Page 82 - Knowing The Truth

80 KNOWING THE TRUTH

Or they regard Allah (surely He is beyond that) as an imagination
pervading that absolute matter. Or else, since they cannot see Him with
their own eyes, they say: "Allah must be somewhere we cannot see, in
space or far away from human eyes." (Surely Allah is beyond that.) But
these are all grave errors.
Because Allah is everywhere, not just in the sky. As the Sole
Absolute Being, Allah enfolds the whole universe, all people and places,
the heavens and everywhere. And Allah is manifested in the whole
universe. According to the hadith, our Prophet (May Allah bless him and
grant him peace) said that someone who said that Allah was in the sky
was telling the truth. But this account in no way conflicts with the fact that
Allah is everywhere. Because if someone at your location on Earth raises
his hands and prays to Allah and thinks that Allah is in the sky, while
someone at the South Pole turns to Allah in the same way, while someone
else at the North Pole raises his hands and yet another individual in
Japan, or America or Ecuador raises his hands to the sky in the same way
and turns to Allah, then it is impossible to speak of any fixed direction. In
the same way, if djinn, angels and demons at various points in space and
the universe also pray toward the skies, it will again be impossible to
speak of any fixed direction, and the situation will be one that covers the
entire universe.
We must not also forget that Allah is unfettered by time and space.
Allah's Self is something different. But the manifestations of Allah are
everywhere. If someone enters a room and says Allah is not there, he is
denying Allah. The manifestations of Allah are in that room and
everywhere. Wherever you may turn, manifestations of Allah are there.
Several verses of the Qur'an state that Allah pervades all places, that He
is closer to us than our own jugular veins, and that we will see His face
wherever we look. For example, in verse 255 of Surat al-Baqara Allah says
"... His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth...." In verse 92
of Surah Hud He says, "...But my Lord encompasses everything that you
do" meaning that Allah also pervades what people do.