The meaning of the ideathat Allaah is in heaven is that He is above the heaven

I have read the many translations in english ofthe Holy Quran: Surat
Mulk Verses 16-17 dr mosin khans say Do you feel safe from the one who
is OVER the heaven, in both these ayats; however Yusaf Ali and
pickthal state IN the Heaven, and some of theurdu translations say IN
the heaven, im a little confused because my Aqeedah is that Allah
swtis above the heavens and his throne in a manner that fits his
majesty, and he does descend to the first heaven during the 3rd part
of the night. Also there interpretation of Istawa is fixed on the
throne, M.khans is rose over(in a manner that Suits my Lord). I would
realy appreciate it if you could explain this in detail, What does the
ayat really say and whenwas it revealed, I have read ibn kathir there
is not much detail for this ayat there. Your website has been very
helpful and i find it alhamdulilah very honest and frank, I have
previously suffered fromWaswasa, which i have recovered fom al praise
be to Allah(swt) through your sites ansers.
Praise be to Allaah.
With regard to the issue of Allaah being above His creation and rising
above His Throne, there are two important principles which must
beestablished and highlighted:
1.
Affirming that which Allaah has affirmed for Himself in His holy Book,
in which He describes Himself as being above all of His creation, and
rising above His Throne after creating the heavens and earth. This is
stated in clear and unambiguous verses of the Qur'aan. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"And to Allaah prostrate all that is in the heavens and all that is in
the earth, of the moving (living) creatures and the angels, and they
are not proud [i.e. they worship their Lord (Allaah) with humility].
50. They fear their Lord above them, and they dowhat they are commanded"
[al-Nahl 16:49-50]
"Do you feel secure that He, Who is over the heaven (Allaah), will not
cause the earth to sink with you, and then it should quake?
17. Or do you feel secure that He, Who is over the heaven (Allaah),
will not send against you a violent whirlwind? Then you shall know how
(terrible) has been My Warning"
[al-Mulk 67:16-17]
And the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) said: "Do
you not trust me, when I am the trustee of the One Who is above the
heaven and the news of heaven comes to me morning and evening?"
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (4351) and Muslim (1064). And he also said:
"Show mercy to those who are on earth so that the One Who is in heaven
will show mercy to you." Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (no. 1924) - he said
it is hasan saheeh. And he also said: "When Allaah created the
universe, he wrote in His Book, whichis with Him above the Throne: "My
mercy prevails over My wrath." Narrated by al-Bukhaari (3194) and
Muslim (2751).
See also the answers to questions no. 992 , 9564 , 11035 and 47048 .
2.
Nothing of Allaah's creation can encompass Him and He is not contained
within His creation. He, may He be glorified, has no need ofit. He is
above needing itand exalted be He aboveany of His creation
encompassing Him.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"No vision can grasp Him, but He grasps all vision. He is Al-Lateef
(the Most Subtle and Courteous), Well-Acquainted with allthings"
[al-An'aam 6:103]
"He (Allaah) knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world,
and what will happen tothem (in the Hereafter) but they will never
compass anything of His Knowledge"
[Ta-Ha 20:110]
From these two principles, Ahl al-Sunnahestablished that the ideaof
Allaah's being above His Throne and above all of His creation means
that He is above all creation, above the heaven, above Paradise, above
the Throne, and none of His creation encompasses Him, He does not need
any of them; rather He is their Creator and Sustainer. The texts which
describeAllaah as being in heaven mean that He is high above His
creation: they do not mean that the heaven surrounds and encompasses
Him. That is because heaven [sama'] here means high, and it is not
referring to the created heaven. Or it may be saidthat the proposition
in [fi] in this case means above ['ala], i.e., above the heaven.
It is proven that 'Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Shaqeeq, the shaykh of
al-Bukhaari, said:
I said to 'Abd-Allaah ibn al-Mubaarak: How do weknow our Lord?
He said: [He is] in the seventh heaven above His Throne. According to
another version: [He is] above the seventh heaven above His Throne,
and we do not say as the Jahamiyyah do, that He is here on earth.
That was said to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and he said: This is how we understand it.
Imam al-Dhahabi said, commenting on this report:
This is saheeh and proven from Thaabit ibn al-Mubaarak and Ahmad (may
Allaah be pleased with them both). The words 'in heaven' in another
report explain to you that what he meant by saying 'in heaven' was
'above the heaven', as in the other saheeh report which he wrote to
Yahya ibn Mansoor al-Faqeeh. End quote.
Al-'Arsh 2/189
We will quote here the words of the scholars which explained and
clarified this matter:
Al-Haafiz Ibn 'Abd al-Barr(may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
With regard to the words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):
"Do you feel secure that He, Who is over the heaven [fi'l-sama']
(Allaah), will not cause the earth to sink with you, and then it
should quake" [al-Mulk 67:16], what it means is the One Who is above
the heaven, i.e., above the Throne. The word fi [in the phrase
fi'l-sama' (translated above as 'over the heaven'); fi literally means
'in'] may mean 'ala [above, over]. Haven't you seen the verse in which
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "So travel freely (O
Mushrikoon) forfour months (as you will)throughout the land
[fi'l-ard]" [al-Tawbah 9:2], meaning on the land; and the verse in
which He says (interpretation of the meaning): "and I will surely,
crucify you on the trunks of date palms [fi judhoo' al-nakhl]" [Ta-Ha
20:71]. End quote.
Al-Tamheed, 7/130
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The salaf, the imams andall the scholars of the Sunnah, when they say
that He is above the Throne, He is in heaven above all things, do not
mean that there is something which contains Him or surrounds Him, or
that He has a location, or thatthere is something that encompasses
Him. Exalted be He above that. Rather He is above all things, He has
no need of all things, and all things are in need of Him. He is above
all things, He is the One Who carries the Throne and its bearers by
His power and might. All created beings are in need of Him, but He has
no need of the Throne or of any created being.
With regard to what it says in the Qur'aan and Sunnah, "Do you feel
secure that He, Who is over the heaven [fi'l-sama']...?" [al-Mulk 67:16]
and so on, some people may understand the word heaven as being the
same as the created heaven on high or the Throne and what is beneath
it, so they say that His words "in heaven (fi'l-sama')" mean that He
is above the heaven, as the words"and I will surely, crucify you on
the trunks of date palms [fi judhoo' al-nakhl]" [Ta-Ha 20:71] mean on
the trunks of date palms, and the words "So travel freely (O
Mushrikoon -- see V.2:105) for four months (as you will) throughout the
land[ fi'l-ard]" [al-Tawbah 9:2] mean onthe land.
There is no need for that; rather the word sama' (often translated as
heaven) refers to what is up high, and does not apply to any specific
thing. So the words fi'l-sama' [translated above as 'in heaven'] apply
to that which is up high as opposed to being low ordown.
He is high and the highest, and He is the Highest of the high; there
is nothing beyond the Most High, may He beglorified and exalted. End
quote.
Majmoo' al-Fataawa (16/100-101)
To sum up: What you believe, that Allaah rose above His Throne, above
His heaven, above all of His creation, is what every believer must
believe. What you have read in the Tafseers referred to, that Allaah
is'in heaven' is also correct and is in accordance with what you
believe. It is mentioned in the Qur'aan and Sunnah, buton condition
that it be understood that the word heaven (sama') here means what is
on high, above, or that fi [in] may mean 'ala [above], as we have
explained above. If the mufassir intended some meaning other than
thatwhich we have mentioned, then his words are to be rejected. We
would appreciate it if you couldtell us exactly what he said so that
we may examine what is in it.
And Allaah knows best.