Where is God?
By Hammad El-Ameen
As a Christian I was taught that God is everywhere. If you ask most people, where God is, they are sure to say everywhere. When a person says that God is everywhere, they are not thinking clearly about what they are saying (i.e. does God exist in a nasty place like the toilet bowl and many other unclean places)? Their answer will be no, so God is not everywhere. For God to be everywhere, he has to be in everything. In the religion of Islam it’s not a secret where God is. Islam gives the precise location of God. God is above the Heavens, separate from his creation. God is among his creation by His Hearing, His Seeing, and His Knowledge. By God's knowledge he hears and sees everything, but God himself is above the heavens. Take a look at the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught to his followers. The Lord's prayer starts off with, "Our Father who art in heaven", Matthew 6:9. Jesus did not say, our Father who is everywhere. In the Quran there are many verses that states that God is above the heavens;
* "Do you feel secure that He who is in heaven will not cause you to be swallowed up by the earth when it shakes (as in an earthquake)? Or do you feel secure that He who is in heaven will not send against you a violent whirlwind, so that ye shall know how (terrible) was My warning? 67:16-17
* "From Allah, the Lord of the Places of Ascent, the angels and the spirit (Gabriel) ascend to Him in a day the measure whereof is of fifty thousand years."[70:3-4]
* "He is irresistible, (watching) from above over His worshippers; and He is the All-Wise, Well Acquainted with all things."[6:18]
* He said: “Fear not: for I am with you: I hear and see (everything). 20:46
These are some of the verses that let us know that God is above us. When people make supplications to God, examine in what direction they raise their hands. People will always raise their hands toward the heavens. Have you ever watched athletes when they score a point or win a game and they want to thank God? You will see them make a gesture with their hands towards the heavens and say thank you.
Islam teaches that God is not a part of the creation. God is not inside the human being. God is not attached to anything that he has created. He does not depend on anything, but everything depends on Him. God does not have a family relationship between him and anyone of his created beings. He does not give anyone good things or protect anyone from evil based on such a relationship. Since such a relationship is nonexistent, what God has in terms of rewards is achieved by the human being only through being obedient to him.
Believing in God through the teaching of the Quran, one will never come to the conclusion that God is a man or came in the form of a man. Islam teaches what all of the Prophets taught. God is one, he has no partner, He resides above the heavens, and there is nothing like Him or equal to Him.
