When we look around us, we see two things: borders (physical limit/ spacial limit/ shape) and color. There is nothing else that is seen by our eyes. We do not need to consider color, because color is secondary to borders in that they fall within borders.
What we are left with then, for proving the need of creation for a Creator, is borders. We must prove that all borders, not matter the shape, must have a Creator, in order to show that the Creator exists[1]. Why all? Because border only differ in their size and shape; there is no difference between them based on which one could claim that one of them needs a creator, while another does not. There is no such difference between them.
Accordingly, if someone says that Aļļaah has a border, then he is forced to either say that Aļļaah, like everything else with a border, needs a creator, or that He cannot prove that borders needs a creator. If he can’t prove that borders need a creator, then he can’t prove that what we see with our eyes around us needs a creator.
All anthropomorphists believe that Aļļaah is something that can be pointed at in a direction. This means they believe that He has a border in that direction. They also believe that Aļļaah is not created. Accordingly, they are forced to say that borders do not need a creator. This again means that they cannot prove the createdness of anything that is seen.
They want us to believe that this is the path of truth and reason, and the way of the Qur’aan, the Prophets and the pious Salaf. This is nothing less than an insult to the religion and the Creator, and a denial of Islam being in agreement with sound reason. It reduces it to the guesswork that all other religions are. It is an endorsement of the idea that science and reason cannot agree with religion. What an enormous price to pay just to hold onto the idea that Aļļaah’s aboveness is one of relative spacial positioning, instead of just saying that His aboveness is in power and status, not in location.
[1] All borders need a creator, because their shape is intrinsically possible. After all, a physical limit is conceptually just a connection of dots forming a line or surface. Each dot is connected to the next at one of its sides. The choice of placement of a connected dot to another is for any available space at any angle and from any angle. That’s it. The placement of connected dots form limits, and since the way the dots are placed next to each other needs specification in terms of ‘where’, it must be true that all limits need to be specified.
More simply put: anything that has a physical limit (or size), has a shape, because the limit has to have some shape. Anything that has a certain shape could have had any other shape, because any shape isn’t intrinsically of higher priority than any other shape, so having a certain shape means that there must be someone who specified it and chose it among all other possibilities.
This means that any physical limit needs a creator and cannot be eternal, because its existence depends on prior specification, and all such limits are equal in this dependence. So if someone claims that one such limit does not require a creator, or to be specified, then He can no longer logically prove that another limit does need a creator. This means that he can no longer logically prove that shapes need someone to give them a form. To be able to do that, rather, he must hold on to the premise that all limits need a creator. He must hold that since Aļļaah is not specified or created, and is definitely eternal, it must be true that Aļļaah exists without physical limits.
Sunni Answers 
Dear Shaykh,
As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Would it be fair to say that Allah’s ‘aboveness’ also entails that He is distinct from His creation and transcendent beyond it?
I would say that He is clear of and above being in a location, or mixed with creation. I find that clearer.
Thank you, Shaykh.
It disturbs me that people wrongly accuse you of being a Jahmi.
It is the traditional tactic of anthropomorphists. They make denial of physical characteristics equivalent to denial of Allaah’s attributes. Sunnis do not deny Allaah’s attributes, they only deny that His attributes can be like those of creation.
James,
The wahabis are champion straw men. The sheikh mentioned one specific application of their strategy.
This is what that this strategy entails in general:
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/straw-man.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
From the wikipedia article:
QUOTE:
Debating around a straw man
Strictly speaking, there are three ways to deal with a straw man setup.
1. Using the terms of the straw man and refuting the theory itself: Beach debate: There is no threat to morality with “free” sex. Sex for purposes other than procreation is something that shouldn’t be tied to shame or guilt. (Note: A weakness of this retort is that agreeing to use the terminology of the opponent may deflect the debate to a secondary one about the opponent’s assumptions).
2. Clarifying the original theory: I said relax laws on beer but nothing about other stronger intoxicants. This may involve explicitly pointing out the straw man.
3. Questioning the disputation What incitement to nazism do you imagine school uniforms would have?.
UNQUOTE
A wahabi is a typical basket case of any and every thing that can and does go wrong with the human mind and intelligent thought process.
Psychologists might not be able to systematically codify the entire human mind and its processes but they sure can benchmark and codify human stupidity if they properly study these wahabi specimens.
Alhamdulillah, our Sunni scholars have been doing it since the fitnah of these mujassimeen first broke out. Sadly there too, our negation of their stupidity is attributed to not following the salaf and they try to string innocent Muslims along into the pits of hell. Its a classical circular argument.
To illustrate their satanic retarded minds, it’s like if we refute the qadianis today, and some clown comes along and says “Did the salaf present arguments x, y, and z?” What this argument fails to see/address is that there were no qadianis in the times of the salaf.
Exactly similarly, when Sunni Ash’ari and Maturidi scholars, early or latter, refute their mujassima beliefs, they use all sorts of mind games and cry anything from bid’ah to kufr to shirk to jahmi-ism to anything else in order to diverge people away from their satanic misgivings being exposed.
Salaam,
The Creator of all the directions is not contained by the six directions. A well known Muslim scholar by the name of Imam abu Ja^far At-Tahawi (b.229 d.321After Hijrah(1), 828/920), also lived in the Salaf(2) era, wrote a very famous book called Al-^Aqidah At-Tahawiyyah (the Creed by At-Tahawi). He mentioned that the subject of this book is an explanation of the Creed of the people of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamma^ah, which is also the same Creed Imam Abu Hanifah (one of the top scholars of the four schools of thoughts) and his two elite companions adhered to. Imam Abu Hanifah is one of the authorities of the Salaf (b.80 d.150AH, 679/749). Imam abu Ja^far At-Tahawi in his book Al-^Aqidah At-Tahawiyyah (the Creed by At-Tahawi) said:
قالَ الإِمامُ أَبُو جَعْفََََََرٍ الطَحاوِيُّ رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ في بَيانِ عَقِيدَةِ أَهْلِ السُّنَّةِ وَالْجَماعَةِ : وَتَعَالَى عَنِ الْحُدُودِ وَالغَايَاتِ وَالأرْكَانِ وَالأَعْضَاءِ وَالأَدَوَاتِ. لا تَحْوِيهِ الْجِهَاتُ السِّتُّ كسائرِ الْمُبتَدَعاتِ.
Means: “Ta^ala [Allàh is absolutely and totally clear of all] limits(3), boundaries(4), sides(5), organs(6) and limbs(7). Nor is He contained by the six directions like all created things.” The six directions are (up, down, front, back, left and right). These six primary directions which are created by Allàh contain only the created things and if Allàh was contained by these six primary directions, that would make Him like all created things, which is intellectually impossible. This is because Allàh the Creator is eternal and boundless, unlike the created that is bounded.
_______________
(1) The Hijrah (immigration) of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allàh be upon him), from Mecca to al-Madinah was an order by Allàh. This Hijrah was also the start of Prophet Muhammad’s Islamic nation calendar.
(2) The Salaf were among the Muslims who lived during the first three centuries after Hijrah. The Prophet praised the Salaf by saying:
قال رسول اللَّه صلى اللَّه عليه وسلم : خَيْرُ القُرُونِ قَرْنِى ثُمَّ الذين يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ الذين يَلُُُُونَهُم. رَوَاهُ البخارىّ
Means: “The best of people [Muslims who live in Prophet Muhammad’s nation] are those who live in my first century, then the one that follows it [second century], then the one that follows it [third century].” So all what is relayed to us from those scholars in that era, the Prophet praised them and we as Muslims must take their knowledge on board in our lifetime, because their belief is in total agreement with the Messenger of Allàh and all of his companions. Imam abu Ja^far At-Tahawi lived during the first 300 years after the immigration of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), from Mecca to al-Madinah. Hence, Imam At-Tahawi is among the Salaf (successors of the companions) praised by the Prophet in the abovementioned saying of the Prophet. The creed Imam At-Tahawi complied and explained is the same creed all the pious Salaf and the creed that is taught today to the students of Al-Azhar Al-Shariff University in Cairo Egypt. It is also taught in the University of Az-Zaytouna in Tunisia Africa and in the rest of the Arabian countries like Morocco, Dubai and the nations of Ash-Sham (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan). As it is taught in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, Sudan, Yeman, Iraq, India, Africa, Al-Bukharah, Daghistan, Afghanistan and the rest of the Muslim nations. Note, the Wahhabies call themselves Salafi, they lied. The word Salaf is a name for those Muslims who lived in the first 3 century era of Islam. When confronted with these facts the Wahhabies say we mean we are followers of the Salaf. That is also another lie due to the facts presented. The Wahhabies are constantly trying to confuse the uneducated by labelling what is not considered shirk in Islam as shirk. It is the Wahhabies who are on shirk with their blasphmoues beliefs, not Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamma^ah followers of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Wahhabies completely twist and distort the truth, because the truth exposes them.
(3) All bodies tangible or intangible have limits.
(4) The blasphemous belief that Allàh is in a place or direction necessitates believing that He has a shape. This is because being in one location and not others means that one must have a border that defines the location one is in, because something in a place is either in a specific place, and not in others. A border linguistically and religiously is defined with a shape, and a shape needs a Creator to have specified it. What needs others is not perfect and is not God. Imam abu Ja^far At-Tahawi is one of the Salaf scholars and he is confirming the belief that Allàh is not attributed with a boundary. What has ends, sides, organs and parts, is a body. A body is either above or below, in front or behind, to the left or to the right of another body. Every creation is confined to these six primary directions. However, Allàh the Creator of all the directions is clear from these six primary directions, because the Creator existed before He created them, without Him being in one or more directions.
(5) All bodies tangible or intangible have sides.
(6) Large bodily organs, like face, torso, arms and shins etc.
(7) Small bodily organs, like foot, eyes, ears, hands, fingers, tongue and lips etc.
Our existence is in a place and Allàh’s existence is not in or on a place and if Satan or a devil whispers to you and says: “How can Allàh exist without a place?” Just remember this example. There was once no darkness and no light created. In the Holy Qur’an, chapter: 6 verse: 1
وَجَعَلَ الظُّلُمَاتِ وَالنُّورَ. سورة : الأنعَام
Means: “Allàh created the darkness and light.” Since the human mind is limited to what it can imagine, so can we imagine how it would have been before Allàh created the darkness and the light? The answer is no. The same judgement applies to the human soul. We as humans are ignorant of the how manner of our soul in our own body. Then how dare some people who have that nerve to come to a wrong conclusion and say: “How is Allàh”, when Allàh exists without a how and without a place.
So, just as our sound mind determines that Allàh exists without a place and without a direction, before creating the place and direction, the sound mind also determines that after Allàh created all the places and directions, He still exists without a place and direction. The Creator of all things that change, He (Allàh) does not change. A Muslim scholar who is well known for being very God fearing Sufi, by the name of Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy al-Kabir said a wonderful statement:
قالَ الشَّيْخُ أَحْمَدُ الرِّفاعِيُّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ : غَايَةُ المَعْرِفَةِ بِاللَّهِ الإِيقَانُ بِوُجُودِهِ تَعَالَى بِلا كَيْفٍ وَلا مَكَانٍ.
Means: “The ultimate knowledge about Allàh is to be certain that Allàh exists without a how and without a place.”
The belief that Allàh exists without a how and without a place is the creed of the Messenger of Allàh (peace and blessings be upon him), the companions and those who graciously followed them and it shall be until the Day of Judgment. The proof of this precious statement is what is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, chapter: 42 verse: 11
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَىْ ءٌ. سورة : الشّورى
Means: “Absolutely nothing like Allàh in any way whatsoever.” This muhkam verse reflects the core of Tawhid and the clearest verse in the entire Qur’an that when it is recited, the meaning is totally clear Allàh is absolutely clear from resembling the creations in everyway. Hence, it is also proof that Allàh exists without a place, because whatever exists in a place would be made up of particles (i.e. it would be a body occupying a space) and the Creator is not a body that occupies a space. The words body, place and space mean that which has depth, height and width. And what has depth, height and width is a creation beyond any doubt. In the book Ar-Risalah (The Message) by Abul-Qasim al-Qushayriyy, Imam Ja^far as-Sadiq (d.148AH) who is among the Great Salaf said:
قالَ الإِمامُ جَعْفَرُ الصَّادِقُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ : مَنْ زَعَمَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ في شَيْءٍ أَوْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ أَوْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَقَدْ أََشْرَكَ إِذْ لَوْ كانَ في شَيْءٍ لَكانَ مَحْصُورًا أَوْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ لَكانَ مَحْمولاً وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ شَيْءٍ لَكانَ مُحْدَثاً أَيْ مَخْلُوقاً.
Means: “He who claims that Allàh is in something or on something or from something, commits shirk. Because, had Allàh been in something, He would be contained, had Allàh been on something, He would be carried, had Allàh been from something, He would be something that has a beginning [creation].”
How do spirit and matter relate?
The spirit, or soul, is a matter that we do not know the reality of, but Sunni scholars say that it is a light body (think of air to get some level of understanding of what they mean) that is attached to our solid bodies. This topic is not a matter that Muslims are required to study.
assalaamu alaikum
Maybe this is why Musa alaihi salaam answered the atheist Firawn this way:
Fir’awn said: “Who then, O Musa, is the Lord of you two?”
“Our Lord is He who gave to each thing its form and nature…”
{20:49-50}
Waˆalaykumussalaam,
That is exactly why. The most obvious fact we know about Allaah is Him being the Creator.
AAA
mashaallah. alhamdulillah that i have found this website. i have a lot of questions and this answered them, if not all. i have learned a lot from this.
shaykh, i have a question and i hope this will be answered. how could we know that our curiosity of knowledge misleads us? or does seeking knowledge has a limit? why? at what extent?
God (Allah) is the creator of everything. He existed before time and place. He does not resemble the creations in anyway. The saying that Allah, almighty, exists without a place is the belief and the creed of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, the Companions and the True Salaf and Khalaf scholars, those who graciously followed them, and it shall be until the Day of Judgment. The proof of this precious statement is what Allah said in the Qur’an, in Surat ash-Shura, ayah 11 (ليس كمثله شىء وهو السميع البصير) which means: “There is nothing like Allah, and He has the attribute of Hearing and Seeing.” This ayah absolutely and totally clears Allah of resembling the creation. It comprises that Allah, ta^ala, is different from the creations in the Self, Attributes, and Doings. Hence, it shows that Allah, ta^ala, exists without a place, because the one who exists in a place would, by nature, be composed of atoms, i.e., he would be a body, occupying a space, and Allah, ta^ala, is clear of occupying spaces.