﴿اللهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ﴾The Explanation of the Verse
The meaning of this verse is “Allah the Exalted is the guide of the people of the skies and the people of the earth to the light of belief.”[1] Al-Bayhaqiyy related that from ^Abdullah Ibn ^Abbas, may Allah Accept his and his father’s deeds. So Allah the Exalted is not a light with the meaning of an illumination; rather, He is the One who Created the light. Allah said:
﴿وَجَعَلَ الظُّلُمَاتِ وَالنَّورَ﴾
[which means] “And He Made the darkness and the light.” This means that He Created the darkness and the light, so how would it be that He would be a light like His creation? Allah is Exalted from that with a great Exaltation.
The judgment of whoever believes that Allah is a light, meaning an illumination, is that he is definitely charged with blasphemy. The verse:
﴿الْحَمْدُ للهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَجَعَلَ الظُّلُمَاتِ وَالنُّورَ﴾
[which means] “Praise is due to Allah, the One who Created the Heavens and the Earth and Made the darkness and the light,” is the most explicit evidence that Allah is not a tangible entity like the skies and the earth or an intangible entity like darkness and light.[2]
So whoever believes that Allah is a volume that is tangible or intangible has likened Allah to His creation, and the verse is a witness for that. Most of the people who liken Allah to the creation believe that Allah is a tangible body, and some of them believe that He is an intangible body; they said, “He is a shining light.” This verse alone is sufficient to refute both groups.
There are many blasphemous convictions, like the conviction that Allah is someone with a color or a shape. So let the person be aware of that with his utmost effort in every situation.
[1] The verse translates literally as: “Allah is the light of the heavens and earth.”
[2] Because it explicitly mentions both types of bodies and that He is their Creator, therefore He would not be of either type.