this is impossible in the case of a created being—that is, it is impossible for a created being to be atop a minaret while you are on the ground, yet be before your face. But it is not impossible in the case of the Creator, for there is nothing like unto Allah that He should be compared to His creation.

Fourth: There is no incompatibility between being above and being before one’s face, even in the case of a created being. Do you not see the sun at sunset or sunrise? It is before the face of the one facing it, while it is in the sky. If this is not impossible with respect to a created being, then what of the Creator?

In my view, the most important, greatest, and weightiest of these answers is the first: that, regarding the divine attributes, we adopt the stance of one who submits rather than one who objects. Thus, we believe that Allah is above everything and that He is before the face of the worshipper, without asking, “How?” or “Why?” This relieves the Muslim of every difficulty that Satan and his troops may cast into the heart.

He may say to you: “How can this be possible? Then you must affirm indwelling—that Allah is on earth.” He then presents this difficulty to you, and you reply: “I believe that Allah is above everything and that He is before the face of the worshipper, just as the texts have stated; I do not go beyond that.”

As for the second difficulty in the hadith—namely, that spitting to the right is explained by the Prophet ﷺ in his saying, “For there is an angel at his right”—this explanation raises a difficulty: there is also an angel at his left, as Allah, Exalted is He, says: “Seated on the right and on the left.” [Qaf 17] Thus, there is an angel here and an angel there, so what is the answer to this?

The answer is that we say: There is a second method to which he directed