He Is Where He's Always Been

The third response, which is the best response in a way, comes from Shaykh Adīb Kallās, who was asked about this. The same question arises here as well: what do we teach children? In many families and backgrounds, the answer given is: Allah is everywhere. That is not necessarily entirely wrong. It is wrong because of what it implies: that Allah is physically everywhere. That then begs the question, as these people will ask: is He in the cup? Is He in this bag? Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh. Or is He in the toilet? And they really throw people off.

So saying that He is everywhere insinuates this physical location. However, if somebody means that He is everywhere, that is, by His knowledge, or in His knowledge, according to His sight and hearing, then obviously there is nothing wrong with that. But it insinuates a problem. It insinuates a physical location. It insinuates ḥulūl and ittiḥād. It insinuates what is called being infused in something: that Allah is infused in everything. There is a special word for this in Arabic: it is called ittiḥād and ḥulūl.

That actually leads to the third point, which is: where is Allah? When Shaykh Adīb was asked, he said: He is where He's always been. Where is Allah? He is where He's always been. Before He created the ʿArsh, after He created the ʿArsh, He is where He has always been. And what should children be taught? When Shaykh Adīb was asked that, he said that that is exactly what to teach them, because children at a very young age just want something to go by. They are not going to really think about it much.

So when talking about Allah, and the question comes, where is Allah?, the answer is simply: Allah is where He's always been. Allah is where He's always been. Afterwards, as they grow up, they will wonder: what does that mean? What is meant by where He's always been? Why do we have to think of it in this vague kind of term? Then it can be explained to them that Allah is way beyond that. So give them an example: take a calculator; the calculator is made by the human being. Can the calculator understand the human being fully? Small examples like that can be given to them, just to explain that Allah is way beyond, transcendent, and pure, and over and above anything that we can think about; and we cannot situate Him; we cannot put a location on Him.