Understanding Allah with our extremely limited knowledge and understanding

At the time of the last Prophet SAW, a person made an oath, which he broke. As a reprisal for having broken his oath, he was obliged to set free one captive. Conditional on him was that this captive be a woman believer.

Thus, the Prophet asked her, “Do you believe in God?”

“Yes I believe,” she responded.

When asked where God is, she pointed up. The Prophet witnessing this concluded that she was a believer in God.

The companions of the Prophet said, “O Messenger of God, she is pointing up as if indicating that God is occupying a space. How can she be deemed a believer if saying God takes up space?”

The Prophet replied, “What she means to indicate is the highness of God and not that God is a being with dimensions. The understanding levels of people vary and the knowledge that we possess through our different levels of understanding are going to be in different limits.”

Allah Almighty is showing us through many examples that we need to realize there is always someone who is above us in knowledge and understanding.

– Narrated by Shaykh Nazim Haqqani