Allah’s Exaltedness Proven by Fitrah and Authentic Evidence

This excerpt is taken from the book “Where Is Allah?” by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amunpūrī.

Evidences from Natural Disposition (Fiṭrah)​

ʿAllāmah Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (792 AH) states:

علوه سبحانه كما هو ثابت بالسمع ثابت بالعقل والفطرة.

“Allah’s Exaltedness (being above) is established by revealed texts just as it is established by reason and natural disposition.”

Reference: Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah: 290

First Evidence​

Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

خرج نبي من الأنبياء يستسقي، فإذا هو بنملة رافعة بعض قوائمها إلى السماء، فقال: ارجعوا، فقد استجيب لكم من أجل شأن النملة.

“A Prophet from among the Prophets went out with his people to seek rain. Suddenly, he saw an ant raising some of its legs toward the sky (supplicating for rain). The Prophet said: ‘Return, for your supplication has been accepted due to the action of this ant.’”

Reference: Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī: 1797

Reference: al-Mustadrak lil-Ḥākim: 1/325–326

(Its chain is ḥasan, and these are the words of al-Ḥākim)

Imām al-Ḥākim رحمه الله declared this ḥadīth ṣaḥīḥ.
Its narrator Muḥammad ibn ʿAwn is ḥasan al-ḥadīth.

Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal رحمه الله said:

رجل معروف.

“He is a well-known man.”

Reference: al-ʿIlal wa Maʿrifat al-Rijāl: 2/211

Imām Ibn Ḥibbān رحمه الله mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators in al-Thiqāt (7/411).

Muḥammad ibn ʿAwn’s father, ʿAwn ibn Ḥakam, is also trustworthy.
Imām Ibn Ḥibbān رحمه الله mentioned him in al-Thiqāt (7/281).

ʿAwn ibn Ḥakam explicitly stated his hearing from Imām al-Zuhrī, and Imām al-Zuhrī explicitly stated his hearing from Abū Salamah. Therefore, the chain is ṣaḥīḥ and connected.

The ant’s natural instinct proves that Allah is not everywhere, rather He is above His creation. That is why it raised its legs toward the sky while supplicating for rain, and Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, accepted its supplication.

ʿAllāmah Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله (751 AH) states:

من أبين ما شهدت به الفطر والعقول والشرائع علوه سبحانه فوق جميع العالم، وأما تقرير ذلك بالأدلة العقلية الصريحة فمن طرق كثيرة جدا.

“Among the clearest matters testified to by natural dispositions, intellects, and divine laws is that Allah is exalted above all the worlds. As for establishing this through clear rational proofs, there are numerous methods.”

Reference: al-Ṣawāʿiq al-Mursalah: 4/1278–1279

Second Evidence​

Another evidence from natural disposition is that creation raises its hands upwards during supplication. This indicates that the One being supplicated is above. Consider the statements of the Imams of Ahl al-Sunnah:

Statement of Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī رحمه الله (324 AH)​

رأينا المسلمين جميعا يرفعون أيديهم إذا دعوا نحو السماء لأن الله تعالى مستو على العرش الذي هو فوق السماوات...

“We have seen all Muslims raising their hands toward the sky when they supplicate, because Allah, the Exalted, is established over the Throne, which is above the heavens. Had Allah not been over the Throne, they would not have raised their hands toward it, just as they do not lower them when supplicating toward the earth…

The Muʿtazilah, Jahmiyyah, and Ḥarūriyyah say that Allah’s statement: ‘The Most Merciful rose over the Throne’ means He conquered and dominated it, and that Allah is everywhere. They denied Allah’s establishment over His Throne as stated by the people of truth and interpreted istiwāʾ as mere power.

If this interpretation were correct, there would be no difference between the Throne and the seventh earth, because Allah has power over everything. Yet no Muslim can say that Allah is established over impure places and toilets. Allah is far exalted above that.

Thus, istiwāʾ cannot mean domination, which is general over all things. Rather, it must be a meaning specific to the Throne alone. The claim that Allah is everywhere leads to the implication that He is (God forbid) in impure places and toilets, which contradicts Islam.”

Reference: al-Ibānah ʿan Uṣūl al-Diyānah: 1/106–108

Statement of Imām Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr رحمه الله (463 AH)​

لم يزل المسلمون في كل زمان إذا همهم أمر وكربهم غم يرفعون وجوههم وأيديهم إلى السماء رغبة إلى الله عز وجل في الكف عنهم.

“Muslims, in every era, whenever afflicted by worry or distress, have always raised their faces and hands toward the sky, seeking Allah Almighty to remove their hardship.”

Reference: al-Tamhīd: 22/81

Statement of ʿAllāmah Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله (620 AH)​

إن الله تعالى وصف نفسه بالعلو في السماء...

“Allah has described Himself as being exalted above the heavens, and Muḥammad ﷺ, the Seal of the Prophets, described Him likewise. There is consensus upon this among the righteous Companions and the jurist Imams. The reports regarding this are mutawātir, yielding certainty. Allah has united the hearts of the Muslims upon this and ingrained it into the nature of all creation.

You see them, when calamity befalls them, gazing toward the sky and raising their hands in supplication, awaiting relief from their Lord. Only an extreme innovator or one blindly following misguidance denies this.”

A Historical Incident​

Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī رحمه الله (748 AH) narrates:

أخبرنا يحيى بن أبي منصور الفقيه...

He mentions a detailed incident involving Abū al-Maʿālī, in which it was demonstrated that even before the tongue moves in supplication, the heart instinctively turns upward toward Allah. The incident caused such emotional realization that people wept, and Abū al-Maʿālī himself cried out in bewilderment.

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 18/477

Reference: al-ʿUluw (Mukhtaṣar): 286

(chain ḥasan)

Explanation by Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz رحمه الله​

أراد الشيخ أن هذا أمر فطر الله عليه عباده...

“The Shaykh intended that this is a matter Allah has ingrained in His servants’ nature. Even without learning it from the Messengers, people find within their hearts an instinctive inclination that turns toward Allah and seeks Him above.”

Reference: Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah: 291

Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī رحمه الله writes:

هكذا رأينا في كل من يسأل: أين الله؟ يبادر بفطرته ويقول: في السماء.

“Thus have we seen that whoever is asked, ‘Where is Allah?’ responds instinctively: ‘In the heavens.’”

Reference: al-ʿUluw: 26

Statement of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (728 AH)​

إن الذي أقره الله تعالى في فطر عباده...

“Allah has embedded in the natural disposition of His servants that their Lord is above His heavens.”

Reference: al-Fatāwā al-Kubrā: 5/153

He further writes:

لأنه لو كان معناه على خلاف ما يقر في القلوب السليمة...

“If the true meaning of Allah’s rising over the Throne were contrary to what exists in sound hearts and pure natural dispositions, then the Companions and Tābiʿūn would have clarified that its meaning is other than what Allah ingrained in human nature.”

Reference: Kitāb al-ʿArsh: 2/262–263

Final Statement of Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz رحمه الله​

أما ثبوته بالفطرة فإن الخلق جميعا...

“As for its establishment through natural disposition, all creation, with their sound natures and hearts, raise their hands during supplication and direct their hearts upward when humbling themselves before Allah.”

Reference: Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah: 291

However, Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (1014 AH), opposing Ahl al-Sunnah and refuting Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz, wrote:

الحاصل أن الشارح يقول بعلو المكان...

“In summary, the commentator (Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz) affirms Allah’s exaltedness of place while negating resemblance, and in this he followed a group of innovators.”

Reference: Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar: 172

A few lines later, he adds:

من الغرائب أنه استدل على مذهبه الباطل...

“It is astonishing that he argued for his false doctrine (of exaltedness) by citing the raising of hands in supplication, whereas this is rejected.”

Reference: Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar: 172