If the descent of Allah to the lowest heaven is a real descent, are the heavens and the angels above Him or below Him?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : ... Question, O Shaykh ... If the descent is real, if Allah descends with His Essence
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : ... are the heavens and the angels above Him or below Him ... ?
The Shaykh : This is also one of the matters we must know: that Allah is above everything. Even if He descends to the lowest heaven, Allah the Exalted is above everything and cannot be compared to His creation. We say He descends, and He is above everything. Therefore, some scholars, fearing this doubt, said "Allah the Exalted raises the lowest heaven" to place it above the seventh heaven, so that nothing from the heavens would be above Him. But this is an error. If He raised the lowest heaven, what would it become? It would become the upper one, not the lower one. The correct approach is to turn away from all of this with our hearts and tongues, and to be content with what the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were content with. We believe that He the Exalted descends to the lowest heaven, as His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us, and we do not go beyond that. Praise be to Allah, He has not burdened us with this. For if this were something we were obligated to understand, Allah the Exalted would have clarified it with a sufficient explanation, because it pertains to creed, and creed must be clear and built upon a clear matter.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : ... are the heavens and the angels above Him or below Him ... ?
The Shaykh : This is also one of the matters we must know: that Allah is above everything. Even if He descends to the lowest heaven, Allah the Exalted is above everything and cannot be compared to His creation. We say He descends, and He is above everything. Therefore, some scholars, fearing this doubt, said "Allah the Exalted raises the lowest heaven" to place it above the seventh heaven, so that nothing from the heavens would be above Him. But this is an error. If He raised the lowest heaven, what would it become? It would become the upper one, not the lower one. The correct approach is to turn away from all of this with our hearts and tongues, and to be content with what the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were content with. We believe that He the Exalted descends to the lowest heaven, as His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us, and we do not go beyond that. Praise be to Allah, He has not burdened us with this. For if this were something we were obligated to understand, Allah the Exalted would have clarified it with a sufficient explanation, because it pertains to creed, and creed must be clear and built upon a clear matter.