Bismillahi rahmani raheem, assalamu alaikum.
If Allah is not bound by the universe, its 6 directions, time, or anything created why does Allah talk about Himself in the Quran in terms of direction as if His matter is something from within the universe.
The answer is simple, man needs direction and time to perceive the universe in a way his brain can process that information, we need to see the start of something and its end to picture it properly, this is measured by the length of our attention span which puts things into small capsules of time we call events.
Allah created man that way and created a universe that represented His exalted Qualities, in reality Allah associated something limited with Himself so we can understand Him.
Allah made the direction of Up represent His exaltedness and perfection, so when we looked up in wonder we would easily associate that with something greater than us, Allah, and from that understand Our creator is like that feeling of amazement we feel in ourself when looking at space during the night.
This issue in the Quran is not much more difficult than that.
So Allah placed His Arsh (throne) in the most elevated place in the universe, the edge of space called sidrat al muntaha (the furthest limit of space) in the Quran, and it surrounds the entire universe protecting it like the shell of a hard boiled egg.
The Kursi is a second shell just inside the Arsh which also surrounds the universe, but Allah says in the Quran “Wasi’a Kursiyuhu Samawati wal Ard”, His Kursi extends over the heavens (space) and the earth, meaning Allah’s kursi is also on earth, but can anyone see it?
The answer is no because the human eye can not see subatomic particles, both the Arsh and Kursi are made of subatomic particles and they are the two deepest depths of subatomic space at the edge of the universe.
Allah explains this in Ayat al Noor (24:35) where He says His light is neither of the east or of the west, the directions of man, that is because it is from within the atoms everything is created from and Allah’s light is all subatomic particles.
Allah ends that verse by saying He guides to His light who ever He wants and in Surah al Shams (the sun, 91) He explains how the human soul is guided by the subatomic forces and particles of the universe.
Light itself is nothing but the photon particle but in this Ayah Allah is saying all particles are His light and in another verse He explains that the forces that govern subatomic space, which created everything in the universe are His Hand, how He created everything, and yet in another verse Allah explains He is controlling everything in the universe from the Arsh, His Throne, which is the deepest subatomic layer that exists.
This is the simple picture Allah paints for us, this is also what modern physics teaches about how the universe and its subatomic forces work and created everything.
Therefor when Allah ascribes something to Himself in the Quran, because He taught us through metaphor that He is “established” on the Arsh, it means that thing has its origin from this place in the universe or is associated with it, this is the language of science in the Quran, so understand.
Allah said about the Human soul in the Quran, He breathed into man of His own self, “When I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, (Ya Mala’ikah) fall ye down in obeisance unto him” (15:29); the only thing that Has Allah’s “self” associated with it is the Arsh, so Allah is telling us the Human soul is created from particles that exist within the Arsh, this is why He said of my spirit because elsewhere He said He is established on the Arsh, one verse is a tafsir to the other.
When you breath into something, you take a breath and blow, so particles of air from the inside of your chest are blown into something else outside, this is the metaphor for particles from the depths of subatomic space being given to something outside of it, Allah is taking particles from the edge of subatomic space and placing them inside man to give Him life, to give Him control and will, just like He (or these particles) controls the universe from the Arsh.
The forces of the universe are described as the commands of Allah in the Quran, likewise the human soul; “And they ask you about the soul. Say: ‘The soul is of the commands of my Lord, (commands/particles that control the universe) and you are not given aught of knowledge but a little.” (17:85)
Hence from this Man is superior to every other creature created from other particles, he is given sovereignty over the universe through his prophet hood or walayah because His soul can command the universe like Allah controls it. Those who don’t purify their souls not only have the least control over life but also the least freewill, they are slaves to things outside of them, which is the material enjoyments Allah asked you to fear.
Physics itself teaches this about the universe but they haven’t put the picture together properly to draw these conclusions, they say the smallest subatomic particles in the universe are the subatomic forces that created everything in it.
The soul is created from the smallest particle of them all, the one that is capable of controlling everything created after it.
Allah teaches us the creation of man is greater than the creation of the Mala’ikah, Allah created them from light, the photon particle, that particle is responsible for the electromagnetic force in the universe, basically the force that created all life.
But this is for the common Mala’ikah, the higher Angels were created before them from other kinds of “Light” (particles), we know this because Allah created the Arsh then He created the bearers of the Arsh, those who support it, before He created every other Angel from photons, a particle that came into existence after the Arsh and its Angels.
The word support is more accurate than those who literally carry the Arsh, as Imam Ibn Arabi explained, it means they are supporting creation through the physics surrounding the Arsh rather than just holding something up because it needs to be carried.
In this life the Arsh has four Angels supporting it, Allah’s main Angels, in the next life it will be eight as the prophet Muhammad (saws) stated, these are the four greatest prophets of Allah who will help them, that means in the Akhira life will revolve around them and everything else is under them.
So you see the creation of the Angels is similar to the creation of the Human soul and they are capable of similar things.
In the Akhira man will be doing similar work to the Mala’ikah in this life, after their test is over the real business of knowing Allah begins, so make certain you have earned your place or as the prophet Muhammad (saws) stated ‘you wont have a share in the afterlife’, or its eternity.
Shaykh Rami Al Rifai