Term ‘Allah Is in a Direction’

27-8-2020 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamu 'alaikum. Is Allah in a direction?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

You should know, dear brother, that the term “Jihah” (direction) did not occur in the Quran or the Sunnah in relation to Allah, The Exalted, neither as a negation nor as an affirmation. The term is unspecific and may bear true and false indications, and the proper way to address such ambiguous terms is that the specific meaning intended by the sayer should be investigated. If the intended meaning is invalid, it must be rejected, and if it is valid, it should be accepted but expressed using proper terminology (conforming to the Sharee‘ah). Accordingly, if the intended meaning of the statement “Allah is in a direction,” is to affirm the ‘Uluww (Highness) of Allah, The Exalted, above His Throne, then this meaning is valid, as evidenced by the Quran, Sunnah, and scholarly consensus affirming the divine attribute ‘Uluww of Allah above His creation and His Istiwaa’ (being firmly Established) on His Throne. Although this meaning is valid, it should not be expressed by saying, "Allah is in a direction." Rather, only the expressions used in the Quran and Sunnah in relation to Allah, The Exalted, in this regard should be used.

If the intended meaning of the statement, “Allah is in a direction,” is that He is bounded by space and exists in a specific location and is encompassed by any of His creation, then this is an invalid meaning, and it is impermissible to believe in that or verbalize it.

Allah Knows best.