When our Lord says:[Al-Mulk 67:16] In your understanding, you understand from the verse the affirmation of a place, the affirmation of a created place, and based on that you say this is the belief of the polytheists.
The questioner : There are people who understood it this way, not just me.
The Shaykh : Be patient, be patient, ha, do you see how it is?
The questioner : I am showing you the view of a group of the community.
The Shaykh : We are in something, we become in something, my brother.
The questioner : May you be safe, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : You are saying, may Allah bless you, that this verse[Al-Mulk 67:16] affirms a place for Allah, and it explicitly states this, exactly. And if it were a slip of the tongue, that is fine. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, does not affirm a place for Himself, nor does He deny a place for Himself. Be patient. He does not affirm a place for Himself, nor does He deny a place for Himself. But if He denies, He denies something that does not befit Him, as you said just now, citing His saying, Exalted is He: [Ash-Shuraa 42:11] But this does not deny what He affirmed in the Qur'an, that He is in the sky. And as I told you just now, the answer of al-Bayhaqi says "in the sky, above the sky." So Allah has the attribute of being above and the attribute of being elevated above the Throne, as befits His Majesty and Greatness. If the Muslim says, "Allah is in the sky," then either he understands "in the sky" to mean that the sky is a container for Him, and this is misguidance.
The questioner : And we agree with you on that.
The Shaykh : Good.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh: Okay
The questioner : Meaning, he understands it in a physical sense, and this is misguidance.
The Shaykh : Or he understands "in the sky" to mean "above the sky," and that He is above all creation. You said a place, not a physical sense. I told you, my brother, may Allah bless you, the physical sense is related to creation, and our discussion is about the Creator. The Creator is above all the heavens, above all creation, an elevation that befits Him, Blessed and Exalted is He.
The questioner : Yes, correct, excellent.
The Shaykh : Now, we will say that we know and have heard from some of our shaykhs in Damascus, and we have read in some books of some sects, that Allah, Mighty and Majestic,
You are not over them a controller.
لست عليهم بمصيطرThe questioner : Several pieces of evidence, I will answer you.
The Shaykh : You are free, but the first verse you showed me does not mention a place. Listen, it does not mention a place, neither negatively nor affirmatively.
The questioner : Your statement is correct.
The Shaykh : Correct.
The questioner : Your statement is sound.
The Shaykh : Then withdraw your statement.
The questioner : I did not withdraw the verse.
The Shaykh : My statement is sound, and I will not withdraw it, heh.
Ali: What do you think, Abd al-Rahman, should you switch to Iyad for a bit?
The questioner : No, no, I won't.
The Shaykh: Hehehehe
The questioner : .. The Shaykh : He claimed he knew my point of view, but he did not know it, unfortunately.
The Shaykh : Heh heh, there is no power or might except with Allah. Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, "Understand before you are appointed to authority." Allah is the Greatest.
The questioner : Let me finish my point.
The Shaykh : No, do not finish. Prove to me where the place is in this verse, negatively or affirmatively.
Another questioner : From your notes, my dear?
The questioner : I told him several verses, he said okay, bring me a verse, I brought him a verse.
Another questioner : ... there is no evidence in it.
The questioner : I told him several verses, I did not tell him one verse, unfortunately he asked for one verse.
Another questioner : There is no evidence in this verse.
The Shaykh : And I will bring you verses now, I will bring you verses.
The questioner : And I want to bring you all the verses.
The Shaykh : I will bring you verses proving the existence of a place, and that Allah has no place, I will bring him verses.
The questioner : Yes.
Ali: What do you think?
The Shaykh : Listen, I will bring you verses proving the existence of a place for Allah, and that Allah has no place.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh :
(1) Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One, (2) Allah, the Eternal Refuge. (3) He neither begets nor is born,
قل هو الله أحد الله الصمد لم يلد ولم يولدThe questioner :
Nor is there to Him any equivalent."
ولم يكن له كفوا أحدThe Shaykh : Heh, finish it, memorize it, heh, okay,
Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawthar.
إنا أعطيناك الكوثرThe questioner : I do not have it memorized.
The Shaykh : Yes, I brought you two surahs containing several verses proving the existence of a place, where is the place?
The questioner : There is no evidence in them regarding a place.
Another questioner : Or...
The questioner : No, my two verses have it.
The Shaykh : Heh heh heh, listen everyone, listen now, we...
Another questioner : We do not agree with our brother.
The Shaykh : Sorry, may Allah reward you with good, may Allah reward you with good.
Another questioner : He did not hit the mark.
The Shaykh : Okay, may Allah reward you with good, do you have an answer to the question, and what is the question?
The questioner : Yes, is there in the Book and the Sunnah anything indicating our belief that Allah is not...?
The Shaykh : No, that is not the question.
The questioner : Well, repeat it to me.
The Shaykh : No, when will we stop changing and altering?
The questioner : No, by Allah...
The Shaykh : There is no power or might except with Allah, you say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, exists without a place.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Without a place.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I want a verse proving that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is not in a place.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This is first.
The questioner : By implication, of course, this is it.
The Shaykh : Please, please.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I said this first.
The questioner : This is first.
The Shaykh : When I say "first," what does it mean?
Another questioner : There is a second.
The Shaykh : There is a second, second, we want you to explain the word "place" to us. If you wish, you explain it, and if you wish, we explain it. The important thing now is that we want a verse negating a place for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. One verse, and as I told your friend and he refused, I am content, please, one verse.
The questioner : The verse indicating that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is free from a place and exists without a place is His saying:
There is nothing like unto Him
ليس كمثله شيءThe Shaykh : Very good.
The questioner : And by that He differs from His creation, meaning He is unlike them.
The Shaykh : Very good.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So the one who believes in His saying:
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
ليس كمثله شئ وهو السميع البصيرThe questioner : We affirm them and free Him, the Exalted.
The Shaykh : Very good.
The questioner : From resembling the created things.
The Shaykh : Then this evidence alone is not sufficient to negate a place, it is not sufficient to negate a place. Knowing, knowing, perhaps you remember with me, I said earlier, drawing the attention of this brother who is bringing a verse to negate a place, and the verse is not in that context. So I confronted him, I will bring you verses proving the existence of a place, and that Allah has no place. Did you notice this statement or not? And peace be upon you. I said earlier to draw the brother's attention that his argument with the verse is loading the verse with what it does not bear, because it did not mention a place, neither negatively nor affirmatively. So from the perspective of...
The questioner : implication.
The Shaykh : Yes, but from the perspective of drawing his attention, and I told him I will bring you verses to prove a place by them, arguing for a place by them, and that Allah has no place, and that Allah has no place, even...
The questioner: I mean...
The Shaykh : Even so that it does not come to your minds that I am saying Allah has a place, but to draw his attention that it is not permissible to argue that merely because we recite this verse, this verse negates a place. It is like me when I negated a place, I affirmed a place in Surah al-Ikhlas, "Indeed, We have given you al-Kawthar."
The questioner : We agree with you in correcting him.
The Shaykh : Fine, but I wanted to draw your attention, I wanted to draw your attention, I said Allah has no place, pay attention.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because what we understand from what was previously published of the disputes between the Khalaf and the Salaf, and what is being published now of what was published of the madhhab of the Khalaf, is that they understand from the belief of the Salaf who say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is above all created things, that they affirm a place for Allah. They understand this, and this understanding is wrong by a million percent. Therefore, I now want to say that it is not permissible for a Muslim to affirm something or deny something about Allah, Mighty and Majestic, except with evidence from the Book of Allah and the authentic Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : ... on the eye and on the head.
The Shaykh : And this is a word in which there is no disagreement, if Allah wills.
The questioner : But I want to ask a simple thing.
The Shaykh : The explanation is coming to you, the explanation is coming to you.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, this is a statement on the eye and on the head.
The Shaykh : Okay, now we say, does the word "place" mean an existential thing or a mental thing? If you did not understand the question.
The questioner : I understood.
The Shaykh : Here, may Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : I mean, do you want to say that a place is a conceptual matter or a tangible one?
The Shaykh : Well done.
The questioner : And this is a tangible matter, a place.
The Shaykh : Okay, so now if a place is existential.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, so does any Muslim believe that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, was from eternity in a place, where Allah was and nothing was with Him?
The questioner : No Muslim believes that.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : No, of course.
The Shaykh : No.
The Shaykh : Then do you believe that there is a learned Muslim who believes that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is in a place?
The questioner : Of course not.
The Shaykh : Then what is the disagreement now between you and those who believe in all the verses that affirm the elevation of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, above all His creations, by the verse
In the sky
في السماءThe Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established.
الرحمن على العرش استوىThe questioner : Authentic
The Shaykh : Good.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Then, then, all the scholars of the Salaf who believe in the verses of attributes and the hadiths of attributes, including the Most High, the Most Elevated, why do you understand from these texts and their statements that they placed Allah in a place?
The questioner : ..
The Shaykh : Allow me, allow me.
The questioner : Please go ahead.
The Shaykh : You distracted yourselves from them and said He is not in a place, why?
The questioner : I want to answer you.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Excellent, his statement, by Allah, this statement is excellent for me. We always say regarding the statement of the Salaf that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is above the created things, and that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is High or has the attribute of elevation. So we agree with them on this matter completely. But of course, we say that the statement of the Salaf is understood to mean that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is above the created things and High above the created things by elevation of rank, not tangible elevation.
The Shaykh : No, it is not only elevation of rank.
The questioner : Tangible elevation, no.
The Shaykh : Allow me, because the issue of sensation, my brother, is where your error came from. Sensation has to do with the universe, sensation has to do with the universe, meaning the created, not the Creator of the universe.
The questioner : You are correct.
The Shaykh: Okay
The questioner : This is excellent tawhid (the oneness of Allah) speech.
The Shaykh: Okay
The questioner : This is the speech of the monotheists, and we agree with you on this.
The Shaykh : But pay attention, watch yourself, you did not give me an answer to my question. I repeat it: by what have you distinguished yourselves from the scholars of the Salaf who believe that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is above the Throne, He rose above it, while believing that He is not in a place, because Allah was before He created the place, and He is now as He was before the creation of the place?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, by what have you distinguished yourselves? It will become clear now, it will become clear shortly, the difference between the belief of the Salaf and the belief of the Khalaf, and you are on this belief, meaning the one you fled from earlier. We do not say Allah is in every place.
The questioner : I want to answer, excellent, correct, yes.
The Shaykh : This is what you fled from. We fear that you have fallen into what is worse than what you fled from. Now.
The questioner : But you asked me and I did not answer, professor.
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : I told you, by what have you distinguished yourselves from the Salaf who say...
The Shaykh : I have not finished my speech; I am saying this now.
The questioner : It has not ended yet.
The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar, I am saying now that I want to complete my speech.
The questioner : Please go ahead.
The Shaykh : Now, I think it is clear to you that we do not say that Allah is in a place, correct?
The questioner : Excellent, this is what we need to agree on.
The Shaykh : Correct.
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh : But you do not say what Allah said, that Allah is in the sky and He is established above the Throne, and so on?
The questioner : Rather, we say that.
The Shaykh: I don't think so
The questioner : We say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic,
The Shaykh : I do not think—allow me, when I say "I do not think," stay with me. If you do not listen to my speech and proceed with your own, we will not understand each other.
The questioner : I want to prove to you
The Shaykh : I say I do not think you say this, because the source from which you derived these words, and those who provided this source for you, say that the statement that Allah is in the sky is the belief of the polytheists, and you said that just now.
The questioner : My sir, this is conjecture without knowledge, allow me, I mean.
The Shaykh : I am telling you, you said it just now. What conjecture without knowledge? May Allah guide you.
Ali: ... When I said that the word "in the sky" ... is it shirk or tawhid, because this is the word of the polytheists from before, I forgot.
The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar, oh, conjecture without knowledge.
The questioner : I mean, he is telling me that ... I mean, this
Ali: It will be conveyed to you what you said at the beginning of the session, if you remember.
The Shaykh : How quickly you forgot. Were you not the one who said, my brother, may Allah guide you, that the answer that Allah is in the sky is not an answer, because this is the belief of the polytheists? And I said to you, my brother, is it necessary that we contradict them in every belief they hold? You said no. So, if the polytheists say that Allah is in the sky, do we contradict them just to spite them?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : Or they might say Allah exists, Allah exists, and we say we, Allah does not exist, just to spite them?
The questioner : Of course, no.
The Shaykh : So, you forgot what you said, so I
The questioner : No, I did not forget, but the context in which you took my words ... I said that the belief that Allah is in the sky, in the sense of affirming a place for Allah, is what the disbelievers affirm, and the bare question about it is not useful. We need to be precise and understand what the context is for this.
The Shaykh : My brother, may Allah bless you.
The questioner : This is my intention.
The Shaykh : You are attributing to the verse what it does not bear. When our Lord says:
Do you feel secure that He who [holds authority] in the heaven
أأمنتم من في السماءThe questioner : There are people who understood it this way, not just me.
The Shaykh : Be patient, be patient, ha, do you see how it is?
The questioner : I am showing you the view of a group of the community.
The Shaykh : We are in something, we become in something, my brother.
The questioner : May you be safe, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : You are saying, may Allah bless you, that this verse
Do you feel secure that He who [holds authority] in the heaven
أأمنتم من في السماءThere is nothing like unto Him
ليس كمثله شيءThe questioner : And we agree with you on that.
The Shaykh : Good.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh: Okay
The questioner : Meaning, he understands it in a physical sense, and this is misguidance.
The Shaykh : Or he understands "in the sky" to mean "above the sky," and that He is above all creation. You said a place, not a physical sense. I told you, my brother, may Allah bless you, the physical sense is related to creation, and our discussion is about the Creator. The Creator is above all the heavens, above all creation, an elevation that befits Him, Blessed and Exalted is He.
The questioner : Yes, correct, excellent.
The Shaykh : Now, we will say that we know and have heard from some of our shaykhs in Damascus, and we have read in some books of some sects, that Allah, Mighty and Majestic,
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.