Question
Salamu alaykum! brother. I tried to find evidence from the Qur’an that Allah is not only in heaven but also on earth. This is what I came up with!
Al An’aam aya 3:
Yusuf Ali translation:
“And He is Allah In the heavens And on earth. He knoweth what ye Hide, and what ye reveal, And He knoweth The (recompense) which Ye earn(by your deeds). “
Yusuf Ali gives the following commentary on this ayah.
“It is folly to suppose that Allah only reigns in the heavens. He also reigns on earth. He know[s] all our secret thoughts and motives, and the real worth of all that is behind what we care to show. It is by our deeds that He judges us’for our deeds, whether good or evil, we shall get due recompense in due time.”
It is interesting that the translation in the translation of the Qur’an by Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali, Phd. and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan (a very common translation used today, written in modern English),
“And He is Allah (to be worshipped Alone) in the heavens and on the earth, He knows what you conceal and what you reveal, and He knows what you earn(good or bad).
Notice the parenthesis (to be worshipped Alone). I found a few places in the Qur’an that have similar verses and in all of them the second translation that I refered to entered (to be worshipped).
Az-Zukhruf: 84 Yusuf Ali
“It is He who is God in heaven and God on earth, and He is Full of Wisdom and Knowledge.”
the other translation
“It is He (Allah) Who is the only Ilah (God to be worshipped) in the heaven and the only Allah (God to be worshipped) on the earth. and he is the all wise, the All Knower.
There are a few verses saying about the same. Do you care to comment on them?
salamu alaykum
Thank you for your time
A Later Addition
The proof that they give for Allah being in heaven is the hadith I gave you and also you know that in the Qur’an it says that Allah rose over his throne. Also there is in a place in the Qur’an that says something about Allah in heaven! I’m sorry for not being too specific I will find out the exact verses and send them to you!
Reply
I would once again like to repeat the point that the Qur’an does not give us any information regarding the physical attributes of God. The Qur’an does not inform us if there is or is not a specific place where God resides. It does tell me that God is with me wherever I am, but it does not tell me what is the exact implication or the ‘how-ness’ of God’s being with everyone at every place.
As far as the two cited translations/commentaries are concerned, both of them have approximately the same opinion. One says that the words “And He [alone] is Allah In the heavens And on earth”, actually mean that His alone is the reign, the kingdom and the control whether in heavens or on earth. The other says that He alone deserves to be worshiped whether in heavens and on earth. If you observe closely, the second statement is basically the corollary of the first one. That is, if His alone is the reign, the kingdom and the control whether in the heavens or on the earth then obviously, He alone deserves to be worshipped in the whole universe. But even then, I think that the second translation is slightly more preferable, because the very word “Allah” literally means “the worshipped” or “the one who deserves to be worshipped”. The same explanation shall apply for the second verse that you have referred to in your letter.
In any case, the point remains that the Qur’an has not directly or indirectly discussed the issue of the physical whereabouts of Allah and because of that I do not have any dependable source of knowledge about it.
Hope it helps
UIUK team
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