Attributing a Place to Allah, The Most High
Fatwa No: 461314

Question

According to https://www.facebook.com/AhleSunnahWalJamaah/videos/974384312611807/ Imam Abu Hanifa (150H) said disbeliever those who attribute a place to Allah (Narrated by Ibn Abdi s-Salam and Al-Qari)Shaykh Al-Azhari said Imam Subki it is disbelief by unanimous believe that Allah is in one direction or that He sits on the ThroneSo where do asharis believe Allah is? and how can we say Allah is above the throne when apparently Shaykh Al-Azhari said Imam Subki it is disbelief by unanimous believe that Allah is in one direction?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The belief of the Ashaa’irah is that ‘Allah is not above the world, is not below it, is not to the right, is not to the left, is not in the front, is not in the back, nor is He separate from the world or attached to it’, as written in one of their books, entitled Tuhfatul Mureed.

They mean by that denying Him being above His Creation and being established on His Throne, on the claim of exalting Him from being described to be in a given direction.

Describing Allah with those qualities requires that Allah is according to them inexistent, because what they mentioned are qualities/characteristics of nonexistence. But they do not say this (explicitly); so this statement that could be understood from their words cannot be attributed to them initially since they do not themselves say it.

The term ‘direction’ and other similar Attributes were neither confirmed to Allah nor denied from Him in the Quran or the Sunnah, and the rule established by the scholars is that it is not correct to say this term neither when denying it nor confirming it; rather, there are details about it.

If what is meant by the denial of ‘direction’ is denying Him being surrounded by any direction, then this is correct. Confirming the meaning that a direction surrounds Him is Kufr.

If what is meant is denying Him being Above (His Creation) and being established on His Throne, then this is void.

Ibn Taymiyyah said in Minhaaj as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah:
When speaking about the term ‘direction’, then the term ‘direction’ means an existing matter, like the higher sphere, and it can mean an inexistent matter, like what is beyond the world (abstract).

If what is meant is the second meaning, then it is possible to say that each body (in Arabic jism) is in a given direction. But if what is meant is the first meaning, then it is not possible that each jism (body) is inside another body. If someone says: Allah is in a given direction, and by direction he meant an existing thing, then everything other than Allah is created by Him. Whoever says that He is in a direction with this interpretation is wrong. If by direction one meant something non-existent which is what is beyond the world (abstract), and said that Allah is above the world, then he is correct because there is no one other than Him above the world. So Allah is not inside some existing things.

If ‘direction’ is interpreted to mean something inexistent, then what is inexistent is nothing. This explanation and similar ones in regard to clarifying the correct meaning and the wrong meaning by the term direction will remove the entire ambiguity.” [End of quote]

Declaring someone who confirms the Uluw (being above) as a non-Muslim, requires declaring the Salaf of this nation as non-Muslims as well, because they confirmed that Allah is High Above His Throne and high Above His Creation.

Ath-Thahabi wrote a book entitled al-'Uluw lil-‘ali al-Ghaffar, and he mentioned in it many quotations that prove that this is the methodology of the Salaf.

Al-Qurtubi said in his Tafseer after mentioning the statements of those who spoke about direction:
The first generation of the Salaf, may Allah be pleased with them, did not speak about denying the direction and they did not utter such a thing, but they and all the people uttered by proving it to Allah, as mentioned in His book and as conveyed by His Messengers. None of the Salaf denied that Allah is really (for a fact) established on His Throne.” [End of quote]

So is al-Qurtubi Kafir, as well as those from whom it was quoted that they confirmed that Allah is lying on His Throne, are they Kaafir as well?!

In the Fataawa which we referred you to previously, you will find more clarifications in this regard.

If As-Sabki had quoted the consensus that you mentioned in the question, then this is based on the belief of the Ashaa’irah, and the view of their scholars (i.e. the Ash’ari scholars) and not the consensus of the Muslim nation.

On the other hand, we have not come across the statement that you attributed to Abu Haneefah. Rather, what is quoted from him is the opposite.

Ibn Abul-'Izz, from the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, said in his explanation of the ‘Aqeedah at-Taahawiyyah:

Shaykh al-Islam Abu Isma'eel al-Ansari narrated in his book al-Faarooq, in his chain of transmission to Mutee' al-Bakhli: that he asked Abu Haneefah about those who say: "I do not know whether my Lord is in the heavens or in the earth? He said: he has disbelieved; because Allah Says (what means): {The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established.} [Quran 20:5], and His Throne is above the seven heavens. I said: If he says: Allah is on the Throne, but he says: I do not know whether the Throne is in the heavens or in the earth? He replied: He is a Kaafir (disbeliever), because he denied that Allah is in the heavens; whoever denies that Allah is in the heavens, he has disbelieved.” [End of quote]

It should be mentioned here that not everyone who says a word of Kufr becomes a Kaafir (disbeliever). There are some conditions for declaring someone as a Kaafir which we have already highlighted in Fataawa 87963 and 8106.

Finally, it should be noted that a Muslim should avoid issues or matters of misconceptions if he is not well-grounded in Islamic knowledge, otherwise his heart may be affected with them and he would not be able to get rid of them.

Allah knows best.

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