Re: Is Allah above the Arsh or everywhere?
Shafi’i
In his commentary on SaḤīḤ Muslim, the Shafi imam, Sharaf al-Dīn al-Nawawī (d. 676 /1277; Nawā, Syria) discussed the implications of the above Ḥadīth:
This is one of the Ḥadīth which concerns the attributes [of Allāh]. There are two schools of thought (madhhab) in regards to such Ḥadīth both of which I have discussed repeatedly in the chapter Kitāb al-Īmān. The first madhhab is to believe in it without concerning oneself with its meaning, while maintaining categorically that Allāh, hallowed is He, does not resemble anything, and maintaining that He transcends the attributes of created things [which madhhab is called tafwīḍ ]. The second madhhab is to interpret (ta’wīl) the Ḥadīth in a way which is commensurate with His greatness. Those who prefer to interpret said that in the present Ḥadīth the Prophet [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] meant to examine her to see whether or not she was one of those who worships idols on the earth, or one of those who maintain the uniqueness of Allāh (muwahhidūn) and believe that the creator, the disposer, and the one who effects [all things] is Allāh, no one else. For when [those who maintain the uniqueness of Allāh (muwahhidūn)] supplicate [the Transcendent God], they turn [their attention, or their hands] to the sky just as when they pray [the ritual prayer] they face the Ka‘bah; yet, that does not mean that Allāh is located in the sky just as it does not mean that He is located in the direction of the Ka‘bah. Rather, they turn [their attention, or their hands] to the sky because the sky is the prescribed direction of orientation (al-Qiblah), just as the Ka‘bah is the prescribed direction of orientation (al-Qiblah) for the ritual prayer (al-Salāh). So when she said that He is in the sky, it was known that she was one of those who maintain the uniqueness of Allāh (muwahhid), and not a worshipper of idols.
Maliki
After saying the above al-Nawawī quoted another great authority of Islām, the Maliki muḤaddith and imam al-Qāḍī ‘Iyāḍ (544 / 1149; Marākish), the author of many important works in the science of Ḥadīth, including a commentary on SaḤīḤ Muslim:
There is no disagreement whatsoever among any of the Muslims–their fuqahā’ (experts on the rules of the Sharī‘ah), their muhaddithūn (experts in the science of Ḥadīth transmission, and criticism), their mutakallimūn (ulamā’ of Kalām; that is, dialectic theology), their polemicists (naḍhār) and their ordinary followers (muqallid)–that the outward meaning of those texts [from either the Sunnah or the Qur‘ān] in which it is mentioned that Allāh is in the sky is not meant [literally]; for example, the words of the Exalted: “Are you assured that He who is in the sky will not cause the earth to swallow you up?” These and similar texts [which mention that Allāh is in the sky or seem to imply that] are not to be taken literally (‘alā ḍāhirihī ); rather, according to them all [that is, all the Muslims and the experts of every field of the Sharī‘ah as mentioned above], they are to be taken idiomatically (mu’awwalan). So whoever from among the muḤaddithūn, and the fuqahā’, and the mutakallimūn permitted using the term of the direction up (jihat alfauq) [in relation to Allāh] without presuming any limit, or without conceiving how [He might be in the direction up] interpreted in the sky to mean over the sky [that is, He whose authority, or power is over the sky]. Whereas, whoever from among the great majority of polemicists (naḍhār), and mutakallimūn, and the people of transcendence (asḤāb al-tanzīh) denied that He had any limit, and maintained the impossibility of ascribing any direction to Him, hallowed is He, they interpreted the texts in a variety of ways according to the requirement of the context. They mentioned interpretations similar to what we mentioned previously [that is, in his commentary which, however, al-Nawawī did not cite]. I wish I knew what exactly it is that has united the People of the Sunnah and the Truth, all of them, on the necessity of refraining from thinking about the reality (al-dhāt) [of Allāh], as they were ordered [by the Lawgiver], and the necessity to keep silent about what perplexes their intelligences (al-‘aql), and to prohibit explaining how (al-takyīf) [is the divine reality], and in what form (al-tashkīl) [is it]. They kept silent and refrained from [thinking or speaking about the divine reality (al-dhāt)] not because they had any doubt about the Existent, or about His existence [but because they recognized that His reality is beyond comprehension]. Their silence does not impair their belief in His uniqueness (al-tauḤīd); rather, it is the essence of al-tauḤīd [for the recognition that He is other than whatever we imagine Him to be is a requirement of the transcendent perspective of al-tauḤīd]. Some of the ulamā’ overlooked [some of the strict requirements of the divine transcendence] and indulged in using the term direction (al-jihah) [in relation to Allāh] fearing to take unwarranted liberties [in interpreting the revealed texts of the Sharī‘ah]. But it raises the question of whether or not there is any difference between explaining how (al-takyīf) [is the divine reality] and between ascribing directions to Him. No doubt, the course which offers salvation from deviation for those for whom Allāh has ordained success is to restrict oneself to using such terms as the Law (al-Shar‘) itself has used like “and He enforces His will over (fauqa) His slaves,” or the words “then He subdued [or took control; istawā] of the Throne,” while understanding such terms with reference to the verse which comprehends the universal principle of transcendence (tanzīh); namely, His word: “Nothing is like Him.” For reason can not accept anything which contravenes this universal principle of the Law.
Hanafi
Mulla ‘Alī al-Qārī (d. 1014 h. / 1606; Makkah), a Hanafi faqīh, a muḤaddith , an expert in language, a mutakallim, and a prolific author of important Islamic texts including the commentary on Abū Ḥanīfah’s al-Fiqh al-Akbar, which is a work on belief, and a ten-volume commentary on the Ḥadīth compilation Mishkāt al-MaSābīḤ.
Commenting on the words reported from the Prophet [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] “Where is Allāh?” in the Ḥadīth al-Jāriyah, he wrote:
In another version of the same Ḥadīth there is the wording: “Where is your Lord?” It means that where is His place of decision, and His order, and the place where His dominion and power are manifested. {She said: “In the sky.”} Al-Qāḍī ‘Iyāḍ] said: “The meaning is that His command and His prohibition comes from the direction of the sky. The Prophet [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] did not mean to ask her about the whereabouts of Allāh, since He transcends such an attribute as place, just as He transcends the attribute of time. Rather, the Prophet [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] intended to find out by his question to her whether she was a monotheist declaring the uniqueness of Allāh (muwaḤḤidah), or whether she was a polytheist (mushrikah) because the Arabs were worshipping idols. Each clan amongst them had its special idol, which it worshipped and revered. Perhaps some of their ignorant and stupid people did not recognize any god whatsoever; therefore, the Prophet [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] wanted to ascertain what she worshipped. So when she said “in the sky,” or, as in another version, she pointed to the sky, he [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] understood that she was a monotheist declaring the uniqueness of Allāh. In other words , he wanted to preclude the gods on earth; that is, the idols. He did not mean to imply that He occupies a place in the sky, far-removed is Allāh from what the transgressors ascribe to Him in their insolence. Moreover, the Prophet [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] had been ordered to speak to the people according to the extent of their intelligence, and to guide them to the truth in way which was appropriate to their understanding. So when the Prophet [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] found that she believed that the one who deserves to be worshipped is the God who implements His purpose from the sky to the earth, not the gods which the pagans worshipped, he was satisfied with that much from her, and he [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] did not charge her with sheer unity (Sirf al-tauḤīd )–the principle of transcendence (Ḥaqīqat al-tanzīh) Some [of the ulamā’] have said that the meaning is that His order and prohibition, His mercy and revelation comes from the sky. In that case, this Ḥadīth is similar [in its implications] to His word [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam]: “Do you feel secure from Him who is in the sky…?” Furthermore, in some other [authentic] versions of this Ḥadīth it comes that this girl was dumb, and for that reason [Imām] al-Shafi‘ī [d. 204 / 820; Cairo] permitted the freeing of a slave even if he is dumb. In such case, the words in the Ḥadīth “She said, ‘In the sky.’” mean that she pointed to the sky [since she could not speak, obviously; and this is just what has come expressly in another version of the Ḥadīth: “She pointed to the sky.”]
[Mulla ‘Alī al-Qārī, Mirqāt al-MafātīḤ (Beirut, ), p. 454; vol. 6]
http://www.almeshkat.com/books/open....t=22&book=2190 - see page 412 in the third Word document
Hanbali
Abū ’l-Faraj Ibn al-Jauzī (d. 597 /1201; Baghdad) was a veritable polymath, a historian of encyclopedic stature, a renown muḤaddith, a commentator of the Qur‘ān, and one of the most prolific authors of Islām–according to the contemporary expert of historical biography Khair al-Dīn al-Ziriklī (1396 / 1976; Cairo), who is the author of the biographical dictionary al-A‘lām, Ibn al-Jauzī wrote about three hundred books. Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī (795 / 1393; Damascus) in his Dhail Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābalah, in which he documented the histories and assessed the importance of the Hanbali ulamā’, proclaimed Ibn al-Jauzī to be “the master (shaikh) of his time, the imam of his age.” Imām Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī (d.748 / 1348; Damascus) lavished praise on him in his encyclopaedia of biography, Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’declaring him “ the Shaikh, the Imam, the Scholar (al-‘alāmah), the Ḥāfiḍh, the Commentator of the Qur‘ān (al-mufassir), the Shaikh of Islām, the Pride of Iraq.”
Ibn al-Jauzī also interpreted the Ḥadīth al-Jāriyah in an idiomatic way. In his Daf‘ Shubah al-Tashbīh he wrote:
“The ulamā’ have realised that the sky and the earth do not contain Allāh, hallowed is He; nor does space reach Him. [As for the Ḥadīth] the Prophet [sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] understood from her sign that she revered the Creator.”
[Daf‘ Shubah al-Tashbīh, p. 43 ]
