The People's Schools of Thought on the Issue of Allah's Accompaniment
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The Shaykh : The strange thing is that some sects have deviated severely on the issue of Allah's accompaniment. Some of them said: [At-Tawbah 9:40] He is present in the places. As you know, this is extremely serious. If a person dies holding this belief, we do not know whether he died a disbeliever or a Muslim, even if he used to pray, because he has belittled Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
And the wonder is that if you were to say to these people: Call upon Allah, where would they raise their hands?
To the sky, they say. "O Allah." They do not turn it to the right or to the left or downward, but to the sky. So by their innate disposition, they acknowledge that Allah is in the sky, but by their desires, they do not acknowledge this.
Their argument is that they say: If He were above, He would be limited and He would be a body, and so on, which are inspirations from Satan.
So we say: No, what is above is not limited, and nothing limits Him. He is above everything, and everything is beneath Him, and nothing limits Him.
They say: It necessitates that He be a body. We say: If it is necessitated by affirming what Allah has affirmed for Himself that He be a body, then let it be. And if it is necessitated that He be a body, and this is what is entailed by the speech of Allah and His Messenger, then let it be. But we purify our tongues from saying: He is a body or not a body. We have no right to speak of this. We believe in what Allah has informed us about Himself and what His Messenger has informed us about Him, and we do not define Him as a body or not a body, or as having dimensions. We do not define this; it is not our right. For Allah the Exalted, in His Essence, differs from the essence of creation; He is not of the same kind as the created things in any way. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said:[Ash-Shuraa 42:11].
So our advice to whoever hears us is to affirm for Allah what He has affirmed for Himself, and not to ask how or why, because Allah is too Great to be encompassed by minds. And to deny what Allah has denied about Himself, and to remain silent about what Allah and His Messenger have remained silent about. This is the reality of faith.
As for the one who judges about Allah with his mind, he is a misguidance follower of his desire, and his faith does not benefit him.
The opposite of this is another misguided sect that says: Do not say that Allah is above or below, or to the right or to the left, or connected to the universe or separate from the universe.
Where is He? Where does He go?
There is nothing in it. If we describe Allah with these negative attributes, it means that Allah was not a thing. For this reason, al-Mahmudi ibn Subuktaki (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the great princes of the Abbasid state, said: "One of the scholars of Kalam, Muhammad al-Farqa, was asked about Allah (Mighty and Majestic). He said: He is not above, not below, not to the right, not to the left, not connected, not separate. So Mahmud said to him: Distinguish for me between non-existence and what you are saying?" Is this correct or not correct?
Yes, it is correct. If it is like this, it means He is non-existent. Distinguish for me between the god you claim and non-existence?
So the disbeliever was dumbfounded; he could not speak.
So look at two false deviations:
The first is the deviation of indwelling, and the second is the negative deviation.
As for the Salaf and the Imams, they said: "We believe that Allah is above everything, and He is far from being in the lowest place, but He is with the creation, encompassing them, All-Knowing, All-Hearing, All-Seeing, and so on." O Allah, guide us among those You have guided. And the explanation ends here, so let us take questions.
indeed Allah is with us
إن الله معناAnd the wonder is that if you were to say to these people: Call upon Allah, where would they raise their hands?
To the sky, they say. "O Allah." They do not turn it to the right or to the left or downward, but to the sky. So by their innate disposition, they acknowledge that Allah is in the sky, but by their desires, they do not acknowledge this.
Their argument is that they say: If He were above, He would be limited and He would be a body, and so on, which are inspirations from Satan.
So we say: No, what is above is not limited, and nothing limits Him. He is above everything, and everything is beneath Him, and nothing limits Him.
They say: It necessitates that He be a body. We say: If it is necessitated by affirming what Allah has affirmed for Himself that He be a body, then let it be. And if it is necessitated that He be a body, and this is what is entailed by the speech of Allah and His Messenger, then let it be. But we purify our tongues from saying: He is a body or not a body. We have no right to speak of this. We believe in what Allah has informed us about Himself and what His Messenger has informed us about Him, and we do not define Him as a body or not a body, or as having dimensions. We do not define this; it is not our right. For Allah the Exalted, in His Essence, differs from the essence of creation; He is not of the same kind as the created things in any way. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said:
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
ليس كمثله شيء وهو السميع البصيرSo our advice to whoever hears us is to affirm for Allah what He has affirmed for Himself, and not to ask how or why, because Allah is too Great to be encompassed by minds. And to deny what Allah has denied about Himself, and to remain silent about what Allah and His Messenger have remained silent about. This is the reality of faith.
As for the one who judges about Allah with his mind, he is a misguidance follower of his desire, and his faith does not benefit him.
The opposite of this is another misguided sect that says: Do not say that Allah is above or below, or to the right or to the left, or connected to the universe or separate from the universe.
Where is He? Where does He go?
There is nothing in it. If we describe Allah with these negative attributes, it means that Allah was not a thing. For this reason, al-Mahmudi ibn Subuktaki (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the great princes of the Abbasid state, said: "One of the scholars of Kalam, Muhammad al-Farqa, was asked about Allah (Mighty and Majestic). He said: He is not above, not below, not to the right, not to the left, not connected, not separate. So Mahmud said to him: Distinguish for me between non-existence and what you are saying?" Is this correct or not correct?
Yes, it is correct. If it is like this, it means He is non-existent. Distinguish for me between the god you claim and non-existence?
So the disbeliever was dumbfounded; he could not speak.
So look at two false deviations:
The first is the deviation of indwelling, and the second is the negative deviation.
As for the Salaf and the Imams, they said: "We believe that Allah is above everything, and He is far from being in the lowest place, but He is with the creation, encompassing them, All-Knowing, All-Hearing, All-Seeing, and so on." O Allah, guide us among those You have guided. And the explanation ends here, so let us take questions.