Allah is Above His Throne and He is Close to us by His Knowledge

Praise be to Allah. 

It is proven in
the Quran and Sunnah (prophetic teachings) and by the consensus (ijma’) of
the salaf (early generations) of this ummah (global Islamic nation) that
Allah is above His heavens over His Throne (as befits His Majesty), and that He is the Exalted, Most
High. He is above all things, and there is nothing that is above Him. Allah
says (interpretation of the meaning):  

“Allah, it is He
Who has created the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them in
six days. Then He rose over (istawa) the Throne (in a manner that suits His
Majesty). You (mankind) have none, besides Him, as a Wali (protector or
helper) or an intercessor. Will you not then remember (or receive
admonition)?” [32:4]  

“Surely, your Lord
is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six days and then rose
over (istawa) the Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty), disposing the
affair of all things.” [10:3]

 “To Him ascend
(all) the goodly words, and the righteous deeds exalt it (i.e. the goodly
words are not accepted by Allah unless and until they are followed by good
deeds).” [35:10]

 “He is the First
(nothing is before Him) and the Last (nothing is after Him), the Most High
(nothing is above Him) and the Most Near (nothing is nearer than Him).”
[57:3]

The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “You are the Most High and there
is nothing above You…”

There are many
similar ayat (verses) and ahadeeth (prophetic narrations). But at the same
time, Allah tells us that He is with His slaves wherever they are:

“Have you not seen
that Allah knows whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the
earth? There is no najwa (secret counsel) of three but He is their fourth
(with His Knowledge, while He Himself is over the Throne, over the seventh
heaven), — nor of five but He is their sixth (with His Knowledge), — nor of
less than that or more but He is with them (with His Knowledge) wheresoever
they may be.” [58:7]

Allah has combined
mention of His being above His Throne with mention of His being with His
slaves in one ayah (verse), where He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“He it is Who
created the heavens and the earth in six days and then rose over (istawa)
the Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty). He knows what goes into the
earth and what comes forth from it, and what descends from the heaven and
what ascends thereto. And He is with you (by His Knowledge) wheresoever you
may be.” [57:4]  

Saying that Allah
is with us does not mean that He is mixed with (or dwells in) His creation;
rather He is with His slaves by His knowledge. He is above His Throne and
nothing is hidden from Him of what they do. With regard to the ayah
(interpretation of the meaning): 

“And We are nearer
to him than his jugular vein (by Our Knowledge).” [50:16] 

Most of the
mufassireen (exegesists) said that what is meant is that He is near by means
of His angels whose task it is to record people’s deeds. And those who said
that it means that He is near explained it as meaning that He is near by His
knowledge, as is said concerning how He is with us.

This is the view
of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah (followers of prophetic guidance), who affirm
that Allah is above His creation and that He is also with His slaves, and
they state that He is far above dwelling in His created beings. With regard
to the denial of all Divine attributes as voiced by the Jahamiyyah (a
deviant sect) and their followers, they deny that His Essence is above His
creatures and that He rose above His Throne, and they say that He is present
in His Essence everywhere. We ask Allah to guide the Muslims.