Shadee Elmasry – on the Nature of God and the Universe
AI: Summary ©
The speakers stress the significance of "has" in Islam, which is not just a physical location but also a concept that is not just one, as well as a physical location, a physical location, a physical location, a physical location, a physical location, a physical location, a location, and a location. They discuss the meaning of "verbal" and its importance in defining definition methods and identifying one's own definition. The speakers stress the need to create proper understanding of one's definition and its value, as it relates to physical bodies and cultural norms.
AI: Summary ©
Because a brother said, not a single person
from the Sahaba ever said Allah exists without
a place.
How dare you say Allah exists without a
place?
Well, also they didn't say he exists with
a place either, right?
Because if you say that, you actually are
putting the onus of the burden of proof
is on you to provide a proof that
there is a place.
And what is that place?
What is the name of that place?
Is it God's home then, if that's what
you're saying?
So let's read these Nusus from the Shariah
that tells us that the reason why the
Ulema said, إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَوْجُودٌ بِلَا مَكَانٍ وَلَا
زَمَانٍ How about the Messenger ﷺ said, كَانَ
اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ شَيْءٌ غَيْرُهُ Allah existed and
nothing else existed besides Him.
Bukhari.
Is place a thing?
Is time a thing?
Is location a thing?
Then He existed without it.
And He exists now as He existed then.
Because Allah doesn't change.
He has no needs for anything.
How about what is the meaning of هو
الأول والآخر He is the first and the
last.
Well one of the meanings, the valid and
sound meanings of that, is it means that
before anything existed, Allah existed with all of
His attributes.
And after everything perishes, Allah will exist with
all of His attributes and nothing lost.
I mean for us, if our stuff, if
we lose it, we decrease, right?
And if we gain it, we increase.
هو الأول والآخر Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
Before all the creation, all this creation as
massive as we imagine it to be, seven
heavens, paradise and *, before all of this
existed, He existed and there was nothing with
Him.
And after all of it will perish, as
we know, every single living thing will perish.
Even ملك الموت himself, Allah says موت يا
ملك الموت Angel of death, Allah says die
and he dies.
There will be not a single living soul
or organism.
Will Allah have lost anything?
Will Allah have changed?
Nothing.
هو الأول والآخر هو الأول والآخر So therefore
He exists before the عرش, before the throne
of Allah ta'ala.
Throne of Allah ta'ala, Allah has attributed
it to Himself to honor it, to show
us how great and massive this is and
what a great creation it is.
Just like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
about وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي I blew in
Him from my روح, my spirit.
Does Allah have a روح, a spirit?
No.
The answer is He owns it.
Well, Allah owns everything, yes, but when He
attributes ownership to Himself, it is a way
to honor that thing.
So the روح is honored because Allah says
روحي, the one that I own, I created,
and علماء says the same of the عرش.
Allah says in the Qur'an, الله الصمت,
and Allah says والله الغني.
Allah is the absolute independent of any needs
and everything needs Him.
Clearly, anything in a space has a need
for that space, right?
And everything that is in a space is
dependent upon that space, whether it wants to
be or not.
So therefore, if Allah is ever without need,
then He would not be in a space,
in a location.
Prophet ﷺ said, أَنتَ الظَّاهِرُ وَلَيْسَ فَوْقَكَ شَيْءٌ
وَأَنتَ الْبَاطِنُ فَلَيْسَ دُونَكَ شَيْءٌ صحيح مسلم.
It's a beautiful du'a, it's actually about
debt, اقضي عني الدَّين, fulfill my debts.
But the line that's important here, أَنتَ الْبَاطِنُ
فَلَيْسَ دُونَكَ شَيْءٌ You are the باطن, you
are the not apparent, inwardly hidden, or hidden
we can say.
Yes, because some aspect of Allah is hidden
to us.
We don't see Him now.
We see Him inshallah in the akhirah without
direction or physicality.
دُونَكَ means beneath.
So if there is nothing above Him, nothing
below Him, then He exists without a place.
Who said that?
Bayhaqi quotes those who have said that, Imam
Bayhaqi.
Someone may say, all right, why are you
taking the literal meaning of دونَكَ here?
It's because we always go to the literal
meaning first, unless a مُحْكَم verse, مُحْكَم is
an explicit verse, would tell us otherwise.
If a مُحْكَم verse is saying one thing,
and then a متشابه, a verse that's from
the متشابهات, that unclear verses, is saying what
seems to be the opposite, then we say
that it's definitely not that meaning.
It's not that apparent meaning.
So here, ليس دونَكَ شيء, there's nothing مُحْكَم
that is contradicting.
Right?
Or that is apparently opposing.
So the apparent meaning here is acceptable to
us.
If that apparent meaning was opposing a مُحْكَم
verse, then yes, we would say we will
go to another meaning, or we will leave
it completely, تَفْوِيد or تَأْوِيد.
Talib Razi is saying a good point.
He said, those who took above literally, here
they have to take below metaphorically, right?
So we say, what is your ضابط here?
What's your standard?
The standard is clear.
If a متشابه verse, the apparent meaning of
the متشابه will seemingly contradict or contradict directly
a مُحْكَم, then we do تَنْزِي.
We صَرْفَ الْمَعْنَةَ عَنْ ظَاهِرِهِ.
We say the meaning is definitely not this
outward meaning.
We establish the text as it is a
text from Allah, 100%.
We believe in it.
But we say that this possible meaning is
not what Allah intended.
Why?
Because Allah Himself told us elsewhere, told us
something else elsewhere.
Let's go to just the reason and defining
terms, right?
We have to reason and define terms.
What is a place?
What is a place consist of?
Is not a place a physical location made
of matter?
And anything that is in that place also
must be placed made of matter.
And we know Allah is not made of
matter.
That's just by defining terms.
That's it.
If we define the terms and the loaism
of the terms, remember what we said earlier,
you got to worry about three things.
Define your terms, list out all the loaism,
the necessary implications of that term.
And then don't contradict yourself.
Make sure there's no contradiction there.
Is this some philosophical Aristotle nonsense?
This is nothing other than defining terms.
Shaytan has fooled you with this branding, right?
Is this anything other than define the term?
Define the loaism of the term, the necessary
implications of that term.
Like tell me otherwise.
Is that not common sense?
Is there like a second option here?
Yeah.
Like it's so simple, common sense.
Can I put my imagination in a place?
I can't even say my imagination is in
my head.
That's even metaphoric, right?
Your imagination is like, it's not really like,
it doesn't actually have like an extra mental
existence.
It's completely mental.
So like a jisn, what is a jisn?
What is a body?
It's something that's made up, it's made up,
parts.
Okay.
And then what's the necessary implication of something
that's made up of a part that has
parts?
Whatever has parts depends on those parts, right?
Like it's so simple.
Like you can tell this to like, you
know, high school and they'll understand this.
It's not very hard.
It's not like some deep philosophical stuff.
There's no two Muslims that will disagree.
No two humans that will disagree.
If we're going to talk, we've got to
define our terms.
We got to list out the implications of
those terms.
And then we don't contradict ourselves.
That's it.
Now let's take another angle here.
If what we're saying is correct, are we
going to come here in the year 1445?
What are you, Hijri year are we, right?
1444.
Wait, 45, right?
And come up with some new ideas.
Are we mujtahids in aqeedah for us to
say this stuff?
Who said it before us?
And if it's true, who affirmed it that
this is the case?
Anna Allaha mawjudun bila makan.
Let's go first to Imam al-Bayhaqi.
And we have to note, the question came
up later.
Therefore, by default, we will not have commentary
from the set up.
This hadith that we just said that you
are the outwardly apparent, so there is nothing
above you.
And you are the inwardly hidden, and there
is nothing below you.
He says, it has been narrated regarding this
hadith, that number one, wherever you are, you
are the same in your nearness and farness
from Allah because nearness and farness from Allah
is mental.
It's spiritual.
It means I'm in his pleasure and I'm
receiving that or I'm in his anger.
It has nothing to do with physically.
So if I shot myself up in a
rocket, am I closer to Allah?
What is this?
Worshipping an idol in the heavens?
Right?
So al-Zahir is outwardly apparent.
That means we can look at evidences and
know that he exists.
So his existence is outwardly apparent.
وَهُوَ الْبَاطِنُ فَلَا يَصِحُ إِدْرَاكُهُ بِالْكَوْنِ فِي مَكَانٍ
And he says he is inwardly hidden, so
you will not find his existence in a
location.
You don't run around and fly up in
the sky looking for the creator.
No matter what technology we ever develop and
peer out and shoot through all seven heavens.
That is how he is al-baatin.
So his existence can be determined with the
intellect, but he cannot be determined with a
location.
ثُمَّ قَالَ وَاسْتَدَلَّ بَعْضُ أَصْحَابِنَا Some of our
companions have taken this as evidence too.
فِي نَفْيِ الْمَكَانِ عَنْهُ بِقَوْلِ النَّبِي ﷺ أنت
الظهر فليس فوقه شيء وأنت الباطن فليس دونك
شيء There is nothing above you, there is
nothing below you.
وَإِذَا لَمْ يَكُنْ فَوْقَهُ شَيْءً If there is
nothing above him.
وَلَا دُونَهُ شَيْءً And nothing below him.
لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي مَكَانٍ Then he is not
in a location.
Anything in a location must have something above
him or below him.
Or on his right or on his left.
Correct or incorrect?
This is from, is this philosophy?
No, this is from the definition of a
place.
Defined place and the necessary implications of a
place.
Let's go to Imam Al-Qurtubi.
تفسير القرطبي الجامع لأحكام القرآن قَالَ وَوَصْفُهُ بِالْعُلُوِّ
وَالْعَظَمَةِ لَا بِالْأَمَاكِنِ وَالْجِهَاتِ وَالْحُدُودِ To describe Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala with highness and greatness
is not a description of location or direction
or limits.
لِأَنَّهَا صِفَاتُ الْأَجْسَامِ Because these would be the
attributes of physical bodies.
And we say that Allah ta'ala is
not a physical body.
وَإِنَّمَا تُرْفَعُ الْأَيْدِ بِالدُّعَاءِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ لِأَنَّ السَّمَاءَ
مَهْبِطُ الْوَحْيِ وَمَنْزِلُ الْقَطْرِ i.e. the rain
وَمَحَلُّ الْقُدْسِ i.e. Gabriel وَمَعْدِنُ i.e.
the place of the angels So what does
he say here?
He's saying We only raise our hands up
in Dua And likewise the famous Hadith of
the Jariyya where she points upwards Why?
Because it is the Qibla of Dua Because
the sky is where we see the revelation
come down from Gabriel used to come down
from there And the rain comes down from
there And it is the place of noble
angels And also the deeds go up there
So everything good is upwards to us Everything
good is up And even above that is
the Arsh of Allah It is a physical
creation It is above all of that And
paradise is even above كَمَا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ الْكَعْبَةَ
قِبْلَةً لِلدُّعَاءِ وَالصَّلَاةِ Just like Allah made the
Qibla of Salah And Dua So the vertical
Qibla of Dua is upwards The horizontal Qibla
of Dua is Makkah وَلِأَنَّهُ خَلَقَ الْأَمْكِنَةَ وَهُوَ
غَيْرُ مُحْتَاجٍ إِلَيْهَ He created direction and He
has no need for it وَكَانَ فِي أَزَلِهِ
قَبْلَ خَلْقِ الْمَكَانِ وَالزَّمَانِ And He had existed
pre-eternally without the creation of time and
place وَلَا مَكَانَ لَهُ وَلَا زَمَانَ There is
no place for Allah nor time وَهُوَ الْآنَ
عَلَى مَا عَلَيْهِ كَانَ And He is now
as He always was وَالْعَلِي يُرَادْ بِهِ عُلُوُ
الْقَدْرِ And there is even no meaning to
say for Allah is, was, and will be
That's for us, our perceptions وَالْعَلِي يُرَادْ بِهِ
عُلُوُ الْقَدْرِ When we say that Allah is
high it means His قدر, His value, His
worth to us And His greatness is high,
not His location We're not speaking about the
location because Allah is transcendent beyond direction