The rational evidence for the invalidity of the claim that Allah is with us in every place.
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The Shaykh : False implications, without a doubt.
First: It necessitates either multiplicity or division. Yes, either multiplicity or division. That is, either Allah is a number without limit, for the places are many and uncountable, or division, meaning His part is here—may Allah grant us safety—and His part is there, and His part is there, and His part is there. This is a false implication, and not a true one? It is a false implication without a doubt, and the falsity of the implication indicates the falsity of the implied thing.
Second: We say, if you say that He is with you in the places, it necessitates that He increases as the people increase. As the people increase, their places increase, and He decreases as the people decrease. Like this village now, it has a thousand people, a thousand houses, so is He with every person in his house or not? They died or moved out of the village. So it means it decreased. It was originally this square full of Allah the Exalted, and now it decreased and went to a second village. Yes, correct. This is also a defective implication. And it also necessitates the third defective implication: If you say Allah is with you in every place, and may Allah protect us, it necessitates that you do not purify Him from filthy places, because you will enter the house of relief. So if you say that Allah is with you, and may Allah protect us, this is the greatest defect in Allah the Exalted.
Thus, it becomes clear that their claim is contrary to the hearing (scripture) and contrary to reason, and that the Qur'an does not indicate it in any way of indication, neither by direct indication, nor by inclusion, nor by implication, ever.
As for the others, we say to them: Your denial of the direction necessitates the denial of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, for we do not know of anything that is not above the universe, nor below it, nor to the right, nor to the left, nor connected, nor disconnected, except non-existence. For this reason, some scholars said: If we were told to describe Allah with non-existence, we would not find a truer description of non-existence than this description. So their claim is, in reality, a denial of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic.
Second: Your claim that it necessitates ascribing a body to Allah. We will discuss with you the word "body":
What is this body that you make a scarecrow to frighten people from affirming the attributes of Allah for its sake?!
Do you mean by body the thing composed of things, some of which depend on others? Yes, it cannot stand except by the gathering of these parts. If you mean this, we do not accept it, and we say that Allah is not a body in this meaning. But who said that affirming His Highness necessitates this body? Who said? It is merely a claim from you. And it is sufficient for us—look, the mere claim is sufficient to say: No acceptance. You see, this is from the category of important debates. The mere claim is sufficient to say: No acceptance. Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So in the case of a mere claim, non-acceptance is sufficient. We say: We do not accept that it is necessary for the affirmation of the Highness of Allah by His Essence that He be a body in this meaning that you mentioned.
But if you mean by body the Eye or the Self that stands by itself, described with what befits it, then we affirm that, and we say that Allah the Exalted has a Self that stands by itself, described with the attributes of perfection. And this is what every person knows, even the old woman in her place knows that. And what obstacle prevents this thing? What obstacle? There is no obstacle at all. Rather, this is perfection. This is perfection.
And by this, the invalidity of the claim of those who affirmed that Allah is in every place by His Essence, or that Allah the Exalted is not above the universe, nor below it, nor connected, nor disconnected, and so on, becomes clear. And we say: He is above His Throne, He rose above it, Mighty and Majestic.
As for the evidences of Highness that establish what the people of the Sunnah and the community said, they are many evidences whose individuals cannot be counted. And as for their types, they are five: The Book, the Sunnah, consensus, reason, and fitrah. Five types.
As for the Book: Its evidences regarding the Highness of Allah the Exalted varied, including the explicit statement of Highness and being above, and the ascent of things to Him and their descent from Him, and the like of that.
And as for the Sunnah: Similarly, its indications varied, and the Sunnah agreed in its three categories on that, on the Highness of Allah by His Essence. The Highness of Allah by His Essence was established in the Sunnah from the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), his doing, and his approval.
And as for consensus: The Muslims agreed before the emergence of these innovated sects that Allah the Exalted is established above His Throne, above His creation. The Shaykh al-Islam says: "There is nothing in the speech of Allah, nor His Messenger, nor the speech of the Companions, nor those who followed them in goodness, that indicates, neither by explicit text nor by apparent meaning, that Allah the Exalted is not above the Throne, and not in the sky, and the like of that." All their speech agreed that Allah is above everything.
And as for reason: We say, is Highness an attribute of deficiency or perfection? Everyone knows that it is perfection. Yes. And if it is an attribute of perfection, absolute perfection, not relative perfection, then it must be established for Allah, because Allah is described with the attributes of perfection. It is clear. And therefore we say: Either Allah is in the highest, or in the lowest, or level with the lowest. Being level is impossible, because the lowest is a deficiency in its meaning, and being level is a deficiency due to the similarity and likeness to the created. So nothing remains except Highness. The lowest is a defect for the essence of the lowest, and being level is a defect for the likeness of deficiency. So nothing remains except Highness. And this is another aspect of the rational evidence. What is the first aspect? That Highness is an attribute of perfection, absolute perfection, so it must be established for Allah the Exalted.
Second: We say that it is not free from three things: either the lowest, or being level, or Highness. The lowest is a defect in itself, and being level is a defect for the likeness to the other. And as for Highness, it is the established one. And this is what is required.
As for fitrah: We say, ask the old women, O Muhammad Nur, ask the old women what they do when they call upon Allah? They raise their hands to the sky, or not? And as for, and may Allah protect us, some of the atheists who deny the Highness of the Essence, when they call, they put their hands on the ground. We say, okay, is this correct or not in your opinion? If you said you put Allah on the ground, it means He is in the lowest. May Allah grant us safety. Yes, intentionally, or may Allah protect us, their intention is to argue with the people of truth and to oppose the people of truth. In any case, no person says "O Allah" except that he raises his hands to the sky. It is fitrah. So the evidences, and praise be to Allah, the five, agreed on the Highness of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, by His Essence.
And as for the Highness of the attributes, it is a matter of consensus from everyone who professes the religion of Islam or calls himself a Muslim.
First: It necessitates either multiplicity or division. Yes, either multiplicity or division. That is, either Allah is a number without limit, for the places are many and uncountable, or division, meaning His part is here—may Allah grant us safety—and His part is there, and His part is there, and His part is there. This is a false implication, and not a true one? It is a false implication without a doubt, and the falsity of the implication indicates the falsity of the implied thing.
Second: We say, if you say that He is with you in the places, it necessitates that He increases as the people increase. As the people increase, their places increase, and He decreases as the people decrease. Like this village now, it has a thousand people, a thousand houses, so is He with every person in his house or not? They died or moved out of the village. So it means it decreased. It was originally this square full of Allah the Exalted, and now it decreased and went to a second village. Yes, correct. This is also a defective implication. And it also necessitates the third defective implication: If you say Allah is with you in every place, and may Allah protect us, it necessitates that you do not purify Him from filthy places, because you will enter the house of relief. So if you say that Allah is with you, and may Allah protect us, this is the greatest defect in Allah the Exalted.
Thus, it becomes clear that their claim is contrary to the hearing (scripture) and contrary to reason, and that the Qur'an does not indicate it in any way of indication, neither by direct indication, nor by inclusion, nor by implication, ever.
As for the others, we say to them: Your denial of the direction necessitates the denial of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, for we do not know of anything that is not above the universe, nor below it, nor to the right, nor to the left, nor connected, nor disconnected, except non-existence. For this reason, some scholars said: If we were told to describe Allah with non-existence, we would not find a truer description of non-existence than this description. So their claim is, in reality, a denial of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic.
Second: Your claim that it necessitates ascribing a body to Allah. We will discuss with you the word "body":
What is this body that you make a scarecrow to frighten people from affirming the attributes of Allah for its sake?!
Do you mean by body the thing composed of things, some of which depend on others? Yes, it cannot stand except by the gathering of these parts. If you mean this, we do not accept it, and we say that Allah is not a body in this meaning. But who said that affirming His Highness necessitates this body? Who said? It is merely a claim from you. And it is sufficient for us—look, the mere claim is sufficient to say: No acceptance. You see, this is from the category of important debates. The mere claim is sufficient to say: No acceptance. Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The proof is upon the claimant
البينة على المدعيBut if you mean by body the Eye or the Self that stands by itself, described with what befits it, then we affirm that, and we say that Allah the Exalted has a Self that stands by itself, described with the attributes of perfection. And this is what every person knows, even the old woman in her place knows that. And what obstacle prevents this thing? What obstacle? There is no obstacle at all. Rather, this is perfection. This is perfection.
And by this, the invalidity of the claim of those who affirmed that Allah is in every place by His Essence, or that Allah the Exalted is not above the universe, nor below it, nor connected, nor disconnected, and so on, becomes clear. And we say: He is above His Throne, He rose above it, Mighty and Majestic.
As for the evidences of Highness that establish what the people of the Sunnah and the community said, they are many evidences whose individuals cannot be counted. And as for their types, they are five: The Book, the Sunnah, consensus, reason, and fitrah. Five types.
As for the Book: Its evidences regarding the Highness of Allah the Exalted varied, including the explicit statement of Highness and being above, and the ascent of things to Him and their descent from Him, and the like of that.
And as for the Sunnah: Similarly, its indications varied, and the Sunnah agreed in its three categories on that, on the Highness of Allah by His Essence. The Highness of Allah by His Essence was established in the Sunnah from the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), his doing, and his approval.
And as for consensus: The Muslims agreed before the emergence of these innovated sects that Allah the Exalted is established above His Throne, above His creation. The Shaykh al-Islam says: "There is nothing in the speech of Allah, nor His Messenger, nor the speech of the Companions, nor those who followed them in goodness, that indicates, neither by explicit text nor by apparent meaning, that Allah the Exalted is not above the Throne, and not in the sky, and the like of that." All their speech agreed that Allah is above everything.
And as for reason: We say, is Highness an attribute of deficiency or perfection? Everyone knows that it is perfection. Yes. And if it is an attribute of perfection, absolute perfection, not relative perfection, then it must be established for Allah, because Allah is described with the attributes of perfection. It is clear. And therefore we say: Either Allah is in the highest, or in the lowest, or level with the lowest. Being level is impossible, because the lowest is a deficiency in its meaning, and being level is a deficiency due to the similarity and likeness to the created. So nothing remains except Highness. The lowest is a defect for the essence of the lowest, and being level is a defect for the likeness of deficiency. So nothing remains except Highness. And this is another aspect of the rational evidence. What is the first aspect? That Highness is an attribute of perfection, absolute perfection, so it must be established for Allah the Exalted.
Second: We say that it is not free from three things: either the lowest, or being level, or Highness. The lowest is a defect in itself, and being level is a defect for the likeness to the other. And as for Highness, it is the established one. And this is what is required.
As for fitrah: We say, ask the old women, O Muhammad Nur, ask the old women what they do when they call upon Allah? They raise their hands to the sky, or not? And as for, and may Allah protect us, some of the atheists who deny the Highness of the Essence, when they call, they put their hands on the ground. We say, okay, is this correct or not in your opinion? If you said you put Allah on the ground, it means He is in the lowest. May Allah grant us safety. Yes, intentionally, or may Allah protect us, their intention is to argue with the people of truth and to oppose the people of truth. In any case, no person says "O Allah" except that he raises his hands to the sky. It is fitrah. So the evidences, and praise be to Allah, the five, agreed on the Highness of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, by His Essence.
And as for the Highness of the attributes, it is a matter of consensus from everyone who professes the religion of Islam or calls himself a Muslim.