because if a living creature stood beneath our feet, with its head in line with the arches of our feet, then ‘above’ for it would be whatever lay in line with its head. If all directions are above, how can you claim that He, exalted is He, must be in a certain direction because it is nobler than the others? Moreover, if we imagined ourselves with our heads turned towards the earth, with lights in that direction while the direction above was dark, we would regard the earth as the noble place. Furthermore, above every region of space another can be posited. Thus every region of space is lower in relation to what is above it. He therefore cannot be in any direction.”

This can be answered in several ways9.

First: His statement, “Those who say that the earth is spherical say that all directions of the celestial sphere are above,” suggests that, according to those who hold this view, the celestial sphere has multiple directions. But this is not so, as agreed by Muslim scholars who hold that the celestial sphere is round, and by astronomers who hold