The Attributes of God the Creator according to the Muslims (5/5)

Additionally, the Existence of Allah Almighty above the heavens is a matter known by the natural tendency of man's pure nature, just as it is known by sound and reliable reason. This is shown in the answer of the slave-girl.

A deviant question might then be asked: If Allah (Glorious & Exalted) is described as being high, does this Attribute of Ascendancy mean by definition that He is confined—that He exists in a place of fixed dimensions? Or, alternately, would the Almighty be described as being everywhere?    

We will answer by saying first that Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is characterized by Ascendancy without limitation, and that He (Noble & Sublime) cannot be described as being everywhere.    

First we would like to address the second issue: that Allah (Noble & Sublime) is not to be described as present everywhere. That is because man's pure, good nature and his sound, reliable reason both deny such corrupt statements, and there is no evidence for such a claim in the Holy Quran or in the Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace be upon him). In fact, it would be impossible for the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to say anything of the sort.    

The Holy Quran is the truth. Our Lord (Blessed & Exalted) sent it down upon His messenger, Muhammad (Peace be upon him), to deliver man from darkness into the light. Thus, it cannot contain anything but the truth, in accordance with the Saying of the Most High, “And with truth We have sent it down (i.e., the Quran) and with truth it has descended. And We have sent you (oh Muhammad, pbuh) as nothing but a bearer of glad tidings and a warner.” [Surah Al-Israa' 17: 105]    

The truth is that Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is Great. He is vindicated of any defect or imperfection in His Being, or His Attributes and Names. This is what man's good nature and sound reason indicate, since they could not accept that it is from the Attributes of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) that He be present in an impure or filthy place, or in places of actual impurity or filth, and these would be included in "everywhere."   

It is impossible to accept a description that locates Allah (Mighty & Majestic) in any impure animal, such as a pig or anything else of the sort.   

High Exalted is Allah (Noble & Sublime) above having His Attributes tainted by the likes of such an absolute claim, "everywhere." That is because it would mean containing the Divine Being, which is something impossible to imagine, as we have shown.   

To comment further on this claim, we say that Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is with us through His Attributes: He sees us anywhere we are, in accordance with the Saying of the Most High, “I am with you both, Hearing and Seeing.” [Surah Ta-ha 20: 46] 

In fact, He (Noble & Sublime) knows what is concealed and what the hearts hide, in accord with His Saying, “Allah knows the fraud of the eyes, and all that the breasts conceal.” [Surah Ghaafir 40: 19]  

Here we move on to answer the first issue: that Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is described as being without limitation. We will clarify this response as follows:    

Before Allah (Mighty & Majestic) created creation, there was no time or place; there was nothing but Allah (Glorious & Exalted).   

Allah (Glorious & Exalted) is Eternal and Everlasting. He is the Originator of all things, the Creator of all that is created.    

Time and place were both created by Allah (Mighty & Majestic) for His creation after He created them from nothing, for He (Glorious & Exalted) does whatever He pleases, in accordance with His Absolute, Ultimate Wisdom. He (Glorious & Exalted) is Able to do anything, and there is none like unto Him.   

Time and place are both creations of Allah (Mighty & Majestic).    

Therefore, Allah (Glorious & Exalted) is unlimited by place, nor does He exist within the bounds of time.

Before time and place existed, nothing existed except God, the Creator (Glorious & Exalted).

As such, the Ascendancy of Allah (Glorious & Exalted) above His creation and above the heavens He created is an Ascendancy of Being, Position, Honor, and Force, encompassing them, without being connected to them, and without limitations.

To represent this logically with what Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, as a hypothetical example: He (may Allah have mercy on him) said, "If a man had, in his hand, a vessel of clear glass, in which was a clear liquid, his human sight could encompass the vessel without him being inside the vessel. Thus, Allah—to Whom belongs the ultimate example—encompasses all His creation without being inside any of it.   

In addition, if a man constructed a building with all its amenities and then shut the door and went outside, it would not be unknown to this man how many homes were in this building, and how big each house was, without this owner being present inside the building. Thus, Allah—to Whom belongs the ultimate example—encompasses all His creations. He knows their secrets and their exteriors, without being inside anything He created.   

This was a logical representation of what we have presented, in order to bring the meaning closer to the mind, for that is what the honest, straightforward mind accepts.

Let us now contemplate the great extent to which Muslims glorify their God, the Supreme Creator, in the Final Legislation with which the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) came, which vindicates Him (Noble & Sublime) of all charges of imperfection in His Being, His Attributes, and His Names.    

How perfectly synchronized is the Muslims' glorification of Allah Most High with the sound, pure nature with which man was made by his God and Creator!    

How harmonious is the Muslims' glorification of Allah Most High with the honest, straightforward reason which Allah (Blessed & Exalted) granted human beings in order to know His Supreme Attributes (Noble & Sublime) and testify to them, so as not to accept or be pleased with anything that faults them or detracts from their quality or status.   

Allah (Noble & Sublime) is not glorified to the extent that He is rightfully due, except in the religion of Islam, with which the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) came. This we will now prove (by the Will of Allah Almighty), by way of clarifying some of that which has been attributed to Him by adherents of false religions and the previous divine messages that were corrupted—Christianity and Judaism—in terms of attributes which blame and humble God, the Creator (Noble & Sublime).