Allah The Exalted — Page 129
All a h the Exalted 1 2 It is not the belief of the Muslims that the ‘ Arsh is a physical or created thing on which God is seated. You may go through the Qur’ a n from the beginning to the end and you will not find it stated that the ‘ Arsh is something limited and created. God has repeatedly said in the Holy Qur’ a n that He is the Creator of all things that have any existence. He is the Creator of heaven and earth, and souls and all their faculties. He is Self-Existing and eve- rything exists because of Him. Every particle that exists is His creation. He has nowhere stated that the ‘ Arsh is something physical of which He is the Creator. . . . Wher- ever the word ‘ Arsh has been used in the Holy Qur’ a n its meaning is the Greatness and Majesty and Supremacy of God. That is why it is not included among created things. There are four manifestations of the Greatness and Maj- esty of God Almighty. The Ved a s call them four gods, but according to the idiom of the Holy Qur’ a n they are angels. [Nas i m-e-Da‘wat, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, Vol. 19, pp. 453-456] In the Holy Qur’ a n by ‘ Arsh is meant the station which is higher than the rank of resemblance and is superior to every world and is beyond of beyond and is the station of Holiness and transcendence. It is not anything which is made of stone or brick or any other thing on which God is seated. That is why it is described as uncreated. As God Almighty says He manifests Himself to the heart of a believer, in the same way He says that He manifests Himself upon the ‘ Arsh. He affirms clearly that He sup- ports everything and has not said anywhere that anything supports Him. The ‘ Arsh which is a higher station than the whole universe, is a manifestation of His attribute of transcendence.