Where Is Allāh? - Day 12 (1444.h)
ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنُ عَلَى ٱلۡعَرۡشِ ٱسۡتَوَىٰ
The Most Gracious (Allâh) rose over (Istawâ) the (Mighty) Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty).
Sūrah Ṭa-Ha, Āyah 5
Where is Allāh…? Have you ever been asked this question? Well the simple answer is, Allāh is where He said He is:
ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنُ عَلَى ٱلۡعَرۡشِ ٱسۡتَوَىٰ
The Most Gracious (Allâh) rose over (Istawâ) the (Mighty) Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty).
Most of us grew up with corrupt belief that Allāh is everywhere, and exalted is Allāh above every lie people have constructed concerning Him! Allāh is everywhere? Such statements are expected when we have moved far from seeking knowledge of the correct ʿAqīdah (creed) that the Muslim should be upon.
Many of us have misunderstood many of the Āyāt (verses) speaking about Allāh’s names and attributed, from them is the saying of The Most High:
وَهُوَ مَعَكُمۡ أَيۡنَ مَا كُنتُمْۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
And He is with you (by His Knowledge) wheresoever you may be. And Allâh is the All-Seer of what you do.
Sūrah Al-Ḥadīd:4
Allāh, The Mighty and Majestic is with us, not physically, but by His Knowledge. Allah is well separated from His Creation, and that is the wisdom behind what came after “and He is with you (by His Knowledge) where’s lever you may be”, indicating that Allāh is well aware and acquainted with whatever it is we do, the secret and public affairs we engage in, the “private calls”, “private DMs”, and gatherings, because His knowledge is All-Encompassing.
يَتَنَزَّلُ ٱلْأَمْرُ بَيْنَهُنَّ لِتَعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌۭ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ قَدْ أَحَاطَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عِلْمًۢا
His Command descends between them (heavens and earth), that you may know that Allâh has power over all things, and that Allâh surrounds all things in (His) Knowledge.
Sūrah Aṭ-Ṭalāq:12
In the Tafsīr of Al-Imām Ibn Kathīr - May Allāh have mercy upon him - he mentioned concerning Āyah 4 of Sūrah Al-Ḥadīd:
Meaning, He is watching over you and witnessing your deeds wherever you may be, on land or at sea, during the night or the day, at home or in open areas or deserts. All of that is the same before His knowledge and all of it is under His sight and hearing. He hears your speech and sees where you are. He knows your secrets and your public statements.
And important point we must pay attention to in order to protect our Islāmic creed which Allāh legislated for us is the affair of Qurʾān translations! The translations of the Qurʾān that we get our hands on should be in line with the creed of Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ) and his companions, likewise we should avoid self-understood Tafāsīr (Tafsirs), and be extremely careful in embracing modern-day practices like “Qur’an journaling”… Of course you can jot your reflections, but to go on to explain the meanings in a verses in an incorrect manner just following our desires is a BIG NO! Alḥamdulillāh the scholars have recommended the translation of Dr. Muḥsin Khān and Shaykh Taqī-ud-Dīn al–Hilālī - may Allāh have mercy on them both, because of the excellent manner in which the verses are translated, giving due explanations to the verses without falsely explaining them away, and bringing the reader of the translation closer to the intended meaning of the Āyāt (verses).
To circle back, the correct answer to the question: ‘where is Allāh?’ is that He is above His ʿArsh (Throne), as He (سبحانه و تعالى) stated in this verse and many others like it:
ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنُ عَلَى ٱلۡعَرۡشِ ٱسۡتَوَىٰ
The Most Gracious (Allâh) rose over (Istawâ) the (Mighty) Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty).
Ta Ha 20:5
It has come from the Sunnah also, in a Ḥadīth narrated by Mu'awiyah bin Al-Hakam As-Sulamī (رضي الله عنه) who went to the Messenger (ﷺ) after he slapped a slave girl of his, upon which The Prophet (ﷺ) regarded as a serious action on his part. Mu’awiyah then said:
'O Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ), should I set her free?' He (ﷺ) said: 'Call her.' The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said to her: 'Where is Allāh, the Mighty and Sublime?' She said: 'Above the heavens.' He (ﷺ) said: 'And who am I?' She said: 'The Messenger of Allāh.' He said: 'She is a believer, set her free.'"
Sunan an-Nasa'i, 1218
She was set free on the basis that she was a believer. And what implied she was a believer? She answered correctly as to where Allāh is and also testified to Muḥammad (ﷺ) as The Messenger of Allāh. This is how important the affair is, and that is why we must understand that ‘society’ is not a source of knowledge, we have to strive to learn the correct creed from authentic sources as well as to try and clear our systems and our children’s from “he said, she said”, and cultural understandings of Islām.
We must always strive to not be like the lake which is stagnant, rather we should be like the spring which always flows. The ‘basic’ things we know from society are not enough and most probably not correct. We have to drop the phones, stop scrolling, and pick up our note pads and learn our religion correctly.
Another point that should be clarified is the manner of the Ascension of Allāh above His throne. Many misguided sects and individuals falsely explain this Attribute of Allāh away. The principle regarding The Names and Attributes of Allāh is that:
We believe in them, and affirm them for Allah just as He Affirmed them for Himself.
We do not negate them, nor liken them to the creation,
We do not try to explain ‘how’, nor change or distort their meanings.
So we affirm for Allah that which He affirmed for himself, He rose over His Throne in a way that befits His Majesty. So, How did He do it? In a way that suits His Majesty. Not in the manner you and I ascend over anything, not how ‘so and so’ explained it, but in a manner that suits His Majesty. Indeed our Lord has said:
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِۦ شَىْءٌۭ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ
There is nothing like Him; and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.
Sūrah Ash-Shūrā:11
We ask Allāh to guide us to the Straight Path and to grant us a correct understanding of His religion, likewise we ask Him to save us from misguidance and from the misguided individuals.
*Don’t forget to switch your Qurʾān translation in your Qurʾān Apps to that of Muḥsin Khān and Taqī-ud-Dīn al–Hilālī, or order a copy of The Noble Qurʾān from an Islāmic bookstore.
وصلّى الله وسلّم عل نبيّنا محمّد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
