Allah is ‘Above’ Creation
There are a number of Qur’ānic verses which say that Allāh ﷻ is ‘above’ (فَوقَ) His creation. But some have, incorrectly, interpreted these verses literally. One such verse is, ‘He reigns supreme above His creation, and He alone is the Wise, the Aware’ (Qur’ān 6:18). Allāh’s ﷻ being referred to as ‘فَوقَ’ (above) in this verse was interpreted by Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī to mean that Allāh ﷻ is above the creation in the sense of His authority (قَهر).⁵⁶
This connotation of ‘فَوقَ’ has its basis in the Arabic idiom, which al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī confirms in his dictionary.⁵⁷
This usage of the word can also be found elsewhere in the Qur’ān itself. For instance, in one verse, regarding Mūsā ﷺ and his people, Fir‘awn arrogantly says, ‘…indeed, we are subjugators above them
وَإِنَّا فَوْقَهُمْ قَـٰهِرُونَ (Qur’ān 7:127).
The context of this verse clearly shows that Fir‘awn was asserting his dominion over Mūsā ﷺ and his people, not that he was literally above them.
The Mu‘tazilī theologian al-Qāḍī ‘Abd al-Jabbār (d. 415 AH) offered a similar interpretation in his commentary of the verse, ‘do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven will not cause the earth to sink beneath you and then begin to quake?’ (Qur’ān 67:16). According to the Qāḍī, this is an indication of Allāh’s ﷻ dominion over the heavens, not His literal location therein.⁵⁸
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī comments on the verse, ‘they fear their Lord above them, and they do what they are commanded’ (Qur’ān 16:50), presenting the interpretation that Allāh ﷻ is ‘above in power’ (قُدْرَةٍ) and establishing dominion (قَهْرٍ).⁵⁹
This interpretation of Qur’ān 16:50 is also supported by the fact the verse ends with the words, ‘…and they do what they are commanded (يُؤْمَرُونَ)’, which places it squarely in the context mentioned by al-Rāzī.
Al-Rāzī also points out, in response to the literalists, that Allāh ﷻ being above (فَوْقَ) in the literal sense would not lead to people experiencing fear, as the verse indicates. He then gives the example of a soldier standing guard atop the tower of his king’s palace – this soldier may be the lowliest of servants in the entire compound despite his location above his king. This is in addition to al-Rāzī’s other argument raised in the previous section, which is that the Earth is spherical, so such verses cannot be taken literally in any case.
Moreover, it would behoove those who insist on interpreting the above verses literally to recall other, similar verses. For example, Allāh ﷻ says, ‘and He is Allāh, in the heavens and the Earth’ (Qur’ān 6:3). We also see that Ibrāhīm ﷺ, in one verse, says before travelling the earth, ‘indeed, I will go to my Lord; He will guide me’ (Qur’ān 37:99). These verses certainly do not mean that Allāh ﷻ is literally on the Earth, and not even the opponents of the aforementioned interpretations would make such an assertion.
Additionally, the scholars of the Ahl al-Bayt ﷺ remarked that Allāh ﷻ is not located within a place. For example, Amīr al-Mu’minīn Imām ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib ﷺ (d. 40 AH) says, *‘Allāh existed eternally, and there was no place; He is now as He was (i.e. without a place)’.*⁶⁰
And his grandson, Imām Zayn al-‘Ābidīn ‘Alī b. al-Ḥusayn ﷺ (d. 95 AH), made a similar statement: *‘O Allāh! You are clear of all imperfection. You are Allāh, the One Whom no place contains’.*⁶¹
Footnotes
⁵⁶ Al-Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, 9:180.
⁵⁷ Al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt, 501.
⁵⁸ Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Abd al-Jabbār b. Aḥmad b. ‘Abd al-Jabbār al-Asadābādī, Tanzīh al-Qur’ān ‘an al-Maṭā‘in (Giza: al-Nāfidah, 2006), 437.
⁵⁹ Al-Fakhr al-Rāzī, al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr, 20:47.
⁶⁰ Abū Manṣūr ‘Abd al-Qāhir b. Ṭāhir b. Muḥammad al-Baghdādī, al-Farq bayn al-Firaq (Cairo: Maktabah Ibn Sīnā, 1988), 287.
⁶¹ Al-Zabīdī, Ithāf al-Sādah al-Muttaqīn fī Sharḥ Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn (Beirut: Mu’assasah al-Tārīkh al-‘Arabī, 1994), 4:380; Imām Zayn al-‘Ābidīn ‘Alī b. al-Ḥusayn b. ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, al-Ṣaḥīfah al-Sajjādiyyah (Beirut: Mu’assasah al-‘Ālamī lil-Maṭbū‘āt, 2001), 209.