Before there was a place, there was a

God.
The true belief in God is not based upon blind faith. God gave the human beings minds
by which they can reason and distinguish truth from falsehood and delusions from
reality. The true belief in God is supported by sound rational proofs, as well as, authentic
Holy Scripture.
God is the Creator of all, and everything besides God is a creation. This includes, light
and darkness, distance and direction, motion and stillness, time and place. God is Eternal
and does not undergo changes. God is as God always was. God created Heaven and
does not reside in Heaven. God is not everywhere, for every!where" #or every place$ is
created by God, and God does not need any of the creations.
God is not in us, for God is not contained. God is not a material or spiritual being. God
is not a body and does not have the characteristics of bodies. God is not divisible%
conse&uently, God does not have parts and does not father children. God is absolutely
different from the creations. 'hatever one imagines, the Creator is completely different.
The (uslims believe that God is clear of all imperfection. )t is the unanimous belief
amongst the (uslims that the Creator e*ists without being in a place. This was the belief
of the +rophet (uhammad, who lived ,,-.. years ago, the early generations of (uslims
#As-Salaf$, and the later generations of (uslims #Al-Khalaf$. The (uslim Scholars and
Sages mentioned many statements declaring that God is free of residing in a place.
+rophet (uhammad said/ God was 0before the creation1 and there was nothing else."
)mam 23li said/ God was 0before the creations1 and there was no place4 and God is as
God was." 5ayn 3l!23bideen said/ Glory be to God, the 6ne 'ho no place contains
7ou 0that is, God1." 3lso, he said about the Creator/ 8o place surrounds 7ou." 9a2far
3s!Sadi& said/ 'hoever believes that God is in something or on something or from
something commits polytheism #shirk$. :ecause if God were in something, God would
be contained, and if God were on something, God would be carried, and if God were
from something, God would be a creation."
The later (uslim Scholars #Al-Khalaf$ also declared that God e*ists without a place.
3hmad 3r!;ifa2i said/ The ultimate knowledge about God is to know that God e*ists
without a how 0kayf1 or a place." The author of 3l!23&idah 3l!(urshidah said/ 3llah
e*isted without a place and willed for the e*istence of time. God is not bound to time
and is not designated with place." 3l!Gha<ali said/ 3llah, the Glorified, e*isted without
a beginning and there was no place. God is not a body, indivisible particle 0atom"1, or
bodily characteristic4 God is not on a place or in a place."
(uslims believe that 3llah #the name of the Creator in the 3rabic language$ is not a
body. 3bu Hasan 3l!3sh2ari said/ 'hoever believes God is a body is ignorant of his
=ord and is a non!believer." )mam 23li said/ 'hoever believes our God is limited is
ignorant of the Creator who is worshipped." 3bu 9a2far 3t!Tahawi said/ God is clear of
all boundaries, e*tremes, sides, organs, and instruments. The si* directions do not
contain God as is the case with all the created things."
)t is the belief of all (uslims that God is not a body and does not occupy a place. God is
>ree!of!8eed #Al-Ghaniyy and As-Samad$. +laces are other than God%they are
creations, and God is not in need of any of the creations. God e*isted before the places
e*isted. God is +erfect. God did not change from e*isting before and without a place to
e*isting within and in need of a place. God is not contained. God is not dependent on
anything.
The Holy ?ur@an #the (uslims@ unchanged book of Scripture$ declares that 3llah e*isted
before any of the creations #AB/C$, that 3llah does not need any of the creations #C/DB$,
and in Ash-Shura, ,, #-E/,,$ the ?ur@an says/There is absolutely nothing whatsoever
that is similar to God. >rom the ?ur@an, the sayings of +rophet (uhammad, the
numerous sayings of the (uslim Scholars, as well as, the sound rational proofs, the
(uslims can demonstrate that the Creator does not reside in a place, for created things
e*ist in places, and God absolutely does not need or resemble any of the creations.
The seeker of truth should be aware that there are e*tremists who claim to be (uslim, but
say that the Creator has body parts and e*ists above the ceiling of +aradise #Al-`Arsh$.
These people reach this misguided conclusion because they insist on distorting the
meanings of the ?ur@an. )t is enough to discredit to such people that the reknown
interpreter of ?ur@an, >akhr!ud!Feen 3r!;a<i, said/ 3llah is clear of being in a place or
direction, or on al-`Arsh or al-Kursiyy."
3lso, there are those who claim to be (uslim, but they teach a doctrine of racial hatred in
the name of )slam. 6n the one hand, they claim that white people are evil by nature, but
on the other, they claim that God was born to a white woman in the year ,GBBH )t is
enough to discredit these people to mention that the ?ur@an says what means/ God does
not give birth and God was not born. God is !n"om#arable and has no e$ual.
)slam is a religion of moderation in both its practices and in its beliefs. (uslims believe
in the e*istence of God while at the same time, recogni<ing that God is absolutely
different from the creations. (uslims use their minds to recogni<e the e*istence of God,
while at the same time, (uslims are certain that God cannot be encompassed by the
imagination. )t is essential that one understands that the =ord of creations is not similar to
the creations. (uslims believe that God alone deserves to be worshipped, and that God
sent many +rophets throughout history to guide people to the truth. +rophet (uhammad
is the last of the +rophets%and God gave him miracles to prove that he was truthful.
The real success is based on being a God!fearing person who prepares him or herself for
the inevitable reality of death by following the authentic =aws of God. The beginning of
guidance is having the correct belief in the Creator and testifying with the Feclaration of
>aith to enter the fold of )slam. To become a (uslim, one simply says/
I bear witness nothing is worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah.