Where is God? Another answer

Name of Questioner Abdul Muiz   – Singapore   Title Where is God? Another answer   Date 04/Sep/2002   Question Assalamu’ alaikum wr wb to the consultants,May I know where is Allah? Could you please answer with the Qur’an or the sunnah of the rasul (messenger) or his companions.Thank You     Topic Islamic Creed   Name of Counselor Yusuf Estes

Answer

I praise Allah, all of the praise is only for Him Alone.Let us explain some important points about the concept of Allah (God) in Islam.In the Holy Qur’an, Allah says that He is All Hearing, All Knowing, All Seeing and that He is as close to us, as our jugular vein. He also states that He is close to us in the third part of the night, when we are praying to Him. Additionally, He tells us that there is never a gathering of three in His Name, except that He is the Fourth or two and He is the Third. Yet, at the same time we know that Allah is not a “part of His creation.” So the question now becomes: What do Muslims believe about Allah? As Muslims, we believe that Allah is above everything. What we believe of Allah is based on what Allah has revealed in His Book (the Qur’an), and what has been continuously reported from His messenger (pbuh), and what the early generation of Muslim scholars unanimously agreed upon. Muslims believe that Allah, The Glorified, is exalted above His creatures. Still, He is with them, wherever they be and knows whatever they do. He summed it up in His saying: …. He knows what enters within the earth and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And God sees well all that ye do. Surah 57 Verse 4 His saying ‘He is with you’ does not mean that He is commingled with the creatures. The language does not indicate this and it is against what the early generation of the ummah (Muslim nation) agreed upon. This would be contrary to Allah’s creation of all things. For example, the moon is one of Allah’s signs to be found amongst His creatures. It is placed in the skies where it is at the same time with both the traveler and the one who is not a traveler, wherever they are. Exactly, He, The Glorified, keeps a watchful eye over His creatures, ruling over them. Thus, the Islamic concept of God should be protected from false conjectures and distortion. Such conjectures, as thinking that the apparent meaning of His saying ‘in heavens’ means that heavens contain Him. This is invalid, according to the consensus of all the people of knowledge and faith! The closeness of Allah to His ‘abd (servant or worshipper), is that He is very close to His creatures, responding, as He has summed it up in His saying: When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way. Surah 2 Verse 186 Also, the Prophet (pbuh) said to his companions, when they raised their voices in invocation of Allah: ‘What has been revealed in the Book (i.e., the Qur’an) and in the sunnah – of His closeness – does not contradict what has been told of His exaltation and highness. Indeed, Glory be to Him, there is none like Him in all His attributes, and He is high in His nearness and near in His highness.’ Muslims believe the Qur’an is the word of Allah. An essential part of the belief in Allah and His Books is the belief that the Qur’an is Allah’s Word revealed. It is the Word of Allah, its letters and its meaning. The Word of Allah is not the words only, without meaning, and not the meaning only, without words. Seeing Allah on the Day of Judgment is also a part of the belief in Allah. What we referred to of believing in Him, in His Books, and in His messengers, includes also the belief that those who believe will see Him with their eyes, just as they see the sun on a day free of clouds; Just as they see the full moon without obstacle, they will see Him, The Glorified, while they are in the day of judgment; and they will see Him after entering Paradise. This is as Allah, The Glorified, The Exalted, wills. Here are some of the evidences from the Qur’an itself. The message of the Qur’an is a clear message regarding Him not being “IN” His creation nor is He “like” His creation, nor “dependent” on His creation. God! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory). Surah 2 Verse 255 Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. Surah 112 Verses 1 – 6 To God belong the east and the West: Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of God. For God is all-Pervading, all-Knowing. Surah 2 Verse 115 But to God belong all things in the heavens and on earth: And He it is that Encompasseth all things. Surah 4 Verse 126 He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent: and He has full knowledge of all things. Surah 57 Verse 3 No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things. Surah 6 Verse 103 Additionally, we invite those interested to learn more about our belief in Allah to visit the following pages: http://www.TodayIslam.com/belief.htm Finally, I would like to add that only Allah is All Knowing. Any good is from Him & the mistakes were from myself. Please pray for me and ask Allah to forgive me. May Allah guide all of us to His truth, ameen. Salaam ‘alaykum

Where is God? Question in islamonline.net

Name of Questioner Abdul Muiz   – Singapore   Title Where is God?   Date 19/Aug/2002   Question Assalamu’ alaikum wr wb to the consultants,May I know where is Allah? Could you please answer with the Qur’an or the sunnah of the rasul (messenger) or his companions.Thank You     Topic Islamic Creed   Name of Counselor Daud Matthews

Answer

May Allah reward you for your question.Let us first realize that Allah is absolutely other than His creation. The Creator cannot by any means be the same type of being as that which He creates. It also follows that to ‘locate’ Allah would be to place Him in our space and time dimension when we know this is definitely not the case. Allah is not in our space/time dimension. He is not subject to the same constraints that we are. This is self-evident to sense and reason.The Qur’an tells us: Your Guardian-Lord is God, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and is firmly established on the throne (of authority)… Surah 7 Verse 54 In this passage from the Qur’an we are being informed, Allah is above the throne. [The concept of throne here is beyond the understanding of humans.] Glory to (God) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things). Surah 17 Verse 1 This passage is relating how Muhammad (pbuh) started the Night Journey, the Mirage, where he was taken through the heavens to Allah. After his ascent to the heavens, the companions asked him if he had seen Allah. On the authority of Abu Darr, on one occasion, he answered: ‘He is the Light. How do I see Him?’ (Narrated by Muslim, Ibn Majah and Ibn Hanbal) On another occasion he answered: ‘I have seen a Light.’ (Narrated by Muslim) We are told Allah is above the throne. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: ‘Compared with the kursi (seat of honor), the whole universe is as little as a ring thrown upon a desert. Similarly, compared with the ‘arsh (throne), the kursi is as little as a ring thrown upon the desert.’ (Tafsir a-Tabari) How can we even begin to think the reality of the kursi and ‘arsh from which the All-Mighty in His Infinite Majesty sends out His Will and Command and sustains His creation, let alone begin to conceive of Allah Himself? Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) could only say, ‘He is the Light, how do I see Him? … and, I have seen a Light.’ Whatever begins to form in our minds, Allah is greater than that. And verily, We shall recount their whole story with knowledge, for We were never absent (at any time or place). Surah 7 Verse 7 …We are nearer to him (man) than (his) jugular vein. Surah 50 Verse 16 …He knows what enters within the earth and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And God sees well all that ye do. Surah 57 Verse 4 There are many passages in the Qur’an, which refer to Allah being with us and seeing us. What ‘being with us’ means is that His knowledge is over everything and through His knowledge He is observing and witnessing, there is nothing outside of His knowledge. For our part, we feel the existence and presence of Allah, in the depths of our heart, through the universe, which He has created and opened to us like a book, and through the wonderful harmony between all His creations. In fact, this vision is completely different from that of other religions, among which are those who either believe in incarnation or give God human attributes. It is also differs from the the modernist vision of nature, human nature, deity and transcendence. Accordingly, in Islam, the ‘location’ question, in many writings, is distinguished from the ‘knowledge’ question. So, yes, Allah is nearer to us than our own veins, yet that is not in time, place or location. Allah’s all-encompassing knowledge is the key to the answer here.