Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:18

(And He is the Irresistible, above His servants): It is said that this is a metaphorical representation (isti'arah tamthiliyyah) illustrating His—Glorified and Exalted is He—subjugation and the loftiness of His Exalted Status through dominance and power. It has also been permitted that the metaphor lies in the preposition, by likening dominance to a perceptible location. Others have said: It is a metonymy for subjugation and loftiness through dominance and power. It is also said that "above" (fawq) is redundant—and its redundancy has been validated, even if it is a noun, by interpreting it as "over" ('ala); this is as you can see. The motive for insisting upon all of this is that the apparent meaning of the verse necessitates admitting [the attribution of] direction (jiha), yet Allah—the Exalted—is transcendent above that, for it [direction] is created by the creation of the world, having brought it out from non-existence into existence. Moreover, it entails, from His—the Exalted and Glorified—being in a direction, certain corruptions that are not hidden.

You know that the doctrine of the Salaf (predecessors) is the affirmation of "above-ness" (fawqiyyah) for Allah—the Exalted—as has been explicitly stated by Imam al-Tahawi and others, who have adduced approximately a thousand proofs for this. Imam Ahmad narrated in the Hadith of the Aw'al (the Angels bearing the Throne), on the authority of al-'Abbas—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "And the Throne is above that, and Allah—the Exalted—is above all of that." Abu Dawud also narrated from Jubayr ibn Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mut'im, from his father, from his grandfather, the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to the man who sought intercession through Allah against him: "Woe to you! Do you know who Allah is? Verily, Allah—the Exalted—is above His Throne, and His Throne is above His heavens," and he pointed with his fingers like a dome, "and it creaks under Him as a new saddle creaks under its rider."

Al-Umawi brought forth in his Maghazi, from a sound chain, that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Sa'd on the day he judged [the affair of] Banu Qurayza: "You have judged among them with the judgment of the King from above seven heavens." Ibn Majah narrated, in a marfu' (raised) report, that he said: "While the people of Paradise are in their bounty, a light shines for them, and they raise their heads toward it. Behold, the Compeller—Majestic is His Majesty—has appeared over them from above them and said: 'Peace be upon you, O people of Paradise!' Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited the saying of Allah—the Exalted—: 'Peace, a word from a Merciful Lord.' He looks at them, and they look at Him, and they pay no attention to anything of the bounty as long as they look at Him."

It is authentically established that 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah recited before the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) the verses he composed to dismiss his wife's reading [of poetry] when she accused him regarding her slave girl, which were: I bear witness that the promise of Allah is true, and that the Fire is the abode of the disbelievers. And that the Throne is above the water, floating, and above the Throne is the Lord of the worlds. And it is carried by mighty angels, angels of the Lord, marked. So he—peace and blessings be upon him—approved him for what he said and laughed. Similarly, Hassan ibn Thabit—may Allah be pleased with him—recited his saying: I bear witness, by the permission of Allah, that Muhammad is the Messenger of the One who is above the heavens, from on high. And that Abu Yahya and Yahya, both of them, have work accepted by their Lord. And that the one who showed enmity to the Jews, the son of Mary, is a Messenger who came sent from the possessor of the Throne. And that the brother of al-Ahqaf, when he stood among them, stood among them by the Essence of Allah and acted justly. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "And I bear witness."

'Ikrimah narrated from Ibn 'Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them—regarding the saying of Allah—the Exalted—in relation to Iblis: "Then I will come to them from before them and from behind them, and from their right and from their left," he said: He was unable to say "and from above them," because he knew that Allah—the Exalted, Glorified is He—is above them.

The verses and reports that contain explicit statements indicating fawqiyyah (above-ness)—such as His saying: "The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Wise," and "To Him ascends good speech," and "Rather, Allah raised him to Himself," and "The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him," and the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in what Muslim recorded: "And You are the Zahir (the Outward/Manifest), so there is nothing above You"—are very numerous. Similarly is the speech of the Salaf regarding this. Among it is what Shaykh al-Islam Abu Isma'il al-Ansari narrated in his book al-Faruq with his chain to Abu Muti' al-Balkhi, that he asked Abu Hanifah—may Allah be pleased with him—about one who says: "I do not know whether my Lord—Glorified and Exalted is He—is in the heavens or on the earth." He replied: "He has disbelieved, because Allah—the Exalted—says: 'The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established,' and His Throne is above seven heavens." He said: "I said: What if he says, 'He is on the Throne, but I do not know whether the Throne is in the heavens or on the earth'?" He replied—may Allah be pleased with him—: "He is a disbeliever, because he denied the verse 'in the heavens,' and whoever denies a verse 'in the heavens' has disbelieved." Others added: "Because Allah—the Exalted—is in the highest of the high ('Illiyyin), and He is invoked from above, not from below."

The affirmation of fawqiyyah is also supported by the fact that when Allah—the Exalted—created the creation, He did not create them within His Sacred Essence—Exalted is He above that—for He is the One, the Eternal Refuge (al-Samad), who neither begets nor is born. It is therefore determined that He created them outside of His Essence. If He—the Exalted—were not described by the fawqiyyah of Essence, while He is self-subsistent and not mixed with the world, He would be described by its opposite; for that which is capable of [accepting] a thing cannot be devoid of it or its opposite. The opposite of fawqiyyah is suful (below-ness), which is absolutely blameworthy. The claim that "we do not concede that He is capable of fawqiyyah, such that denying it necessitates the proof of its opposite," is refuted by the fact that if He—Glorified is He—were not capable of loftiness and fawqiyyah, He would not have a reality subsisting in itself.

Whenever it is conceded that He—Glorified is He—is an Essence subsisting in Itself, not mixed with the world, and that He exists externally—His existence not being merely mental but definitely existing outside of minds—all people of intellect know by necessity that whatever has such an existence is either inside the world or outside of it. Denying this is denying what is of the clearest of self-evident truths; thus, no proof is presented for that unless the knowledge of [His] separation (mubayanah) is clearer and more manifest than it. Since the attribute of fawqiyyah is an attribute of perfection in which there is no deficiency, and affirming it does not necessitate opposition to the Book, the Sunnah, or consensus, denying it is the very essence of falsehood—especially when natures are instinctively fashioned to intend the direction of loftiness when supplicating to Allah—the Exalted.

Muhammad ibn Tahir al-Maqdisi mentioned that Shaykh Abu Ja'far al-Hamadani attended the assembly of Imam al-Haramayn while he was speaking on the denial of the attribute of loftiness and saying: "Allah—the Exalted—existed while there was no Throne, and He is now as He was." Shaykh Abu Ja'far said: "Inform us, O Master, about this necessity that we find in our hearts; for no knower ('arif) has ever said 'O Allah' except that he found in his heart, by necessity, a seeking of loftiness, not turning to the right or the left. How, then, can this necessity be repelled from ourselves?" He said: Then the Imam slapped his head and descended—I think he said: and wept—and said: "Al-Hamadani has perplexed me."

Some have attempted to answer this by claiming that this orientation toward "above" is only because the heavens are the qiblah (direction) of supplication, just as the Ka'bah is the qiblah of prayer. Then, this is also invalidated by the placement of the forehead on the earth, even though He—Glorified is He—is not in the direction of the earth. It is not hidden that this is void. As for the first point: that the heavens are the qiblah of supplication has never been said by anyone among the Salaf of this nation, nor did Allah—the Exalted—send down any authority for it. What is authentically established is that the qiblah of supplication is the qiblah of prayer; they have explicitly stated that it is recommended for the supplicant to face the qiblah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) faced the Ka'bah in his supplication on many occasions. Whoever says that there is a qiblah for supplication other than the qiblah of prayer has innovated in the religion and opposed the community of Muslims.

As for the second point: the qiblah is what the supplicant faces with his face, just as the Ka'bah is faced in prayer. That which a person aligns his head or hands with, for example, is not called a qiblah at all. If the heavens were the qiblah of supplication, it would have been prescribed for the supplicant to direct his face toward them, and that has not been established in the Law (Shari'ah) at all. As for the invalidation by the placement of the forehead, what a corrupt invalidation that is! For the one placing his forehead only intends submission to the One who is above him in humiliation, [and not] that he leans toward Him because He is beneath him; indeed, this does not cross the heart of a prostrator. Yes, it was heard from Bishr al-Marisi that he says: "Glory be to my Lord, the Lowest." Exalted is Allah—the Exalted—above what the deniers and the transgressors say, with a great exaltation.

Some have interpreted every text in which the attribution of fawqiyyah to Him—the Exalted—is mentioned, saying that "above" (fawq) in it means "better" and "superior," as it is said: "The prince is above the minister," and "The dinar is above the dirham." You know that this is something from which sound intellects recoil and healthy hearts feel disgust. For the saying of the speaker, in the beginning: "Allah—the Exalted—is better than His servants or better than His Throne," is of the same genus as the saying: "Ice is cold," "Fire is hot," "The sun is brighter than a lamp," and "The sky is higher than the roof of the house," and similar things. There is no glorification or veneration for Allah in that; rather, it is among the vilest of speech. How then could it be appropriate to interpret the Glorious Speech with it—the Speech which, if mankind and jinn were to assemble to produce the like thereof, they would not produce the like thereof, even if they were to each other assistants? Moreover, there is in that a belittlement of Allah—the Exalted is His Status. In the common proverb: "Do you not see that the sword loses its value if it is said that the sword is better than a stick?" Yes, if the context requires it, such as in argumentation against an invalidator—as in the saying of Yusuf the Truthful—peace be upon him: "Are separate lords better or Allah, the One, the Irresistible?" and His saying—the Exalted: "Is Allah better, or what they associate [with Him]? And Allah is better and more lasting"—then it is a matter in which there is no objection nor toward which the arrows of criticism are aimed.

Fawqiyyah in the sense of fawqiyyah in merit is also what the Salaf affirm for Allah, and it is realized within the absolute fawqiyyah. Likewise, they affirm the fawqiyyah of subjugation and dominance, just as they affirm the fawqiyyah of Essence. They believe in all of that in the manner befitting the Majesty of His Essence and the perfection of His attributes, while transcendentizing Him—Glorified is He—from what that necessitates of that which is impossible for Him. They do not believe in some and disbelieve in others, nor do they deviate from the Lawful expressions in negation or affirmation, lest they affirm a corrupt meaning or negate a correct one. Thus, they affirm fawqiyyah just as Allah affirmed it for Himself.

As for the term "direction" (jiha), sometimes it is intended as that which is existent, and sometimes it is intended as that which is non-existent. It is known that there is nothing existent except the Creator and the created. So, if by "direction" a thing existent other than Allah—the Exalted—is intended, then it is created, and Allah—the Exalted—is not contained by anything, nor does anything of the created things encompass Him—Exalted is He above that. And if by "direction" a non-existent thing is intended—which is what is above the world—then there is nothing there except Allah—the Exalted—alone. Thus, if it is said: "He—the Exalted—is in a direction in this consideration," it is correct according to them, and the meaning of that is that He is above the world, as there is nothing there except Allah—the Exalted—alone.

Those who negate the term "direction," who desire by that the negation of loftiness, mention among their proofs that all directions are created, that He—Glorified is He—was before the directions, and that for whoever says "He—the Exalted—is in a direction," it necessitates the saying of the eternity of something of the world, and that He—Glorified is He—was in no need of a direction then became in it. These expressions and their like are interpreted as meaning that He—Exalted is His Name—is not in anything of the created things, whether it is named a direction or not. This is true speech, but "direction" is not an existential thing; rather, it is an estimative thing, and there is no harm in that. In summary, it is obligatory to transcendentize Allah—the Exalted—from resemblance to the created beings, to delegate the knowledge of what came of the ambiguous matters (mutashabihat) to Him—Glorified is He—and to believe in them in the manner in which they came. The interpretation that is close to the mind and common in the speech of the Arabs—of which there is a similar instance—is something about which there is no harm in my view, provided that some of the verses are among those upon which the Salaf and the Khalaf (successors) have agreed on their interpretation. Allah—the Exalted—knows best His intent.

(And He is the Wise): i.e., Possessor of profound wisdom, which is the knowledge of things according to their realities and performing actions as they ought to be; or, the One who is excessive in ihkam, which is the perfection of management and the excellence of decree.

(The Expert): i.e., The One who knows what is subtle of the conditions of the servants and what is hidden of their affairs. The lam here and in what preceded is for the purpose of restriction (qasr).