We raise our hands in du^a’ to the sky because it is the place from which the mercy and blessings descend; it is not because the Self of Allah exists in the sky. Similarly, we direct ourselves to the honorable Ka^bah in the prayer because Allah Ordered us with that; it is not because the Ka^bah has some merit or specification of Allah living in it. The one who believes that Allah is contained blasphemes, or if he believes that Allah is something like the air or the light that fills a place, room or masjid.
Those who believe that Allah is contained in the direction of above say that we raise our hands to the sky while making du^a’ because He is in the direction of above. They are refuted by what is confirmed from the Messenger of Allah, that he sought rain and he put his palms toward the ground and the back of his hands up to the sky [when he made du^a’], and that the Prophet ﷺ forbade the one who is praying from lifting his head to the sky. Had Allah been contained in the direction of above as the Likeners think, then he would not have prohibited us from lifting our vision up to the sky while praying. Further proof is that the Prophet ﷺ used to lift his pointer finger while praying when he said “illallah” in the Tashahhud, and he would bend it slightly. Had the issue been as the Likeners said, he would not have bent his finger; rather, he would have lifted it to the sky. All of this is confirmed in authentic hadiths according to the scholars of hadith; what then would the Likeners and the Wahhabiyys do?
We call the masjids, “the Houses of Allah,” not because Allah lives there, rather because they are places that are prepared and dedicated for the remembrance of Allah and His worship.
It is said about the ^Arsh that it is an entity that Allah has prepared for the Angels, around which they make tawaf just as the believers on Earth make tawaf around the Ka^bah.