Discussion of the Attribute of Exaltation, the People's Schools of Thought on It, and the Refutation of Those Who Oppose the People of the Sunnah

The Exaltation of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is established by the Qur'an, the Sunnah, scholarly consensus, reason, and the innate natural disposition. All possible evidence is present to prove the Exaltation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Is the Exaltation an Exaltation of Essence or an Exaltation of Attribute? Meaning, is His Exaltation an Exaltation of Attribute or an Exaltation of Essence and Attribute? The second option is Essence and Attribute, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: and His saying: meaning the attribute Therefore, the Exaltation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is an Exaltation of Essence and an Exaltation of Attribute.
Regarding the Exaltation of Attribute, I do not know anyone who claims to be a Muslim who has denied it. All those who claim to be Muslims, whether innovators or followers of the Sunnah, all of them believe in the Exaltation of Allah the Exalted as an Exaltation of Attribute. But what is the Exaltation of Attribute? Here, understandings differ. Some say: From the Exaltation of His Attribute, they deny His attributes. This is another discussion.
The Exaltation of Essence is the point of contention between the followers of the Sunnah and the people of innovation. People have divided into three groups regarding it: And there is no harm in elaborating, because this is a matter of creed. One group affirmed it, one group denied it and said: It is not said that Allah the Exalted is above or below. And one group denied it and said: He (Blessed and Exalted is He) is in every place, in the sky and on the earth, in the markets, in the mosques, in the bathrooms — I seek refuge in Allah — in everything. So the opinions are three:
The first opinion: The Exaltation of Allah the Exalted by His Essence is that He is above everything by His Essence. Pay attention, my brother, I told you: This is indicated by the Book, the Sunnah, scholarly consensus, reason, and the innate natural disposition. We take one piece of evidence from each type. The Qur'an: How often Allah says in His Book and "The Most High" here is a descriptive attribute, and a descriptive attribute is an affirmative attribute that does not leave its described. And He (Mighty and Majestic) says: "The Most High" is a superlative name where the thing being compared to is omitted to indicate generality, meaning the Most High above everything. We are satisfied with this, and in the Qur'an there is what cannot be counted in various forms.
In the Sunnah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say when prostrating: And the verbal, practical, and confirmatory Sunnah indicated the Exaltation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So the saying of the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him): this is a verbal Sunnah. And his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) to the girl: She said: In the sky. He said: This is confirmatory. And raising his hands to the sky when supplicating, while he is calling upon Allah: O Lord, is a practical Sunnah.
And the practical Sunnah occurred in the largest gathering that took place for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with his Companions, and that was on the Day of 'Arafah when he said: They said: Yes. He said: O Allah, a reference to the Exaltation of Allah. Bear witness, this is the lowliness of the creation. He said it three times. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) bears witness to the confirmation of His Ummah that he conveyed the message, and do you bear witness? Yes, and we bear witness to Allah that he conveyed the clear message, and that he suffered the greatest hardship for it, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him. This is a practical Sunnah. So the Sunnah in all its types indicated the Exaltation of Allah.
Scholarly consensus: The consensus of the Companions and the Imams of the Muslims after them on the Exaltation of Allah. If someone says: Prove to me a single statement from Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali that they said Allah is High by His Essence. I say: These people read the Qur'an and know from the Sunnah what they knew, and not a single letter has come from them indicating the opposite of what came in the Qur'an, and that is sufficient as evidence. If they had an objection, a disagreement with what is in the Qur'an would have come from them, and they read the Qur'an, and they are Arabs who know the meaning and know what is intended. Will you not agree with me on this? And this is among the best things in establishing the consensus of the Companions, meaning if a person comes to you and says: Okay, my brother, prove to me a single statement from the Companions that they believed in the Exaltation of Allah by His Essence. I say: I do not need to prove it to you. They read the Qur'an and knew from the Sunnah what they knew, and not a single letter has come from them saying: That Allah is never in the sky, or that He is by His Essence in every place. And this is consensus. And so, my brothers, all the attributes for which nothing contradicting them has come from the Companions is evidence of their consensus.
Now, reason: Does reason indicate the Exaltation of Allah? Yes, it indicates the Exaltation of Allah, because if you asked any person: Is Exaltation more perfect or Lowliness? He would say to you: Exaltation is more perfect, without doubt. Even in worldly matters, he says: This garment is higher than this garment. Everyone knows that Exaltation is an attribute of perfection. And if that is the case, is the Lord described with perfection by reason or not? He is described with perfection by reason. For this reason, Ibrahim argued with his father using rational evidence: This is what is worshipped. This is rational argumentation. Also, we say that Exaltation, by the agreement of people of reason, is an attribute of perfection, and Lowliness, by the agreement of people of reason, is an attribute of deficiency. So at that time, the Exaltation of Essence is established for Allah by reason.
We are left with the innate natural disposition. Do not ask about the innate natural disposition? Ask an old woman who is turning the millstone to grind flour. Ask her: Where is Allah? And she has not studied the al-Wasitiyyah, the al-Tahawiyyah, or anything else. Ask her: Where is your Lord? What does she say? In any case, she says: In the sky, and she does not pause for a moment, because this is a matter on which the creation is innately disposed. It is said that Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni, may Allah forgive us and him — and he is the Imam of the Two Harams — used to speak about rising above the Throne. It is known that the Asha'irah, and they are from the Imams of the Asha'irah — may Allah forgive us and him — it is known that they deny the rising of Allah above the Throne. They say: He rose above the Throne means He took control of it, there is no Exaltation, He took control of it. The most recent of them is me, from a gathering that brought me together with common people, an ordinary gathering in a coffee shop. One of the students spoke in the same gathering and said: The people of figurative interpretation, meaning the people of distortion, say: They say: Then He rose above the Throne, then He took control of it. So the common person — a common person, a common person, a beauty carried on a beauty, traveling from one country to another — cursed him with a known curse among us in the common dialect, they say: May Allah punish him — meaning He punished him. The Throne is for whom before this? Look, Glorified is Allah, the innate natural disposition. Because He created, then He rose above, He created, then He took control. And before whom is it for? A common person. So the innate natural disposition indicates it. The important thing is they say that Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni spoke about rising above the Throne and said: "Allah the Exalted was, and there was no Throne or created thing, and He is now as He was" So if He was and there was no Throne, then He is now as He was, meaning He is not on the Throne. So Abu al-'Ala' al-Hamdani said to him: O Shaykh, leave us from mentioning the Throne — meaning let us discuss another topic — inform us about this innate natural disposition. He never said: O Allah, but he found in his heart a necessity to seek Exaltation. Yes, every person says: O Allah, ask him: Where does his heart go, right or left or up? His heart goes up. So he kept slapping his head: Al-Hamdani confused me, Al-Hamdani confused me. He was unable to answer. Because this is a matter of innate disposition, every person is innately disposed, except that the devils have carried him away, to the Exaltation of Allah the Exalted by His Essence above everything.
So the Exaltation of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is indicated by the Book, the Sunnah, scholarly consensus, reason, and the innate natural disposition.
The second group, or the second opinion in this issue: That Allah the Exalted is not described with Exaltation at all. How is He described? He said: In every place. Then they compared it to His saying the Exalted: "Wherever" is an adverb of place, meaning: In whatever place you are, Allah is with you. They said: Allah is with you in every place. Okay, if you are in the mosque, where is Allah? In the mosque. Someone else is in the bathroom, where is Allah? According to his claim — he is obligated to say this, or else let him return — that He is in the bathroom. How many gods are there now? Two. And one is in the market? Allah is in the market. How many are there? Three. And one is in the airplane? Allah is in the airplane. Does a sane person say this?
This opinion necessitates: First: Describing Allah with what is not fitting, that Allah is in bathrooms, toilets, dirty places, high places, and low places.
Second: One of two things is necessary: either the division of Allah or the multiplication of Allah. If they say it is by multiplication, we would shout at them a shout that would shatter their hearts: What do we say to them? You have committed disbelief and become greater than the Christians who said, "Allah is the third of three," while you say, "millions of millions." And if they say He is divided, we say: You have now invalidated your statement. If He is divided, and a part of Him is with so-and-so and a part with so-and-so, then He is not with so-and-so while he says: And He did not say, "A part of Him is with you." So you have now been abandoned, and praise be to Allah. And by Allah, I do not think the foot of a believer in Allah would remain firm upon this; I do not think a person who truly believes in Allah would have his foot remain firm upon the statement that Allah, by His Essence, is in every place forever.
As for what they have donned and likened to Him from His saying: We say: It does not follow from companionship that He is in the same place. For this reason, the Arabs say in their language: "The moon is with us, and its place is in the sky" And they say, "with us." The Arabs say, "The woman is with her husband," meaning she is under his protection, even if he is in the farthest east and she is in the farthest west. The commander directs his soldiers to a battle in the field and says, "Go and fight in the name of Allah, and I am with you," while he is in his place. So the meaning of companionship is broad and does not necessitate mixing, neither in place nor in essence. So, praise be to Allah, this statement is invalid; the statement that He is by His Essence in every place is false.
We are left with the third statement. What is it? It says: Do not describe Allah as being with you, nor above, nor below, nor connected, nor separated, nor distinct, nor neutral. Do not describe Allah with height or descent, nor right or left, nor connected to creation or distinct from it. Where is He? Non-existence. For this reason, some scholars of knowledge said: If we were told to describe non-existence, we would not find a description more precise than this. And when Ibn Fura was brought to the prince Muhammad ibn Sibtakin (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the heroes, he was brought to him and told, "Describe your Lord to us." He said, "The Lord (Mighty and Majestic) is not inside the world, nor outside the world, nor right, nor left, nor connected, nor separated." He said to him, "You have described your Lord as non-existent. If you wanted to describe non-existence, you would not find a better description than this." And he spoke the truth (may Allah have mercy on him). Where is Allah according to this claim? He is not existent; He is non-existent.
So praise be to Allah. We ask Allah to cause us and you to die upon the religion of Islam and the path of those upon whom Allah has bestowed favor. The statement in which no rational person doubts its validity, and no person can believe in anything other than it except one whom the devils have seized, is that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is High by His Essence and High by His Attributes, and it is not possible for the foot of a believer in Allah and the Last Day to remain firm except upon this statement.