Refuting the allegation of the omnipresence of Allaah The Almighty

30-8-2010 | IslamWeb

Question:

How can I refute the claim that Allaah The Almighty is everywhere?
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Him, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

 

Texts of the Quran, Sunnah and the Ijmaa‘ (consensus) of the Sahaabah (Companions), Taabi‘is (followers of the Companions) and prominent Muslim scholars indicate that:

1-   Allaah the Almighty is above His throne. [1]

2-   His throne is above His skies. 

3-   He is distinct from His creation.

4-   This verse {He is with them [in knowledge] wherever they are}[Quran 58:7], implies that Allaah the Almighty is aware of everything about us, no matter our location.

 

If a person claims that Allaah the Almighty is with us in His Essence, he becomes an apostate. Ibn Khuzaymah may Allaah have mercy upon him said that whoever does not declare that Allaah the Almighty is above His throne and exclusive of His creation, is an apostate and must be asked to repent. If he does so, it would be good; otherwise, he must be killed and his body [will not be buried in a Muslim graveyard, but] is thrown onto a dunghill, so that he will no longer harm Muslims or Thimmis (non-Muslims living under Islamic rule, having paid the Jizyah (tax to exempt them from military service and for their protection by Muslims)).

 

Furthermore, Al-Qaadhi Abu Bakr Al-Baaqillaani Ash-Shaafi‘i may Allaah have mercy upon him said that if Allaah the Almighty was indeed everywhere, He would be in the stomach and mouth of humans, inside places where the body’s waste is expelled and other spots that must not even be graced with a mention. Additionally, He would become bigger if said spots would increase in size and shape, and vice versa. It would also, then, be correct for a person to direct his or her face towards Allaah The Almighty, by looking towards the earth or backwards, or to the left or right. However, Muslim scholars unanimously agree that this is totally wrong.

 

Ahmad may Allaah have mercy upon him rebutted [such] allegations of the Zindeeq (who acted according to Islam and hid their disbelief) and the Jahmiyyah, by putting forward a powerful convincing argument. Those who believe that Allaah the Almighty Himself is everywhere, consider that He was present when there was no such thing as space and then He created places. Consequently, there are only three possibilities:

 

1-   Allaah the Almighty created space within Himself, thus He would be in every place. This is disbelief because it means that He made the Jinn, humans and dirt within Himself.

 

2-   Allaah the Almighty created space outside of His Entity and then entered that place so He would be inside everywhere. This, too, manifests disbelief because this means that He entered all dirty places and even inside humans and Jinn.

 

3-   Allaah the Almighty created space outside of His Own Self, but did not enter it. However, He is above all His creation, including the earth, the sky, the throne etc. This is the correct belief, corroborated by evidence.

 

And Allaah Knows best.

[1] We believe in the attributes of Allaah that occur in the Quran and the authentic Hadeeths of the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) without distorting the wording or the meaning, denying, asking how, or resembling Allaah to any of His creation.

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