Where is Allah?

Where is Allah, according to Hanbali Creed: An Analysis of Classical Sources

Compiled by: Abdur Rahman al Ushayqiri al Hanbali

Introduction

The Hanbali school of thought, known for its strict adherence to textual evidence and rejection of figurative interpretation in matters of creed, has consistently maintained a distinct stance regarding the attributes of Allah and His relationship to His creation. This paper aims to explore the Hanbali position concerning "where Allah is" on classical texts and authoritative scholars within the madhhab.

Affirmation Without Interpretation

The concise Hanbali response to the question "Where is Allah?" is that He is fawq al Arsh, but not in the sense that He is fawq al Arsh in His essence. An important note here is that authentic Hanbali scholars refrain from translating or interpreting ambiguous verses, holding that figurative interpretation (ta'wīl) is impermissible. Translating such texts is itself considered a form of interpretation.

In Lumʿat al Iʿtiqād, Ibn Qudāmah lays foundational principles for dealing with ambiguous verses (mutashābihāt):

"And everything that has come in the Qur’an, or has been authentically reported from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ regarding the attributes of the Most Merciful, it is obligatory to believe in it, and it must be received with submission and acceptance, without rejection, interpretation, likening it to creation, or attempting to imagine it.

Whatever of that is ambiguous. It is obligatory to affirm its wording while refraining from delving into its meaning, and we refer the knowledge of it back to the One who said it."

Affirming Allah's Transcendence

Based on this framework, Hanbali scholars affirm the wording of the relevant āyāt and hadīth. They maintain:

"We affirm the wording that has come in the hadīth and the Qur’an, that Allah is fawq al Arsh, but not in the sense that He is fawq al Arsh in His essence."

This view is supported across major Hanbali works.

Ahmad ibn Hamdān al Harrānī al Hanbalī (d. 695 AH) writes in Nihāyat al Mubtadi'īn:

"And that He, the Exalted: is not a substance, nor an accident, nor a body, and created events do not occur in Him.

He does not reside in anything created, nor is He confined within it. Rather, He is distinct and separate from His creation.

Allah is fawq al Arsh without limitation; limitation applies to the throne and what is beneath it, but Allah, the Exalted, is beyond that, neither confined by place nor limited by it.

For He existed before place was created, then He created place, and He is as He was before the creation of place."

Testimonies from the Hanbali Tradition

Shaykh al Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, in al Hamawiyyah, quotes Maʿmar ibn Ahmad al Asbahānī, a Sufi Shaykh of the fourth century, who said:

"I wished to advise my companions with a counsel from the Sunnah and an admonition from wisdom, and to summarize what the people of hadīth and tradition, and the people of knowledge and Sufism, both the early and later generations were upon."

He continues:

"Indeed, Allah istiwa alal Arsh, without how, without resemblance, and without interpretation. The istiwa is conceivable, but the how of it is unknown.

Allah is separate from His creation, and the creation is separate from Him, without indwelling, mingling, blending, or contact, for He is the Unique, separate from creation, the One, self-sufficient and independent of creation."

Ibn Qāʿid al Najdī, in his treatise Najāt al Khalaf fī Iʿtiqād al Salaf, similarly writes:

"Allah, glorified is He, is neither a substance, nor a body, nor an accident. He is not governed by created events, nor does He reside within any created thing, nor is He confined within it.

Whoever believes or says that Allah is, in His essence, in every place or in any one place, is a disbeliever. Rather, it is obligatory to firmly believe that He, glorified is He, is separate from His creation.

Allah existed when there was no place, then He created place, and He is as He always was, before the creation of place.

It has been authentically reported in the hadīth that the Prophet ﷺ said to the slave girl: Where is Allah? She replied: 'In the heaven. He said: Who am I?' She said: You are the Messenger of Allah. So he said: Free her, for she is a believer.'"

This hadīth was narrated by Mālik, al Shāfiʿī, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muslim in his Sahīh, and others. However, this does not imply that Allah is inside the sky, encompassed or contained by the heavens. None of the Salaf or leading Imāms of the Ummah ever said such a thing.

Instead, they unanimously agreed that Allah is fawq as Sama and Fawq al Arsh, distinct and separate from His creation. There is nothing of His essence within His creation and nothing of His creation within His essence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Imams of the Hanbali school affirm the apparent wording of the Qur'anic verses and prophetic traditions without rejecting anything that has been revealed. At the same time, they guard against attributing to Allah anything that is not befitting His majesty. The doctrine maintains Allah’s absolute transcendence, avoiding both anthropomorphism and negation.