like a single voice. Likewise, the creation and resurrection of all creatures are to Him like those of a single soul. He sees a black ant creeping over solid rock in the darkness of night. He sees every detail of the tiny ant’s creation—its brain, veins, flesh, and movements—and He sees the mosquito stretch out its wing in the darkness of night.

Raising the hands to Allah also constitutes an acknowledgment that He is above His creation. Those who raise their hands toward heaven when supplicating have their hearts directed toward the Lord who is above His servants. Their bodily gesture of pointing upward follows the upward orientation of their hearts. Every supplicant experiences this as an inescapable necessity, except those whose innate nature has been altered and whose creed has deviated. Allah’s being above His creation is established by abundant evidence and numerous proofs: the Noble Quran, the established Sunnah, the consensus of the Muslim community, sound reason, and upright natural dispositions.

It is related that Abū Ja'far al-Hamadānī attended a gathering held by Abū al-Ma'ālī al-Juwaynī, a scholar of speculative theology. Al-Juwaynī mentioned the Throne and said, “Allah existed when there was no Throne,” and made similar statements, attempting thereby to deny that Allah is above His creation. Al-Hamadānī said to him, “O Shaykh, leave that aside and tell us about this inescapable necessity we find in our hearts. No one who knows Allah has ever said, ‘O Allah,’ without finding within his heart a compelling urge to seek upward, turning neither to the right nor to the left.” Abū al-Ma'ālī struck his own head and said, “Al-Hamadānī has confounded me.”

Al-Hamadānī—may Allah have mercy on him—was simply explaining the involuntary upward movement that arises in every supplicant’s heart when he says, “O Allah.” This entails that it is ingrained in natural dispositions that Allah is above His servants, Most High over His creation.