Assalamualaikum,
Recently I had a discussion with a muslim friend regarding one of the characteristics of Allah (swt). I said that Allah is on His 'Arsh but his knowledge is everywhere. He argued that He is physically everywhere including places which we consider as filthy.
How do I convince him regarding wahdathul wujood? Please provide evidence from Quran and Sahih Hadith.
salam
It would be best to refrain from that subject.. and accept such things as is, without trying to understand them.
related by Malik in his Muwatta' and by Muslim in his Sahih, that Muawiya ibn al-Hakam came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and told him, "I am very newly from the Jahiliyya, and now Allah has brought Islam," and he proceeded to ask about various Jahiliyya practices, until at last he said that he had slapped his slave girl, and asked if he should free her, as was obligatory if she was a believer. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) requested that she be brought, and then asked her,
"Where is Allah?" and she said, "In the sky (Fi al-sama)"; whereupon he asked her, "Who am I?" and she said, "You are the Messenger of Allah"; at which he said, Free her, "for she is a believer" (Sahih Muslim)”
Incorrect translation of Fi al-sama (Above the sky):
Imam Al-Baihaqi, one of the Imams who narrated this hadith “Where is Allah” said:
“Abu Abdullah Al-Haafidh said that Shaykh Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Ishaaq Bin Ayoub Al-Faqih said ‘Sometimes the Arabs replace ‘Ala (above) with fi (in). (For example) Allah said ‘So travel freely in (fi) the land’ (9:2)…meaning ‘on (‘ala) the earth’ and similarly ‘I will surely crucify you in (fi) the trunks of date-palms’ (20:71) [meaning ‘on (‘ala) the trunks’]. Similar is the saying of Allah ‘Fi al-sama’ which means ‘on the throne, above (fauq) the sky’ , as is is proven in authentic narration ” (Al-Asmaa Wa Al-Sifaat by Al-Baihaqi vol 2, p 425).
So, the correct translation, in the context of various verses and the correct Hadith in (a), should be “Allah is above the sky”.
wahdathul wujood is nothing but a philosophy contradicting to Islam.