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God Exists without a Place

On August 21st, 2011   /   Creed, Islamic Information   /   Comments Off

“Before there was a place, there was a God.”

The true belief in God is not based upon blind faith.  God gave the human beings minds by which they can reason and distinguish truth from falsehood and delusions from reality.  The true belief in God is supported by sound rational proofs, as well as, authentic Holy Scripture.

God is the Creator of all, and everything besides God is a creation.  This includes, light and darkness, distance and direction, motion and stillness, time and place.  God is Eternal and does not undergo changes.  God is as God always was.  God created Heaven and does not reside in Heaven.  God is not everywhere, for “every-where” (or every place) is created by God, and God does not need any of the creations.

God is not in us, for God is not contained.  God is not a material or spiritual being.  God is not a body and does not have the characteristics of bodies.  God is not divisible—consequently, God does not have parts and does not father children.  God is absolutely different from the creations.  Whatever one imagines, the Creator is completely different.

The Muslims believe that God is clear of all imperfection.  It is the unanimous belief amongst the Muslims that the Creator exists without being in a place.  This was the belief of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived 1,400 years ago, the early generations of Muslims (As-Salaf), and the later generations of Muslims (Al-Khalaf).  The Muslim Scholars and Sages mentioned many statements declaring that God is free of residing in a place.

Prophet Muhammad said: “God was [before the creation] and there was nothing else.”  Imam `Ali said: “God was [before the creations] and there was no place; and God is as God was.”  Zayn Al-`Abideen said: “Glory be to God, the One Who no place contains You [that is, God].” Also, he said about the Creator: “No place surrounds You.”  Ja`far As-Sadiq said: “Whoever believes that God is in something or on something or from something commits polytheism (shirk).  Because if God were in something, God would be contained, and if God were on something, God would be carried, and if God were from something, God would be a creation.”

The later Muslim Scholars (Al-Khalaf) also declared that God exists without a place.  Ahmad Ar-Rifa`i said: “The ultimate knowledge about God is to know that God exists without a how [kayf] or a place.”  The author of Al-`Aqidah Al-Murshidah said: “Allah existed without a place and willed for the existence of time.  God is not bound to time and is not designated with place.”  Al-Ghazali said: “Allah, the Glorified, existed without a beginning and there was no place.  God is not a body, indivisible particle [“atom”], or bodily characteristic; God is not on a place or in a place.”

Muslims believe that Allah (the name of the Creator in the Arabic language) is not a body.  Abu Hasan Al-Ash`ari said: “Whoever believes God is a body is ignorant of his Lord and is a non-believer.”  Imam `Ali said: “Whoever believes our God is limited is ignorant of the Creator who is worshipped.” Abu Ja`far At-Tahawi said: “God is clear of all boundaries, extremes, sides, organs, and instruments.  The six directions do not contain God as is the case with all the created things.”

It is the belief of all Muslims that God is not a body and does not occupy a place.  God is Free-of-Need (Al-Ghaniyy and As-Samad).  Places are other than God—they are creations, and God is not in need of any of the creations.  God existed before the places existed.  God is Perfect.  God did not change from existing before and without a place to existing within and in need of a place.  God is not contained.   God is not dependent on anything.

The Holy Qur’an (the Muslims’ unchanged book of Scripture) declares that Allah existed before any of the creations (57:3), that Allah does not need any of the creations (3:97), and in Ash-Shura, 11 (42:11) the Qur’an says:“There is absolutely nothing whatsoever that is similar to God.” From the Qur’an, the sayings of Prophet Muhammad, the numerous sayings of the Muslim Scholars, as well as, the sound rational proofs, the Muslims can demonstrate that the Creator does not reside in a place, for created things exist in places, and God absolutely does not need or resemble any of the creations.

The seeker of truth should be aware that there are extremists who claim to be Muslim, but say that the Creator has body parts and exists above the ceiling of Paradise (Al-`Arsh).  These people reach this misguided conclusion because they insist on distorting the meanings of the Qur’an.  It is enough to discredit to such people that the reknown interpreter of Qur’an, Fakhr-ud-Deen Ar-Razi, said: “Allah is clear of being in a place or direction, or on al-`Arsh or al-Kursiyy.”

Also, there are those who claim to be Muslim, but they teach a doctrine of racial hatred in the name of Islam.  On the one hand, they claim that white people are evil by nature, but on the other, they claim that God was born to a white woman in the year 1877!  It is enough to discredit these people to mention that the Qur’an says what means:  “God does not give birth, and God was not born.  God is Incomparable and has no equal.”

Islam is a religion of moderation in both its practices and in its beliefs.  Muslims believe in the existence of God while at the same time, recognizing that God is absolutely different from the creations.  Muslims use their minds to recognize the existence of God, while at the same time, Muslims are certain that God cannot be encompassed by the imagination. It is essential that one understands that the Lord of creations is not similar to the creations.  Muslims believe that God alone deserves to be worshipped, and that God sent many Prophets throughout history to guide people to the truth.  Prophet Muhammad is the last of the Prophets—and God gave him miracles to prove that he was truthful.

The real success is based on being a God-fearing person who prepares him or herself for the inevitable reality of death by following the authentic Laws of God.  The beginning of guidance is having the correct belief in the Creator and testifying with the Declaration of Faith to enter the fold of Islam.  To become a Muslim, one simply says:

“I bear witness nothing is worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

 

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The Islamic Belief in God: An Explanation to Fresh Converts and Non-Muslims

On August 21st, 2011   /   Creed, Islamic Information   /   Comments Off

The utterance “Allah” in Arabic means “the one who is attributed with Godhood,” which is the power to create. To create is to bring something into existence, whether it is a physical entity, an act or an attribute. No one and nothing has the power to create except Allah, and everything else is His creation. He alone exists without a beginning, and everything else is created and sustained by Him. Therefore, only He deserves to be worshipped. He does not need anything, but everything in existence needs Him.

With this understanding, it is perfectly acceptable to use the word “God” in English referring to Allah. However, it is important to understand that when Muslims refer to “God” as “He,” they do not mean that He has gender. God is not male, female or neuter, as He is not a creature or an object. He is attributed only with complete perfection, and is clear of created attributes, such as having children, a partner, a rival or a wife.

The attributes of the Creator do not resemble the attributes of the created, because His attributes are without a beginning or an end. He is not limited by time or space; He is their Creator and all that exist in them including light, darkness, cold, heat, nature, atoms, color, good and evil. Our imaginations are limited, so we cannot imagine Him. That is why Muslims say: “God is different from whatever you imagine in your mind.”

When Muslims say that God is “one,” they don’t mean “one” as in a number; they mean that he does not have a partner, equal, rival or part. Idol worshippers believe God has a partner or a counterpart. This cannot be true because if one wants one thing and the other something else, then the one that did not get what he wanted cannot be God since he was defeated.

As for those who believe that God has parts, such as the Christians who believe in the trinity, they must also be wrong, because parts need each other to form a united whole, and whatever needs cannot be God. In addition, one of the obvious proofs of the Creator’s existence is the existence of this universe. Whenever we see something composed from parts, we say: “someone has put it there.” For example, when you see a car, you know that this car has a beginning; someone put it where it is now. If this is true for a simple car, then what about the entire universe? If one accepts this argument, then one must also accept that God is free of the attributes that makes one say “someone must have put it there”, such as weight, volume, length, width, shapes, limits, boundaries, composition, physical movement, physical distance and physical direction. In other words, you must accept that God does not resemble His creation. This is what Muslims mean when they say, “He has no equal,” i.e. nothing resembles Him.

Muslims believe that God is attributed with perfect and limitless Life, Sight, Hearing, Speech and Knowledge, because death, blindness, deafness, dumbness, and ignorance are weaknesses. However, His Life, Sight, Hearing, Speech and Knowledge do not resemble ours; the words are the same, but the meanings are completely different. For example, God’s attributes have nothing to do with instruments, such as a body, a soul, an eye, an ear, a mouth, a language or a brain. Rather, they are perfect attributes of God that have no beginning, no end, no sequence and do not change.

In addition to the above, it is clear that God specifies the things that exist and their characteristics, and that He brings them into existence. We must conclude then, that He is attributed with will and power. His attributes of will and power do not have a beginning or an end and they do not change, as is true for all God’s attributes. In the above, we have mentioned some of what Muslims must know and believe in regarding the Creator. However, God’s attributes are not limited, because God cannot be limited, bounded or deficient in any way.

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Gems of Jannah

On August 17th, 2011   /   Creed, Islamic Information   /   Leave a comment

Incomparability of Allah
1. Do not resemble Allah unto anything.

(An-Nahl, 64)

2. The Creator does not resemble anything among the creations.

(Abu Hanifah, Fiqhul-Akbar)

3. Knowing you are incapable of imaging Allah is knowledge in itself.

Attempting to fathom Allah’s Reality is disbelief and polytheism.

(Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, Al-Basit)

4. Ponder Allah’s creations; do not attempt to ponder Allah’s Reality.

(Ibn ^Abbas, Al-Asma’u was-Sifat)

5. Whatever you imagine in your mind, Allah is different from that.

(Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, ^Aqidatu Ahmad)

The Eternality of Allah

6. Allah was [before the creations] and there was nothing else.

(Hadith of the Prophet)

7. Change is the greatest indication of being a creation.

(Al-Junayd Al-Baghdadiyy)

8. Allah is Beginningless with no start; Allah is Everlasting with no end.

(Abu Ja^far At-Tahawiyy, Al-^Aqidah)

The Destining of Allah

9. Verily, Allah has created everything according to His Destiny.

(Al-Qamar, 49)

10. Whatever Allah has willed to be shall be; and whatever Allah has not willed to be shall not be.

(Hadith of the Prophet)

11. Allah does whatever He wills.  Allah has the power to do whatever He wills.

(Al-^Aqidah Al-Murshidah)

The Transcendence of Allah

12. Allah is supremely glorified from having boundaries, extremities, sides, organs, appendages, and devices.  None of the six directions contain Allah, as is the case with all the creations.

(Abu Ja^far At-Tahawiyy, Al-^Aqidah)

13. Allah was [before the creations] and place was not, and Allah is as He was.

(^Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Al-Farqu Baynul-Firaq)

14. Allah is sublimely clear from being in a place, and Allah is impervious to the alterations of time.

(Muhammad Al-Makkiyy, ^Aqidatus-Salahiyyah)

15. Allah created the universe and willed for the existence of time.  Allah is not bound to time and is not designated with place.

(Al-^Aqidah Al-Murshidah)

16. The Originator of the World is Allah, the Unique, the Eternal, the Alive, the Omnipotent, the All-Knowing, the Hearing, the Seeing, the One Who does whatever He wills.  Allah is not a bodily characteristic, nor a body, nor an elementary particle.  Allah is not a thing formed, circumscribed, enumerated, divisible, compounded, composed, or limited.  Allah is not attributed with quiddity (mahiyyah/“whatness”), nor by modality (kayfiyyah/“howness”).  Allah is not situated in any location, and time does not lapse upon Him.

(Najmuddin ^Umar An-Nasafiyy, Al-^Aqidah)

“There is absolutely nothing like Allah whatsoever.”

(Ash-Shura, 11)

 

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Allah Exists without place or direction

On May 17th, 2010   /   Creed, Islamic Information   /   Comments Off

Some asked:


I am a student at the college of Shari^ah and I have learned and studied in the Science of Belief that Allah exists without being in a place, and that He is not placed in any direction. So please give me a fatwa on this, because there are some people that attack the belief of Al-Azhar.


Mufti of Eygpt `Ali Jumu`ah


Translation adapted from Fatwa Serial No. 4307


The Answer:


It is one of the established matters of the belief of the Muslims that Allah (He is clear of and above all flaws) is not contained in a place and not limited by time, because place and time are both creations. Allah is clear of and above being surrounded by any creation of His. Rather, He is the Creator of everything, and He “المحيط” ( the literal meaning of this word is “surrounds”, however it means that Allah has complete knowledge and control of his creation, so it is not used in the sense of place or direction)‚ His creation. This belief is agreed upon among the Muslims, no one denies this among them.


The scholars of the religion have expressed this by saying: “Allah existed and there was no place, and He is now as He was before the creation of place; He has not changed from what He was.“


Among the expressions of the Pious salaf on this topic is the saying of Abu Ja^far as-Sadiq: “Whoever claims that Allah is in something, or from something, or on something has associated a partner with Allah1, because if He was in something, then He would be confined; and if He was on something, then He would be carried; and if He was from something, then He would be something that has a beginning.”


It was said to Yahya ibn Mu^adh al-Raziyy: “Tell us about Allah!‚ He said: One God. Then someone said: How is He? He said: An absolute Ruler with absolute Power. Then someone said: Where is He? He answered: Seeing and Hearing. The person who asked said: I was not asking about that. He replied: Other than that would be an attribute of a creation. As for the attribute of Allah; it is as I told you.“


Dhul Nun al-Misriyy was asked about the saying of Allah: ar-Rahmanu ^alal ^arsh istawa3 He answered: “He affirmed His existence, and denied that He has a place. So He Himself exists independently, while other things exist by His Wisdom as He Wills.“


With regard to what has been narrated to us of texts from the Qur’an and Hadiths that indicate the Highness of Allah; over His creation; it means highness in the sense of status and prestige; and of dominance and power. This is because He is clear of any resemblance to created things; His attributes are not like their attributes; there is nothing in an attribute of the Creator that is related to the limits of the attributes of created things.


Rather, He is Great and High in Status, He has the attributes of complete perfection and the names that are beautiful. Anything that might enter your mind; Allah is different from it‚ He is clear of and above imperfection. The inability to reach understanding is understanding4 and to search for the complete reality of what Allah Himself is, is to commit blasphemy and associate partners with Him.5


The belief of the Honorable Azhar University is the belief of the scholars of the Ash^ariyy school, which is the belief of the Sunnis. The Ash^ariyy Masters, may Allah reward and please them, are the majority of the scholars of those who are associated with the call of the Prophet Muhammad. They are the ones that stopped the spreading of doubts done by the blasphemers and other deviants.


They are the ones that clung to Allah’s book and the teachings and way of our master, the Messenger of Allah throughout history. Whoever said that they are blasphemers or sinners; his religion in in danger. The Hadith master Ibn `Asakir said in his book Tabiyin Kadhib Al-Muftari Fi Ma Nusiba Ilal Imam Abil Hasan Al-Ash`ariyy: “Know – may Allah grant you and me success by His reward, and make us among those who truly fears Him that the flesh of the scholars is poisonous, and it is the well known norm of Allah in His creation to expose those who insult them; the one that slanders them will be afflicted by Allah before he dies with the death of his heart.”


The Honorable University of Al-Azhar is the lighthouse of knowledge and religion throughout the Islamic history. This lofty castle made the greatest heartland of knowledge that the Islamic nation has known after the first and best centuries. By it, Allah protected His religion from all the wrong headed and those who spread doubts. The one who is haphazard about his belief is in grave danger. It is feared that he is one among the Khawarij6 or Murji`ah7 sects. .

Allah said concerning them what may be rendered in meaning as: “If the hypocrites, and those who have disease in the heart, and the alarmists in al-Madinah do not cease, then Allah will put you (O Muhammad) in control of them and let you finish them off, after that you will find very few of them as neighbors to you there.”8


  1. Associated a partner with Allah is a translation of the Arabic word shirk, i.e. Blasphemy.
  2. His answer in Arabic was “bil mirsad”, and it is a Qura’nic expression which means that Allah sees and hears all that His creatures do and will hold them accountable. It could also mean “watch post” or “ambush”. In other words, this answer was an eloquent play on words in the sense that it fit the answer for “where?” without giving the meaning of place.
  3. Its pronunciation is: ar-Rahmanu ^alal ^arshi-stawa. If someone translated this statement literally, he would say: “ar-Rahman (The Merciful) ^ala (on) al-^arsh (The Throne) istawa (established Himself); The Merciful established Himself on the throne.” This is not the meaning of the statement, however, and the Arabic Language is not limited to this meaning. Rather, the verb “istawa” in the Arabic language has some 15 different meanings. Moreover, the word al-^arsh does not necessarily mean “throne” it could also mean “dominion” and some of the Salaf said that.

    Abu Mansur Al-Baghdadi said in his book Usulud-Din, in summary: “Our colleagues differed regarding this Ayah. Some said that it is among the Ayahs that are mutashabihat and its meaning is not known by other than Allah, and this is the saying of Malik. Others said that istawa is something that Allah did to the `arsh that He called istawa, and this is the saying of Abul Hasan Al-Ash`ari. Others again said that istawa means that He is attributed with aboveness over the ^arsh in status, not physical aboveness. The correct saying in our view, is that al-^arsh in this Ayah means the Dominion and istawa is its action, meaning that the Dominion did not settle in equilibrium for anyone but Him.”

  4. In case anyone is wondering who Abu Mansur is, Al-Dhahabi described him in his book Siyar A`lam An-Nubala as: “the great, outstanding, and encyclopedic scholar…. He used to teach 17 different subjects and his brilliance became the source for proverbs. Adh-Dhahabiyy said further that he would have liked to write a separate, more complete article about him, and quoted Abu ^Uthman As-Sabuniyy saying: “Abu Mansur is by scholarly consensus counted among the heads of the scholars of belief and the methodology of jurisprudence, as well as a front figure of Islam.”

  5. i.e. realizing that one cannot know Allah as He knows Himself is to know Allah.
  6. This is because such a search leads to draw analogies between Allah and created things, and this is blasphemy.
  7. A sect of many branches that share the love for killing and plundering Muslims on the basis of claiming them idolaters, and for claiming that committing sins is blasphemy, even if one believes that its commitment is sinful.
  8. A sect that claimed that as long as one believes in Islam, then committing sins does not harm.
  9. Al-Ahzab, 60
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The Guiding Creed

On May 17th, 2010   /   Creed, Islamic Information   /   Leave a comment

Shaykh Fakhrud-Din Ibn ^Asakir, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

Know, may Allah guide us and you, that it is obligatory upon every accountable person to know that Allah is the only God in His Dominion.

He created the entire world, the upper and lower, the ^Arsh and Kursiyy, the heavens and earth, and what is in them and in between them.

All the creation is subjugated by His Power. No speck moves except by His will.

He has no manager for the creation with Him, and has no partner in Dominion.

He is attributed with Life and is Qayyum. He is not seized by somnolence or sleep.

He is the One Who knows about the unforeseen and what is evidenced by His creation. Nothing on earth or in heaven is hidden from Him. He knows what is on land and in sea. Not a leaf does fall but He knows about it. There is no grain in the darkness of earth, nor anything which is moist or dry but is inscribed in a clear Book. His Knowledge encompasses everything. He knows the count of all things.

He does whatever He wills. He has the power to do whatever He wills.

To Him is the Dominion and He needs none; To Him belong the Glory and Everlastingness. To Him are the Ruling and al-Qada” (the Creating). He has the Names of Perfection. No one hinders what He decreed. No one prevents what He gives. He does in His dominion whatever He wills. He rules His creation with whatever He wills.

He does not hope for reward and does not fear punishment.

There is no right on Him that is binding, and no one exercises rule over Him.

Every endowment from Him is due to His Generosity and every punishment from Him is just. He is not questioned about what He does, but they are questioned.

He existed before the creation. He does not have a before or an after. He does not have an above or a below, a right or a left, an in front of or a behind, a whole or a part.

It must not be said: When was He? Or where was He? Or how is He? He existed without a place. He created the universe and willed for the existence of time. He is not bound to time and is not designated with place.

His management of one matter does not distract Him from another. Delusions do not apply to Him, and He is not encompassed by the mind. He is not conceivable in the mind. He is not imagined in the self nor pictured in delusions. He is not grasped with delusions or thoughts.

[Nothing is like Him and He is attributed with Hearing and Sight.]

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