The answer to their third objection, which is their argument based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: "And He is with you wherever you are."
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : These misguided innovators argued that Allah is in every place by His essence, citing the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Hadid 57:4] [Al-Hadid 57:4] They asked: To whom does the pronoun in His saying refer? Answer, everyone: It refers to Allah. "With you" means accompanying you wherever you are, meaning in whatever place you are. This indicates that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is in every place by His essence. If you are in the mosque, He is in the mosque; if you are in the market, He is in the market; if you are in the house, He is in the house; if you are in the sky, He is in the sky; and if you are in the sea, He is in the sea.
There is no doubt that this is a deniable statement, a deviation, and a departure from the exaltation of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. The verse contains no evidence whatsoever for what they claimed, because Allah being with us does not necessitate that He is with us on the earth. A thing may be with a person while being above him, or a thing may be with a person while being far from him; the term "with" is used linguistically even if it is not co-located with him in place. For example, we see the moon shining and say, "The moon is with us." The Arabs say in their speech: "We kept traveling and the moon was with us" "We kept traveling and the star was with us" "We kept traveling and the Pole Star was with us" and the like. Where is the place of the moon? In the sky. So too the star, and so too the Pole Star; they are all in the sky, yet it is said in eloquent Arabic that they are with us. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is with us, yet He is in the sky. He is in the sky, Glorified and Exalted is He, above everything, and He is with His servants, knowing their secrets and their open deeds, knowing their conditions, and nothing is hidden from Him on earth or in the sky.
and He is with you wherever you are
وهو معكم أينما كنتمand He is with you wherever you are
وهو معكم أينما كنتمAnd He
وهوThere is no doubt that this is a deniable statement, a deviation, and a departure from the exaltation of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. The verse contains no evidence whatsoever for what they claimed, because Allah being with us does not necessitate that He is with us on the earth. A thing may be with a person while being above him, or a thing may be with a person while being far from him; the term "with" is used linguistically even if it is not co-located with him in place. For example, we see the moon shining and say, "The moon is with us." The Arabs say in their speech: "We kept traveling and the moon was with us" "We kept traveling and the star was with us" "We kept traveling and the Pole Star was with us" and the like. Where is the place of the moon? In the sky. So too the star, and so too the Pole Star; they are all in the sky, yet it is said in eloquent Arabic that they are with us. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is with us, yet He is in the sky. He is in the sky, Glorified and Exalted is He, above everything, and He is with His servants, knowing their secrets and their open deeds, knowing their conditions, and nothing is hidden from Him on earth or in the sky.