The Interpretation of the Ma^iyyah معية)[1]) of Allah that is Mentioned in the Qur’an
The meaning of the Saying of Allah,
﴿وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ﴾
[which translates literally as: “He is with you wherever you are,”] is the encompassment by Knowledge. Also, ma^iyyah comes with the meaning of support, like in the Saying of Allah the Exalted,
﴿إِنَّ اللهَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوا﴾
[which translates literally as: “Allah is with those who have piety.”]
Dwelling in something or being connected to something is not meant by this ma^iyyah. Whoever believes like that has blasphemed, because He, the Glorified and Exalted, is clear of connection and disconnection by distance. So it is not said that He is connected to the world, nor is it said that He is disconnected from the world [which would be] by a distance, because these issues are attributes of the volume, i.e., the thing that takes up space. The mass and volume are the things which accept these two issues, i.e., connection and disconnection, and Allah is not an event. He negated that from Himself by His saying,
﴿لَيسَ كَمِثلِهِ شَىءٌ﴾
[which means] “Nothing is like Him in any way.” Allah the Exalted is not described with being big in size or small, nor is He described with being tall or short, because He is different from the creation. And it is obligatory to reject every thought which comes to mind that leads to limiting Allah.
The Jews attributed tiredness to Allah. They said, “After creating the heavens and the earth He rested, and so He lay on His back.” This saying of theirs is blasphemy. Allah the Exalted is cleared from that, and He is cleared from feelings, like tiredness, pain and pleasure; he is cleared from all of that. It is necessary that whoever has these situations would be a created event subject to change, and this is impossible to be attributed to Allah the Exalted.
Allah the Exalted Said:
﴿وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ وَمَا مَسَّنَا مِن لُّغُوبٍ﴾
[which means] “Allah Created the Heavens and the Earth and what is between them in six days and was not touched by tiredness.” The only one who gets tired is the one who works with organs, and Allah the Exalted and Glorified is cleared from the organ. Allah the Exalted Said,
﴿إِنَّ اللهَ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ﴾
[which means] “Certainly Allah is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” Allah the Exalted is Hearing and Seeing without a manner of being. So Hearing and Sight are two attributes which are eternal and without organs, i.e., without an ear or a pupil, and without the condition of being close or far, and without the condition of a direction, and without light rays reaching the eye, and without airwaves.
Whoever says that Allah has an ear has blasphemed, even if he said Allah has an ear that is not like our ears. This is different from the one who says, “He has an ^Ayn that is not like our eyes, and a Yad that is not like our hands,” with the meaning of the Attribute [and not an organ]. This is certainly permissible, because the expression of Al-^Ayn and Al-Yad came in the Qur’an; the expression of Al-Udhun [ear] did not come in the Qur’an.
[1] Ma^iyyah comes from the word ma^ (مع)which means ‘with’.