Exists
Without
A place
God existed before places without a place
The true belief in God is not based upon blind faith. God gave the Human Beings minds by which they can 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 other than 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 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 the bodies. God is not divisible-consequently. God does not have parts and does not sire children. God is absolutely different from the creation. Whatsoever one imagines, the Creator is completely different.
The Muslims believe that God is clear of all imperfection. It is the unanimous belief amongst the Muslims that the Creator exists without being in a place.
This was the belief of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived 1,400 years ago, the early generations Muslims (As-Salaaf), and the later generations of Muslims (Al-Khalaf). The Muslim Scholars and Sages mentioned many statements declaring that God is free of residing in a place.
Prophet Muhammad said: "God was and there was nothing else"
Imam ^Aliyy said: "God was and there was no place"; and God is as God was."
Zaynul-^Abidin said: "Glory Be To You, Oh God, The One Who no place contains You"
Also he said (about the Creator): "No place surrounds You"
Ja^far As Sadiq said: "Whoever believes that God is in something or from something commits polytheism (shirk). Because 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 Muslim Scholars (Al-Khalaf) also declared that God exists without a place. Ahmad Ar-Rifa^iyy said: "The ultimate knowledge about God is to know that God exists without a how [kayf] or a place."
Fakhr-ud-Din Ibn ^Asakir said: "Allah (the name of the Creator in the Arabic language) existed without a place. He created the universe and willed for the existence of time. He is not bound to time and is not designated with place"
Al-Ghazaliyy said: ". Allah, the glorified, existed without a beginning and there was no place".;
God is not a body, indivisible, particle ["atom"], or bodily characteristic; God is not on a place or in a place.
Muslims believe that Allah is not a body. Abul-Hasan Al-'Ash^ariyy said: "Whoever believes God is a body is ignorant of his Lord and is a non-believer."
Imam ^Aliyy said: "Whoever believes our God is limited is ignorant of the Creator who is worshipped."
Abu Ja^far At-Tahawiyy said: "God is clear of all boundaries, extremities, sides, organs, and instruments. The six directions do not contain God as is the case with all the created things."
It is the belief of all Muslims that God is not a body and does not occupy a place. God is free-of-need (Al-Ghaniyy and As-Samad) Places are other than God-they are creations, and God is not in any need of the creations. God existed before the places existed, God is perfect. God did not change from existing before and without a place to existing within and in need of a place. God is not contained. God is not dependant on anything.
The Holy Qur'an (The Muslims' unchanged book of revealed scripture) declares that Allah existed before any of the creations {57:3), that Allah does not need any of the creations (3:97), and in Ash-Shura 11 (42:11) the Qur'an says: "There is nothing absolutely nothing that is similar to God", from The Qur'an, the sayings of Prophet Muhammad, the numerous sayings of the Muslim Scholars, as well as, the sound rational proofs, the Muslims can demnonstrate that the Creator does not reside in a place, for created things exist in places, and God absolutely does not need or resemble any of the creations.
The seeker of truth should be aware that there are extremists who claim to be Muslim, but say that the Creator has body parts and exists above the ceiling of Paradise (Al Ar^sh)
These People reach this misguided conclusion because they insist on distorting the meaning of the Qur'an. It is enough to mention to such people that the renowned intrepreter of the Qur'an Fakhr-ud-Din Ar-Raziyy, said: "Allah is clear of being in a place or direction, or on al-^Arsh or al-Kursiyy."
Also, there are those who claim to be Muslim, but they teach a doctrine of racial hatred in the name of Islam. On the one hand, they say that white people are evil by nature, but on the other hand, they say that God was born to a white woman in the year 1877! It is enough for these people to mention that the Qur'an says what means: "God does not give birth and God was not born. God is incomparable and has no equal.
Islam is a religion of moderation in both its practices and its beliefs. Muslims believe in the existence of God while at the same time, recognizing that God is absolutely different from the creations. Muslims use their mind to recognize the Existence of God, while at the same time, Muslims are certain that God cannot be encompassed by the imagination. It is essential that one understands that the Lord of creations is not similar to the creation. Muslims believe that God alone deserves to be worshipped, and that God sent many Prophets throughout history to guide people to the truth. Prophet Muhammad is the last of the Prophets- and God gave him miracles to prove that he was truthful.
The real success is based on being a God-fearing person who prepares oneself for the inevitable reality of death by following the authentic Laws of God. The beginning of guidance is having the correct belief and testifying with the Declaration of Faith to enter the fold of Islam. To become a Muslim, one simply says:
BACK TO ALLAH