And there are the Footstool, the Throne, the veils, and the angels. Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says:

“To Him belongs whoever is in the heavens and the earth. Those who are with Him are not too proud to worship Him, nor do they grow weary. They glorify Him night and day, never faltering.”

He says of the martyrs:

“Alive with their Lord, receiving provision.”

They are called shuhadā’ because they witness Allah’s dominion. The singular is shahīd, just as ‘ulamā’ is the plural of ‘alīm (learned), and kufalā’ is the plural of kafīl (guarantor).

He, Mighty and Majestic, says:

“Had We wished to take a pastime, We would have taken it from Our own presence.”

That is, We would have taken it with Us, not with you; for a man’s wife and child are with him, in his presence, not with someone else. All nations, non-Arab and Arab alike, say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is in heaven, so long as they are left upon their innate disposition and are not turned away from it through instruction.

A hadith relates:

“A man brought a non-Arab slave woman to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, seeking to free her. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked her, ‘Where is Allah?’ She replied, ‘In heaven.’ He asked, ‘Who am I?’ She replied, ‘You are the Messenger of Allah.’ He said, ‘She is a believer,’ and instructed him to free her.”

Umayyah ibn Abī al-Salt said:

Glorify Allah, for He is worthy of glory;
Our Lord in heaven is great,
In the loftiest edifice—He who existed before mankind
And fashioned above heaven a throne,
Long, beyond the reach of sight;
Beneath it the angels appear, their necks inclined.