Friday, February 2, 2007

God Exists Without a Place

God Exists Without a Place

In the name of Almighty God

“Before there was place, there was a God.”

The true belief in God is not based upon blind faith. God gave the human beings minds by which they can distinguish truth from falsehood and delusions from reality. The true belief in God is supported by sound rational proofs, as well as, authentic Holy Scripture.

God is the Creator of all, and everything besides God is a creation. This includes, light and darkness, distance and direction, motion and stillness, time and place. God is Eternal and does not undergo changes. God is as God was. God created Heaven and does not reside in Heaven. God is not everywhere, for “every-where” (or every place) is created by God, and God does not need any of the creations.

God is not in us, for God is not contained. God is not a material or spiritual being. God is not a body and does not have the characteristics of bodies. God is not divisible—consequently, God does not have parts and does not sire children. God is absolutely different from the creations. Whatever one imagines, the Creator is completely different.

The Muslims believe that God is clear of all imperfection. It is the unanimous belief amongst the Muslims that the Creator exists without a place. This was the belief of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived 1,400 years ago, the early generations Muslims (As-Salaf), and the later generations of Muslims (Al-Khalaf). The Muslim Scholars and Sages mentioned many statements declaring that God is free of residing in a place.

Prophet Muhammad said: “God was and there was nothing else.” Imam `Ali said: “God was and there was no place; and God is as God was.” Zayn Al-`Abideen said: “Glory be to God, the One Who no place contains You [that is, God].” Also, he said about the Creator: “No place surrounds You.” Ja`far As-Sadiq said: “Whoever believes that God is in something or on something or from something commits polytheism (shirk). Because if God were in something, God would be contained, and if God were on something, God would be carried, and if God were from something, God would be a creation.”

The later Muslim Scholars (Al-Khalaf) also declared that God exists without a place. Ahmad Ar-Rifa`i said: “The ultimate knowledge about God is to know that God exists without a how [kayf] or a place.” Fakhr-ud-Deen Ibn `Asakir said: “Allah existed without a place and willed for the existence of time. God is not bound to time and is not designated with place.” Al-Ghazali said: “Allah, the Glorified, existed without a beginning and there was no place. God is not a body, indivisible particle [“atom”], or bodily characteristic; God is not on a place or in a place.”

Muslims believe that Allah (the name of the Creator in the Arabic language) is not a body. Abu Hasan Al-Ash`ari said: “Whoever believes God is a body is ignorant of his Lord and is a non-believer.” Imam `Ali said: “Whoever believes our God is limited is ignorant of the Creator who is worshipped.” Abu Ja`far At-Tahawi said: “God is clear of all boundaries, extremes, sides, organs, and instruments. The six directions do not contain God as is the case with all the created things.”

It is the belief of all Muslims that God is not a body and does not occupy a place. God is Free-of-Need (Al-Ghaniyy and As-Samad). Places are other than God—they are creations, and God is not in need of any of the creations. God existed before the places existed. God is Perfect. God did not change from existing before and without a place to existing within and in need of a place. God is not contained. God is not dependent on anything.

The Holy Qur’an (the Muslims’ unchanged book of Scripture) declares that Allah existed before any of the creations (57:3), that Allah does not need any of the creations (3:97), and in Ash-Shura, 11 (42:11) the Qur’an says: “There is absolutely nothing whatsoever that is similar to God.” From the Qur’an, the sayings of Prophet Muhammad, the numerous sayings of the Muslim Scholars, as well as, the sound rational proofs, the Muslims can demonstrate that the Creator does not reside in a place, for created things exist in places, and God absolutely does not need or resemble any of the creations.

The seeker of truth should be aware that there are extremists who claim to be Muslim, but say that the Creator has body parts and exists above the ceiling of Paradise (Al-`Arsh). These people reach this misguided conclusion because they insist on distorting the meanings of the Qur’an. It is enough to mention to such people that the renown interpreter of Qur’an, Fakhr-ud-Deen Ar-Razi, said: “Allah is clear of being in a place or direction, or on al-`Arsh or al-Kursiyy.”

Also, there are those who claim to be Muslim, but they teach a doctrine of racial hatred in the name of Islam. On the one hand, they claim that white people are evil by nature, but on the other, they claim that God was born to a white woman in the year 1877! It is enough for these people to mention that the Qur’an says what means: “God does not give birth and God was not born. God is Incomparable and has no equal.”

Islam is a religion of moderation in both its practices and in its beliefs. Muslims believe in the existence of God while at the same time, recognizing that God is absolutely different from the creations. Muslims use their minds to recognize the existence of God, while at the same time, Muslims are certain that God cannot be encompassed by the imagination. It is essential that one understands that the Lord of creations is not similar to the creations. Muslims believe that God alone deserves to be worshipped, and that God sent many Prophets throughout history to guide people to the truth. Prophet Muhammad is the last of the Prophets—and God gave him miracles to prove that he was truthful.

The real success is based on being a God-fearing person who prepares him or herself for the inevitable reality of death by following the authentic Laws of God. The beginning of guidance is having the correct belief in the Creator and testifying with the Declaration of Faith to enter the fold of Islam. To become a Muslim, one simply says:

“I BEAR WITNESS NOTHING IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP EXCEPT ALLAH, AND I BEAR WITNESS MUHAMMAD IS THE MESSENGER.”

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