Part 18

Fatawa Arkanul-Islam 120 pe olsyf jyks

“When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in His Book which

is with Him on His Throne, My Mercy surpasses My Anger." 3. The clear declaration of things ascending to Allah and descending from Him; and ascending can only be towards somewhere higher, and descending can only be from somewhere higher, as in the Words of Allah, the Most High:

C255; tual ah ec Bp “To Him ascend hal !) the goodly words, and the righteous deeds exalt it."71 And His Words:

44 23h a Usp “The angels and the Ruh [Jibrail ( sabri ] ascend to him.) And His Words:

43) a 3 oN 4 Ka Ss ee iners “He manages and regulates (every) affair from the heavens to the earth; then it (affair) will go up to Him." And the Words of Allah, the Most High in the Noble Qur’an:

"1 Reported by Al-Bukhari in the Book of the Beginning of Creation, in the Chapter: What Has Been Said Concerning the Words of Allah:

‘And He it is Who originates the creation, then He will repeat it.” Surat Ar-Rum 30:27) (3194) and by Muslim in the Book of Repentance, in the Chapter on the Extensiveness of Allah, the Most High’s Mercy and That it Overpowers His Anger (2751).

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“Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it, (it is) sent down by the All-Wise, Worthy of all praise (Allah \~ 5 ey il The Qur’an is the Speech of Allah, the Most High, as He, the Most Glorified says:

AK OSE eh Hees oS UN hp ‘And if anyone of the Mushrikun (polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) seeks your protection then grant him protection so that he may hear the Word of Allah.’"*! And if the Noble Qur’an is His Speech, and it is sent down from Him, that proves that He is Elevated with His Self.”

The Prophet 35 $ said:

“Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night is remaining and He says: Who is supplicating Me?” up to the end of the Hadith, and it is an authentic Hadith, confirmed in the Two Sahihs and other books.!?!

And in the Hadith of Al-Bara’ bin ‘Azib, may Allah be pleased with him, it is reported that the Prophet # taught him what to say when he betakes himself to his bed, including the words:

“I believe in Your Book which You have sent down and in Your Prophet whom You have sent.”

_ 1 At-Tawbah 9:6 1 Reported by Al-Bukhari in the Book of Tahajjud, in the Chapter on Supplication and Prayer in the Latter Part of the Night (1145) and by Muslim in the Book of Prayer, in the Chapter on Encouragement of Supplication and Remembrance in the Latter Part of the Night (758).

This is in Sahih Al-Bukhari and other books.!”! 4. Allah clearly described Himself with ‘U/uww, as in the Words of Him, the Most High: “Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High,’"?! and His Words:

“and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.’"*!

And the Prophet 2 would say: “Glorified is my Lord, the Most High.’"*)

5. The Prophet #% pointing towards the heaven, when he called Allah as a Witness, while standing on ‘Arafat, during that great gathering, where he # witnessed the largest gathering of His Community. He said to them:

“Have I not conveyed (the Message)?”

" Reported by Al-Bukhari in the Book of Supplications, in the Chapter: What Should One Say Before Sleeping (6313) and by Muslim in the Book of Remembrance and Supplication, in the Chapter: What to Say Before Sleeping and When Laying Down (2710).

'4] Reported by Abu Dawud in the Book of Prayer, in the Chapter: What a Man Should Say When Bowing and When Prostrating (871), by AtTirmithi in the Book of Prayer, in the Chapter: What Has Been Said About Tasbih (Glorifying Allah) When Bowing and When Prostrating (262) and by An-Nasa’i in the Book of Prayer, in the Chapter: The Reciter Seeks Refuge (1007).

Fatawa on ‘aqeedah (Creed) 123 Bdadal! 6 ghd

They said: “Yes.” So he said:

agar cab “Oh, Allah! Witness.” And he raised his finger to the heavens and then pointed it towards the people. And this is confirmed in Sahih Muslim from the Hadith of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him."

It is clear from this that Allah is above the heavens, for if He were not, his raising his finger towards it would have been in vain.

6. The question the Prophet #% asked the slave-giri, when he said to her: Sais ggh “Where is Allah?’ And she replied: “Above the heavens.” He said:

“Free her, for she is a believer.” This was reported by Muslim in a long Hadith on the authority of Mu‘awiyah bin Al-Hakam As-Sulami, may Allah be pleased with him, and it clearly confirms Allah’s Elevation in His Self, because the word Ayna (where) is only used to inquire about a location, and the Prophet #% confirmed this woman’s reply as being correct, when he asked her:

") Reported by Muslim in the Book of Hajj, in the Chapter on the Pilgrimage of the Prophet #% (1218).

Fatawa Arkanul-Islam 124 Oey IS yh cats

He confirmed that Allah, the Most High is above the heavens, and made it clear that this (belief) is an essential requirement of faith when he said:

ay Gb yen “Free her, for she is a believer.””

So, a person is not a believer until he affirms and believes that Allah, the Most High is above the heavens.

These types of evidence, transmitted from the Book of Allah, the Most High and the Sunnah of His Messenger # are proof of Allah, the Most High being Exalted in His Self, over His creation. As for mentioning all of the many evidences, it is not possible to enumerate them all here.

The righteous Salaf, may Allah be pleased with them, are unanimous in their view of what is necessitated by these texts, and they confirmed that Allah, the Most High is Exalted in His Self, and that is, that He, the Most High is His Self above His creation, just as they are unanimous in affirming Exaltedness in meaning to Him, and that is, an Exaltedness in attributes. Allah, the Most High says:

“His is the highest description (i.e. none has the right to be worshipped but He, and there is nothing comparable unto Him) in the heavens and in the earth. And He is the All-Mighty, the AllWise."

And He, the Most High says:

46,385 Gt TEM gp “And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah, so call on Him by them.”")

Fatawa on ‘aqeedah (Creed) 125 Baa ggld

And He, the Most High says:

“So put not forward similitudes for Allah (as there is nothing similar to Him, nor does He resemble anything). Truly, Allah knows and you know not."}

“Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He Alone has the right to be worshippea).''?!

And there are other Verses which prove His Perfection in His Attributes and in His Deeds.

The Evidence of Reason

It is said: There is no doubt that exaltedness is an attribute of perfection, and that the opposite of this is an attribute of imperfection. It is confirmed that Allah’s Attributes are perfect, therefore it is essential to confirm exaltedness as one of His Attributes, and confirming it does not necessitate any imperfection. So, we say that His exaltedness does not imply that any part of His creation encloses Him, and whoever thinks that confirming exaltedness to Him implies that, then he has deluded himself by such idea, and gone astray in his rationality.

5] Fitrah: The natural state in which Allah, the Most High created us, believing in His Oneness.

The Evidence from the Fitrah

Every person who supplicates to Allah, the Most High, whether it is the supplication of worship, or the supplication of a request, he directs his heart nowhere except towards the heavens, and this is why you find that he raises his hands towards the heavens. This is something instinctual in his Fitrah, as Al-Hamdani said to Abul-Ma‘ali Al-Juwaini: No sensible person ever said: ‘Oh, Lord,’ without finding in his heart the necessity of asking from above. At this, Al-Juwaini began to strike his head with his hand and he said: Al-Hamdani has embarrassed me! Al-Hamdani has embarrassed me. Thus it has been transmitted from him and whether it is authentic or not, every person knows this.

In Sahih Muslim, it is reported in the Hadith of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet #8 mentioned the man who extended his hands to the heaven and said: ‘Oh, Lord,’ up to the end of the Hadith.'") And you also find that when a man prays, his heart is directed towards the heavens, especially when he prostrates and he says:

“Glorified is my Lord, the Most High.”'?!

This is because he knows that the object of his worship is above the heavens.

As for their saying that Allah is not within the six directions, this saying is in general false, because it necessitates invalidating something which Allah, the Most High has confirmed for Himself, and which the most knowledgeable of His creatures

") The details of its reference have been mentioned previously under question no. 20.

'2] The details of its reference have been mentioned earlier regarding in this discussion.

Fatawa on ‘Agidah (Creed) 127 Beda! sgl

confirmed for Him, and the greatest of them in extolling Him and that is His Messenger, Muhammad #% that He, the Most Glorified is above the heavens which is in an upward direction.

In fact, this statement necessitates describing Allah, the Most High as non-existent, because the six directions are: up, down, right, left, behind and in front, and there is nothing in existence which does not have a relation to one of these directions, and this is instinctively known by reason. So, if these directions are negated for Allah, the Most High, it implies that He is nonexistent. Even if we accept that anything exists outside these directions, the mind rejects it, and it is only in the mind. We believe, and consider it essential for every believer in Allah, to believe in His Exaltedness, that He is above His creation, as proved by the Book (of Allah), the Sunnah, the consensus of the Salaf, reason and the Fitrah as we have established previously.