and humankind, the devils, and Iblis are inside Him!

b) If he says, “He created them outside of Himself and then entered into them,” he has also fallen into disbelief, for he is claiming that He has entered every desolate and filthy place.

c) If he says, “He created them outside of Himself and then did not enter into them,” he has abandoned his entire position, and this is the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah.1

The other doctrine is that of certain extremists who deny Allah’s exaltedness:

“Allah is not above, not below, not to the right, not to the left, not in front, not behind; He is neither inside the universe nor outside it.”2

Some of their philosophers even add, “He is neither connected to the universe nor separate from it!”

I say: Such sweeping negation—plainly—means that Allah does not exist at all. This is absolute nullification and the gravest denial. Exalted is Allah far above what the wrongdoers claim. How apt are the words of Mahmud ibn Subuktakin to the one who described Allah in this way: “Show us the difference between this ‘lord’ you affirm and sheer non-existence!” This is quoted in al-Tadmuriyyah, p. 41.

These two false doctrines—one of them inevitably—befall everyone who rejects the attribute of Allah’s being above His Throne, as has already been shown.

What is deeply regrettable is that the first of these doctrines now dominates people’s speech in this land, both commoners and elites. Rarely will you sit in a gathering where Allah is mentioned without someone hastening to declare, “Allah is present in every place!” Another may add, “Allah exists throughout all existence!” If you quickly move to clarify