Question:
I really like your stance on everything. It has really opened up a new door to me, as it never occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, Allah isn’t above us. Since I was a young boy, I’ve raised my hands to the sky praying to Allah. Oh how wrong I was! I could’ve have been making Du’aa’ towards the floor!
In other words, if Allah is the Most High, and if He isn’t above us, that would mean that he is everywhere. maybe, he’s inside all of us as well…..
as you can see from my flawed thinking, this is why we need to discuss this issue and this is why this issue is one of great importance. many misconceptions can come from flaws in people’s Aqeedah no matter how small. So instead of dismissing this as an issue that has not been of debate, Clearly it has been debate because the way of thinking I just presented to you is from many different misguided sects.
Answer:
The Aqeedah (Beliefs) of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaat is this that Allah Ta’ala’s power and knowledge is present everywhere, i.e. Allah Ta’ala has knowledge of everything and everywhere and there is no place that is not encompassed by Allah Ta’ala’s power. He is not confined to a specific area because that thing which is confined to a specific area is in fact restricted and will not be found anywhere else. Allah Ta’ala is free from this type of deficiency. His power is present everywhere. Allah Ta’ala has mentioned in the Qur’an Kareem: “And the Ownership of the East and the West goes to Allah alone. So whichever direction you face, Allah’s Countenance (Glory) is there. Surely Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.” (Surah Baqarah, Aayah 115)
“And for each person there has been a Qiblah towards which he used to turn. So you should vie with one another in virtue. Wherever you be (and whichever direction you face), Allah will bring you forth all together. Truly Allah has full power over all things.” (Surah Baqarah, Verse, 148)
Nothing is hidden from Allah Ta’ala’s knowledge: ““O my dear son! If there be (anything to) the weight of a mustard seed, and it be within a rock, or in the heavens, or in the earth, Allah will bring it forth. Surely Allah is the Knower of all subtleties, Most Cognisant.” (Surah Luqmaan, Verse 16)
“And indeed We created man and We know the whispers of his heart. And We are closer to him than the jugular vein.” (Surah Qaaf, Verse 16)
“Have you not considered this, that Allah knows all that lies in the heavens and all that lies in the earth? There is no private talk of three people but He is their fourth, and of five people, but He is their sixth, nor less than that or more but He is with them wherever they be. Then on the Day of Judgement He will notify them of their actions. Assuredly Allah is the Knower of all things.” (Surah Mujaadalah, Verse 7)
We cannot compare these qualities of Allah Ta’ala to us mere mortals. Allah Ta’ala says in the Qur’aan Kareem: “He is Peerless, and He is All Hearing, All Seeing.” (Surah Shoora, Verse 11) and “Nor is there anyone equal to Him.” (Surah Ikhlaas, Verse 4)
The question now is why do we lift our hands at the time of making Du’aa? The answer to this question is that in the human environment those things that are above are understood to be more important and greater than those that are below it. In this world when we would like to honour someone or something we place that person or thing on a high podium just as when we decide to disgrace someone we remove them from the high positions to lower positions. Every person, according to human nature, respects ones parents and elders and therefore holds them in high esteem. We also seat them higher than ourselves. To substantiate this it is mentioned in a Hadith that: “The higher hand is greater than the lower hand.” In this Hadith “the higher hand’ means the hand that gives and “lower hand” means the one that receives. It is apparent that the person that gives is honoured more in life than the one that receives. That is why the hand that gives is compared to the higher hand in this Hadith.
Allah Ta’ala is the Greatest of all and all honour is for Allah Ta’ala only, that is why when a Muslim envisages Allah and turns towards Allah, then according to human nature, this feeling comes in the Muslim’s heart that the Creator and Master is in the skies above him/her and that Allah Ta’ala is looking down on him/her from above. If Allah Ta’ala wishes to give anything to him/her then it will come down from the skies. It is due to this feeling that whenever a Muslim ones to indicate towards Him then according to habit he/she will point towards the skies. If the Muslim wishes to speak to Allah Ta’ala then he/she faces towards the skies and if he/she wishes to ask for something then he/she lifts the hands towards the skies and asks.
Nabi (S.A.W.) once asked a mute lady: “Where is Allah?” She pointed towards with her finger towards the sky. Nabi (S.A.W.) then said: “This is a Mu’minah (Believer).” This was also done due to human nature. Sometimes when the Angel used to bring the Revelation to Nabi (S.A.W.), Nabi (S.A.W.) used to see him descending from the skies. It is for this reason that most of the times when Nabi (S.A.W.) used to expect the Revelation to descend then Nabi (S.A.W.) used to look towards the skies. Allah Ta’ala has mentioned in the Qur’aan Kareem: “Indeed We see the raising of thy face (anxiously) often towards the sky.” (Surah Baqarah, Aayah 144)
This does not mean that Allah Ta’ala is only in the skies but because the Angel used to descend from the skies, that is why Nabi (S.A.W.) used to look up to the skies when he was expecting Wahi (Revelation).
To summarise, Allah Ta’ala is not confined to any specific area or direction but due to respect whenever one wishes to ask Allah Ta’ala for something, then one should lift the hands and face towards the sky and do so. One should not unnecessarily delve in this issue and through logic try to extract other possibilities. We should also understand this to be disrespectful towards Allah Ta’ala just as we deem certain actions to be disrespectful to our parents.
It is mentioned in the Qur’an Kareem: “And for Allah alone are the excellent Names; so invoke Him by those Names. And you should have nothing to do with the people who commit digression in the Names of Allah. Soon they will be requited for what they used to do.” (Surah A’araaf, Aayah 180)
“And for Allah is an August attribute.” (Surah Nahal, Aayah 60)
And Allah Ta’ala knows best
Mufti Muhammad Ashraf
Darul Iftaa
Jameah Mahmoodiyah
Springs
25 December 2004
13 Thul Qa’dah 1425