STATEMENTS REGARDING ÒWHERE IS ALLAH?Ó
Abu
Haneefah (rahimahullah) said: ÒWhoever says, `I do not know whether my Lord is
above the sky, or in the earth,' then he has indeed disbelieved. Likewise,
whoever says that He is above the Throne, `And I do not know whether the Throne
is in the sky, or in the earth.ÕÓ[1]
A
woman asked Abu Haneefah (rahimahullah), `Where is your Lord whom you worship'
So he said, "Verily Allaah the Exalted is above the sky (fis-samaa`), not
in the earth." So a man said to him, `Have you seen the statement of
Allaah the Exalted, "And He is with you." [Sooratul-Hadeed 57:4] He said,
"He is as you are when you write to a man, `Verily I am with you,' whilst
you are absent from him.Ó[2]
Aboo
Nu'aym relates from Ja'far Ibn 'Abdullaah who said, `We were with Maalik Ibn
Anas, so a man came, so he said, "O Abaa 'Abdullaah, "The Most
Merciful has ascended above His Throne," lSoorah Taa Haa 20:5] How has He
ascended?' So anger came over Maalik, such that no affair like this had ever
caused to come over him. So he looked towards the earth and scratched with his
cane in his hand, until he raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his
forehead, tossed the cane aside, and said, 'The modality (kayf) of it cannot be
comprehended by the intellect, and al-istiwaa' (ascent) is not unknown, and
having faith in it is obligatory, and the question concerning it is an
innovation. And I think that you are a person of innovation,' and he commanded
him to leave."[3]
Ibnul-Qayyim
mentions in Ijtimaa'ul-Juyoosh from ash-Shaafi'ee that he said, "The
statement concerning the Sunnah, which I am upon and which I have seen our
companions, the people of hadeeth, to be upon, those whom I have seen and taken
from like Sufyaan and Maalik and other than these two is the affirmation of the
testimony that there is no deity worthy of worship besides Allaah, and that
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah; and that Allaah the Exalted is above His
Throne, above the sky (fis-sama) He draws close to His creation how ever He
wishes, and that Allaah the Exalted descends to the lowest heaven how ever He
wishes.Ó[4]
Ibn
Taymiyyah mentions in ad-Dar' that Imaam Ahmad said, "We believe that
Allaah is above His Throne however He wishes and as He wishes, without a limit
(hadd), nor an Attribute that the describer can comprehend, nor a limit which
the describer can place. So the Attributes of Allaah are from Him and for Him,
and He is as He described Himself, He cannot be encompassed (in vision) by the
eyes."[5]
Imaam at-Tirmidhee (d. 279H) said: "It has been stated by
more than one person from the People of Knowledge about such ahaadeeth, that
there is no tashbeeh (resemblance) to the Attributes of Allaah, and our Lord -
the Blessed and Most High - descends to the lowest heaven every night. So they
say: "Affirm these narrations, have eemaan (faith) in them, do not deny
them, nor ask how." The likes of this has been related from Maalik ibn
Anas, Sufyaan ath-Thawree, Ibn Uyainah and Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak, who all
said about such ahaadeeth: "Leave them as they are, without asking
how." Such is the saying of the People of Knowledge from the Ahl us-Sunnah
wal-Jamaa'ah. However, the Jahmiyyah oppose these narrations and say: This is
tashbeeh! However, Allaah the Most High, has mentioned in various places in His
Book, the Attribute of al-Yad (Hand), as-Sama' (Hearing), and al-Basr (Seeing)
- but the Jahmiyyah make ta'weel of these aayaat, explaining them in a way,
other than how they are explained by the People of Knowledge. They say:
"Allaah did not create Aadam with His own Hand" - they say that Hand
means the Power of Allaah."[6]
From Imaam BukhaariÕs Khalq Af'aalul Ibaad:
[Point no.6] Wahb bin Jareer said, 'The
Jahmiyyah are heretics, they think that He has not risen over His Throne.'
[Point no.13] Ibn al-Mubaarak said, 'we do nat
say as the Jahmiyyah say that Allaah is on the earth, rather He has risen over
His Throne.'
[Point no.14] And it was said to him, 'how
should we know our Lord?' He said, 'above the Heavens, over ('alaa) His Throne'
[Point no.64] Sadqa said, 'I heard Sulaiman
at-Taimi saying, 'if I were asked, "where is Allaah?" I would say,
"above (fee) the heaven". And if it said, "where was the Throne
before the Heaven?" I would say, "over the water." And if it is
said, "where was the Throne before the water?" I would say, "I
do not know."' And Imaam Bukhaaree said, 'and that (i.e. his answer) was
because of the saying of Allaah, "and they cannot encompass anything of
His Knowledge except what He wills." i.e. except what He explains.'
[Point no.66] Muhammad bin Yusuf said (one of
the teachers of Bukhaaree), 'the one who says that Allaah is not over ('alaa)
His Throne is a kaafir. And the one who thinks that Allaah did not speak to
Moses is a kaafir.'
[Point no.103] Ibn Mas'ud said about His saying, "then He
rose over His Throne", - 'the Throne is over the water, and Allaah is
above (fawqa) the Throne, and He knows what you are upon.'
From Al-Lalikaa'ees Sharh Usool il-Itiqaad:
[Point no.660] Adullaah bin Abbaas said, 'Verily Allaah was above His
Throne before He created anything, then He created the creation and decreed
what was to exist until the Day of Judgement.' (pg.396)
[Point no.662] Bashr bin Umar said, 'I heard
more then one of the Mufassir say about the verse, "The Most Merciful
istawaa upon the Throne" - istiwaa means rose above.' (pg.397)
[Point no.665] Rabee' (one of the teachers of
Maalik) was asked about the verse, "The Most Merciful rose over His
Throne" - 'how did He rise?' He replied, 'al-istiwaa (rising) is known,
and the how is not comprehensible, and from Allaah is the message, and upon the
Messenger is the preaching, and upon us is believing.' (pg.397)
[Point no.670] Maqaatil bin Huyaan said about
His saying, "and there is no secret discourse of 3 people except He is the
fourth, or of 5 people and He is the sixth" - 'He is above His Throne, and
nothing is hidden from His knowledge.' (pg.400)
[Point no.673] Imaam Ahmad was asked, 'Allaah
is above the seventh heaven, above His Throne because that is from His creation,
and His power and knowledge are in every place?' And he replied, 'yes, above
the Throne and His knowledge is in every place.' (pg.401)
[Point no.675] Imaam Ahmad was asked about the
verse, "and He is with you wheresover you are", and the verse, "there
is no secret discourse of 3 people except that he is the fourth.." - and
he said, '(meaning) His Knowledge, He is the Knower of the seen and the unseen,
His knowledge encompasses everything, and our Lord is above the Throne without
setting limits and giving description, and His Kursi is as the expanse of the
heavens and the earth with His Knowledge. ' (pg.402)
[1] Al-Fiqhul-Akbar (p. 40) And the
likes of this wording was quoted by Shaykliul-Islaain Ibn Taymiyyah in
Majmoo'ul-Fataawaa (5/48), and Ibnul-Qayyitn in Ijtimaa'ul-Juyooshil
Islaamiyyah (p. 139), and adh-Dhahabee in al'Uluww (p. 101-102), and Ibn Qudaarnah
in al-'Uluww (p. 116) and In Abil-'Izz in Sharhut -Tahaawiyyah (p. 301).
[2] Al-Asmaa` was-Sifaat (2/170)
[3] Related in al-Hilyah (6/325
-326), and it is also related by as-Saaboonee in 'Aqeedatus-Salaf wa
Ashaabul-Hadeeth (p. 17-18)
by
way of Ja'far Ibn 'Abdullaah from Maalik, and Ibn 'Abdul-Barr in at-Tamheed
(7/151) by way of 'Abdullaah Ibn Naafi' from Maalik, and al-Bayhaqee al-Asmaa'
was-Sifaat (p. 408) by way of 'Abdullaah Ibn Wahb from Maalik. Ibn Hajar said
in FathulBaaree (13/406- 407) that its isnaad (chain of narrators) is hasan
(good). And it was authenticated by adh-Dhahabee in al-Uluww (p. 103).
[4] Ijtimaa'ul-Juyooshil-Islaamiyyah
(p. 165), Ithbaat Sifatul-Uluww (p. 124), and refer to Majmoo'ul-Fataawaa
(4/181-183) and al-'Uluww (p. 120) of adh-Dhahabee, and it's Mukhtasar (p. 77).
[5] Dar'ut-Ta'aanidul-Aql wan-Naql
(2/30)
[6] Sunan
at-Tirmidhee (3/24)