Correct Meaning of Allah’s Ma’iyyah in Light of Ahl al-Sunnah

Source: This excerpt is taken from the book Allāh Kahān Hai? by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amunpuri.

◈ The Maʿiyyah (معیت) of Allah Almighty​

❀ Allah Almighty says:

هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

[Al-Ḥadīd: 3]

Translation:

“He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is All-Knowing of everything.”

❀ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ الأَوَّلُ فَلَيْسَ قَبْلَكَ شَيْءٌ، وَأَنْتَ الآخِرُ فَلَيْسَ بَعْدَكَ شَيْءٌ، وَأَنْتَ الظَّاهِرُ فَلَيْسَ فَوْقَكَ شَيْءٌ، وَأَنْتَ الْبَاطِنُ فَلَيْسَ دُونَكَ شَيْءٌ

Translation:

“O Allah! You are the First—nothing existed before You; and You are the Last—nothing will exist after You; and You are the Manifest (Most High)—nothing is above You; and You are the Hidden—nothing is beyond You.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2713

◈ Explanation of the Verse and Refutation of the Ḥulūliyyah​

Imām Abū Bakr al-Ājurrī رحمه الله (360 AH) said:

The Ḥulūliyyah present this verse as an argument by which they deceive those who have no knowledge: Allah عز وجل says: (هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ) [Al-Ḥadīd: 3].
The people of knowledge have explained this verse as: He is the First before everything—life and death; and the Last after everything, after the creation; and He is the Manifest above everything—meaning above what is in the heavens; and He is the Hidden below everything—He knows what is beneath the earths.
The end of the verse indicates this: (وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ) [Al-Ḥadīd: 3].

Reference: Kitāb al-Sharīʿah: 3/1100

◈ Verses Mentioning “With You” (Maʿiyyah)​

① Verse​

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ يَعْلَمُ مَا يَلِجُ فِي الأَرْضِ وَمَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا وَمَا يَنْزِلُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا يَعْرُجُ فِيهَا وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ

[Al-Ḥadīd: 4]

Translation:

“He is the One who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then rose over the Throne. He knows what enters the earth and what comes out of it, and what descends from the heaven and what ascends into it. And He is with you wherever you may be, and Allah is Seeing of what you do.”

② Verse​

أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ ۖ مَا يَكُونُ مِن نَّجْوَىٰ ثَلَاثَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ رَابِعُهُمْ وَلَا خَمْسَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ سَادِسُهُمْ وَلَا أَدْنَىٰ مِن ذَٰلِكَ وَلَا أَكْثَرَ إِلَّا هُوَ مَعَهُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كَانُوا ۖ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا عَمِلُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

[Al-Mujādilah: 7]

Translation:

“Have you not seen that Allah knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth? There is no secret counsel of three but He is their fourth, nor of five but He is their sixth—nor fewer than that nor more—except that He is with them wherever they may be. Then on the Day of Resurrection He will inform them of what they did. Indeed, Allah is Knowing of everything.”

③ Verse​

يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَلَا يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَهُوَ مَعَهُمْ إِذْ يُبَيِّتُونَ مَا لَا يَرْضَىٰ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ ۚ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطًا

[Al-Nisāʾ: 108]

Translation:

“They seek to hide from people, but they cannot hide from Allah. And He is with them when they plan by night speech that does not please Him. And Allah encompasses what they do.”

◈ Meaning and Concept of These Verses​

The meaning of these verses is that Allah’s knowledge is with all creation—He is fully aware of their conditions and affairs. This is called al-Maʿiyyah al-ʿĀmmah (general maʿiyyah).

There is also al-Maʿiyyah al-Khāṣṣah (special maʿiyyah). Evidence for it is the verse:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا وَالَّذِينَ هُم مُّحْسِنُونَ

[Al-Naḥl: 127]

Translation:

“Indeed, Allah is with those who fear Him and those who are doers of good.”

And Allah says:

ثَانِيَ اثْنَيْنِ إِذْ هُمَا فِي الْغَارِ إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَاحِبِهِ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا

[Al-Tawbah: 40]

Translation:

“He was one of two, when they were in the cave, when he said to his companion: ‘Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us.’”

Here, special maʿiyyah is intended, meaning help and support.

◈ Statement of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān bin Nāṣir al-Saʿdī رحمه الله (1376 AH)​

“The maʿiyyah of Allah mentioned in His Book is of two types:
① The maʿiyyah of knowledge and encompassing—this is the general maʿiyyah, for He is with His servants wherever they are.
② A special maʿiyyah—His maʿiyyah with His chosen creation through help, kindness, and support.”

Reference: Tafsīr al-Saʿdī: 14

◈ How the Imams of Ahl al-Sunnah Explained It​

Imām al-Ḍaḥḥāk bin Muzāḥim رحمه الله​

Regarding the verse:

مَا يَكُونُ مِن نَّجْوَىٰ ثَلَاثَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ رَابِعُهُمْ... [Al-Mujādilah: 7]

He said:

هُوَ فَوْقَ الْعَرْشِ وَعِلْمُهُ مَعَهُمْ أَيْنَمَا كَانُوا

“He is above the Throne, and His knowledge is with them wherever they are.”

Reference: Masāʾil al-Imām Abī Dāwūd: 263 – Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 12/28 – al-Sharīʿah lil-Ājurrī: 655 – al-Asmāʾ wa al-Ṣifāt lil-Bayhaqī: 2/341–342, ḥadīth: 909 – al-Tamhīd: 7/139 (isnād ḥasan)

Imām Muqātil bin Ḥayyān رحمه الله (d. before 150 AH)​

On:

مَا يَكُونُ مِن نَّجْوَىٰ ثَلَاثَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ رَابِعُهُمْ

He said:

هُوَ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ وَعِلْمُهُ مَعَهُمْ

“He is upon the Throne, and His knowledge is with them.”

Reference: Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 12/28 – al-Sharīʿah lil-Ājurrī: 655 (isnād ṣaḥīḥ)

Imām ʿAbdullāh bin Muslim Ibn Qutaybah رحمه الله (276 AH)​

He explained:

We say regarding His statement: (وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ) and similar verses: He is with them by knowledge of what they are upon—just as you say to a man sent to a distant land: “Beware of negligence, for I am with you,” meaning: your negligence will not be hidden from me.
If this is acceptable regarding a created being who does not know the unseen, then it is even more fitting regarding the Creator who knows the unseen.
And how can anyone say that He is in every place by indwelling, while Allah says: (الرَّحْمَٰنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَىٰ)—meaning established—as also in: (فَإِذَا اسْتَوَيْتَ أَنتَ وَمَن مَّعَكَ عَلَى الْفُلْكِ) meaning: you settled.
And Allah says: (إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّبُ وَالْعَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ يَرْفَعُهُ); how would something ascend to Him if He were with it in the same place?
And how do the angels and the Spirit ascend to Him on the Day of Resurrection? Allah is Dhū al-Maʿārij—Owner of stairways; what are these stairways?
If people returned to their fitrah, they would know that Allah is the Most High; hearts rise toward Him in remembrance, and hands are raised to Him in supplication...

Reference: Taʾwīl Mukhtalif al-Ḥadīth: 182–183

Imām ʿUthmān bin Saʿīd al-Dārimī رحمه الله (280 AH)​

He wrote that this verse is proof against those who claim Allah is physically in every place, and that its meaning is:

Allah is present with every secret counsel from above the Throne by His knowledge, for His knowledge encompasses them and His sight penetrates them… He is above the Throne, distinct from His creation… not that He is with them physically on earth as you claim.

Reference: al-Radd ʿalā al-Jahmiyyah: 1/42–43

Imām Muḥammad bin ʿUthmān Ibn Abī Shaybah رحمه الله (297 AH)​

He said:

The scholars explained: (وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ) means: with His knowledge. Reports have abundantly established that Allah created the Throne and then rose over it with His Essence; thus He is above the Throne with His Essence, separate from His creation, while His knowledge is within His creation—none can escape it.

Reference: Kitāb al-ʿArsh: 292, 276

Imām al-Ṭabarī رحمه الله (310 AH)​

On [Al-Ḥadīd: 4] he wrote:

“He is a witness over you wherever you are; He knows you and your deeds… while He is upon His Throne above His heavens.”

Reference: Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 27/216

And regarding [Al-Mujādilah: 7]:

“He is their fourth” means: He observes them by His knowledge while He is upon His Throne.

Reference: Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 12/28

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

He wrote:

Allah knows the secret and what is more hidden than the secret… and He indicated this by His saying: (وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ). The people of knowledge explained it to mean: His knowledge encompasses them wherever they are.

Reference: Risālah Ahl al-Thaghr: 234

Imām al-Ājurrī رحمه الله (360 AH)​

He explained at length that Allah is above the heavens upon His Throne, while His knowledge encompasses everything; and that the verse of secret counsel begins and ends with knowledge—therefore it refers to knowledge.

Reference: Kitāb al-Sharīʿah: 3/1075–1076

Imām al-Thaʿlabī رحمه الله (427 AH)​

He explained “He is their fourth” as:

بالعلم يسمع نجواهم ويعلم فحواهم

“By His knowledge—He hears their secret counsel and knows the substance of what they say.”

Reference: al-Kashf wa al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān: 9/258

Imām Abū ʿUmar Aḥmad bin Muḥammad al-Ṭalmanakī رحمه الله (429 AH)​

He wrote:

The Muslims of Ahl al-Sunnah have consensus that the meaning of (وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ) and similar verses is: His knowledge; and that Allah is above the heavens with His Essence, established over His Throne as He wills.

Reference: Talbīs al-Jahmiyyah (Ibn Taymiyyah): 2/38 – Ijtimāʿ al-Juyūsh al-Islāmiyyah (Ibn al-Qayyim): 142 – al-ʿUlūw (al-Dhahabī): 264

Imām Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā bin ʿAmmār al-Sijistānī رحمه الله (422 AH)​

He said:

We do not say like the Jahmiyyah that He enters places and mixes with everything… Rather, He is with His Essence upon the Throne, and His knowledge encompasses everything… This is the meaning of His statement: (وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ).

Reference: al-ʿArsh (al-Dhahabī): 2/445–446

Imām al-Bayhaqī رحمه الله (458 AH)​

He wrote:

Many verses refute the Jahmiyyah who claim Allah is in every place with His Essence. His saying: (وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ) means: with His knowledge, not with His Essence.

Reference: al-Iʿtiqād: 112

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

He wrote:

Their argument from the verse of secret counsel is not proof for them, because the scholars among the Companions and the Tābiʿīn explained it as: Allah is upon the Throne, and His knowledge is in every place; and no one whose statement is relied upon opposed them.

Reference: al-Tamhīd: 7/138–139

Ḥāfiẓ al-Baghawī رحمه الله (510 AH)​

On [Al-Ḥadīd: 4] he wrote:

فِي العِلْمِ

“(He is with you) in knowledge.”

Reference: Tafsīr al-Baghawī: 4/207

Imām Abū al-Qāsim al-Aṣbahānī رحمه الله (535 AH)​

He said:

We did not interpret it; rather, the verse itself shows the intended meaning is knowledge, because at the end Allah says: (إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ).

Reference: al-Ḥujjah fī Bayān al-Maḥajjah: 2/291

Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله (774 AH)​

He wrote:

Allah is aware of them, hears their speech and secret counsel… and many scholars نقلوا الإجماع that the intended meaning in this verse is Allah’s maʿiyyah by knowledge, and there is no doubt about it.

Reference: Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm: 8/42

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

He said that part of īmān is believing what the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the Salaf establish: that Allah is above His heavens upon His Throne, high above His creation, and that He is with them wherever they are—meaning He knows what they do—just as Allah combined these meanings in:

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ... وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ...

Reference: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā: 3/142

Imām al-Qurṭubī رحمه الله (671 AH)​

He said:

“He is with them” means: with knowledge, seeing, and hearing—this is the view of Ahl al-Sunnah. The Jahmiyyah, Qadariyyah, and Muʿtazilah say: He is in every place.

Reference: Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī: 5/379

◈ Conclusion Mentioned in the Text​

In [Al-Ḥadīd: 4], Allah begins the verse with knowledge and ends it with knowledge. Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamāʿah unanimously interpret this as Allah being with His servants by knowledge.

◈ Closing Quote​

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله said:

The Salaf and the imams affirmed everything in the Book and Sunnah without distortion… They affirmed that Allah is above His heavens upon His Throne, distinct from His creation… yet He is with all servants generally by His knowledge, and with His prophets and allies specifically by help, support, and sufficiency…

Reference: al-Nubuwwāt: 129

He also said:

Many people who build religion upon opinion or taste use the Qur’an as proof by interpreting it contrary to its true meaning… while in reality their reliance is on their own opinion—like the Jahmiyyah and Muʿtazilah in the Attributes and Actions.

Reference: al-Nubuwwāt: 129

✔ Benefit​

If someone says that the Prophetic statement is:

أَنْ يَعْلَمَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مَعَهُ حَيْثُ كَانَ

“(A person) should know that Allah عز وجل is with him wherever he may be.”

Reference: al-Muʿjam al-Ṣaghīr li’l-Ṭabarānī: 555 – al-Āḥād wa al-Mathānī (Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim): 2/1062 (isnād ṣaḥīḥ)

Imām Muḥammad bin Yaḥyā al-Dhuhlī رحمه الله (258 AH) said:

Its meaning is that Allah’s knowledge encompasses everything that exists, while Allah is upon the Throne.

Reference: al-ʿUlūw lil-ʿAliyy al-Ghaffār (al-Dhahabī): 2/1147 (isnād ḥasan)