that is so, He has stated that wherever the servant faces, he faces Allah’s Face, for “there is the Face of Allah.” Allah is above His Throne, above His heavens, and He encompasses the entire universe. Thus, wherever the servant turns, Allah faces him. On this interpretation, “there” points to what is indicated by “wherever,” namely, what is being faced. This is discussed at length elsewhere.

If, however, its apparent meaning is that what is “there” is only the created direction of prayer, interpreting it in this way would not depart from its apparent meaning. The reasoning would be that His word “there” points to a place where something exists, whereas Allah Most High is above the universe, not contained within places.

But an objection may be raised: Had Allah intended that, He would have said, “Wherever you turn, then face Allah,” because if “Face” means only the direction being faced, that is itself what one turns towards. As He said:

“For everyone there is a direction towards which he turns.” [al-Baqarah 148]

He thus states that the servants turn towards the direction itself. So, if “Face” means “direction,” He said:

“So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah.” [al-Baqarah 115]