Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Allah Almighty has always known everything before it came into existence. Nothing in the past, present, or future is hidden from Him. At the same time, the revealed texts indicate a knowledge connected to the known thing after it occurs and comes into existence. Some scholars call this “knowledge upon manifestation,” or the knowledge upon which reward and punishment are based. This does not mean that Allah came to know something He had previously been unaware of. Rather, He knew it before it occurred, and after it occurs He knows it as an existing reality, whereas before He knew that it would occur.
As for Allah’s encompassing all things in knowledge, this is absolute and comprehensive. His prior knowledge encompasses everything, and nothing that occurs among created events is ever hidden from His knowledge, wherever it may happen.
Knowledge is one of the Attributes of perfection established for Allah Almighty, and one of His Names is Al-‘Alim — the All-Knowing.
Allah knows everything before it occurs. He knew the deeds of creation, their appointed lifespans, their provisions, and everything they would do before they came into existence.
The occurrence of things does not cause Allah to acquire knowledge after ignorance. Exalted is Allah above such a notion.
Allah says:
“Indeed, nothing on earth or in heaven is hidden from Allah.”
[Aal ‘Imran 3:5]
His knowledge is comprehensive; it is not preceded by ignorance nor followed by forgetfulness.
Allah Almighty says:
“And We did not make the direction of prayer which you used to face except that We might know who follows the Messenger from those who turn back on their heels.”
[Al-Baqarah 2:143]
He also says:
“Then We awakened them so that We might know which of the two groups was better able to calculate the length of their stay.”
[Al-Kahf 18:12]
And Allah says:
“While Allah has not yet made evident those among you who strive and made evident those who are patient.”
[Aal ‘Imran 3:142]
These verses do not mean that Allah did not know who would obey and who would disobey and then learned this only after testing them.
Rather, He knew this before creating them.
What is meant is knowledge of the thing after it has occurred and become manifest in external reality, and this is the knowledge to which recompense is connected.
The distinction may be explained as follows:
Before an action occurs, Allah knows that a particular servant will perform a particular action at a particular time. This is prior knowledge.
When the action actually takes place, Allah knows it as something that has occurred and exists, just as He previously knew that it would occur.
For this reason, al-Baghawi (may Allah have mercy on him), explaining Allah’s statement “except that We may know,” said that what is meant is:
the knowledge upon which reward and punishment are based, because recompense is not based merely upon what was eternally known, but upon the deeds after they are actually performed by those who do them.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) also explained that there is a difference between:
The latter is the knowledge upon which praise and blame, reward and punishment are based.
According to what the original fatwa explains, yes, in the sense of the relation of knowledge to the known thing after that thing comes into existence.
Before something occurs, Allah knows that it will occur. After it occurs, He knows it as something actually existing and having taken place.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah reported that the generality of the early generations and the Imams of the Sunnah and Hadith affirm that what is renewed here is something real. This does not mean that Allah moves from ignorance to knowledge, for such an idea is false and is not held by Ahl as-Sunnah.
Therefore, one must distinguish between:
knowledge becoming newly acquired after ignorance, which is impossible regarding Allah,
and:
a renewed relation of knowledge to an event when it occurs, while Allah’s complete prior knowledge of it preceded its occurrence.
The test is not so that Allah may obtain information He did not previously possess.
Rather, part of His wisdom is that deeds become manifest in reality so that recompense may be based upon them.
Allah says:
“And so that Allah may test what is within your breasts and purify what is within your hearts. And Allah is All-Knowing of what is within the breasts.”
[Aal ‘Imran 3:154]
Allah mentions the test and then immediately confirms that He is All-Knowing of what is within the hearts.
Al-Shinqiti (may Allah have mercy on him) stated that this clearly demonstrates that testing does not give Allah knowledge that He did not previously possess. Rather, through testing, what the servants actually do becomes manifest, and reward and punishment are based upon it.
Allah Almighty says:
“And that Allah has encompassed all things in knowledge.”
[At-Talaq 65:12]
And He says:
“Indeed, He encompasses all things.”
[Fussilat 41:54]
The meaning is that nothing lies outside Allah’s knowledge.
He knows what is apparent and what is hidden, what is secret and what is public, what has happened and what will happen, and everything that occurs in the heavens and on the earth.
Qawwam as-Sunnah al-Asbahani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“The Encompassing One is He whose power encompasses all His creation and who encompasses everything in knowledge.”
Thus, the encompassing nature of Allah’s knowledge is not restricted to one place rather than another, nor to one time rather than another.
Allah’s eternal prior knowledge undoubtedly encompasses everything, because Allah knew all things before they came into existence.
But His knowledge of events after they occur is likewise not restricted to any particular place. He knows everything that occurs wherever it happens.
Therefore, when it is said that Allah’s knowledge is in every place, what is meant is that no place lies outside His knowledge. It does not mean that Allah’s Essence exists everywhere.
This is an important distinction.
Allah Almighty says:
“Have you not seen that Allah knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth? There is no private conversation among three except that He is their fourth, nor among five except that He is their sixth, nor fewer than that nor more except that He is with them wherever they may be.”
[Al-Mujadilah 58:7]
A number of the early generations interpreted this “withness” as the withness of knowledge.
Al-Tabari transmitted from al-Dahhak:
“He is above the Throne, and His knowledge is with them wherever they may be.”
It is also reported from Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him):
“Allah is above the heaven, and His knowledge is in every place; nothing is outside it.”
The meaning is that people cannot hide from Allah’s knowledge wherever they may be.
No.
In this context, what is meant is the encompassing nature of His knowledge and power, not that created beings are within Allah’s Essence or that His Essence surrounds the universe in the manner that one physical body surrounds another.
For this reason, Ahl as-Sunnah distinguish between Allah’s exaltedness above His creation and the encompassing nature of His knowledge of them.
Al-Ajurri (may Allah have mercy on him), when explaining the creed of Ahl as-Sunnah, stated that Allah is above His heavens upon His Throne, while His knowledge encompasses everything and nothing on earth or in heaven is hidden from Him.
Thus, there is no contradiction between Allah’s exaltedness and His knowledge of everything that occurs within His creation.
Allah Almighty’s knowledge is complete and comprehensive and was never preceded by ignorance. He knew all things before they occurred.
The verses containing expressions such as:
“that We may know” and “so that Allah may know”
do not mean that Allah acquired new knowledge after previously being ignorant. Rather, they refer to knowledge of something after it has actually occurred and become manifest. Some scholars call this “knowledge upon manifestation” or “the knowledge upon which reward and punishment are based.”
As for Allah’s statement that He “has encompassed all things in knowledge,” His encompassing knowledge is comprehensive. Nothing is hidden from Him at any time or in any place, either before it occurs or after it occurs.
When the early scholars said that Allah’s knowledge is in every place, they meant that nothing anywhere is hidden from His knowledge, not that Allah’s Essence exists in every place.
And Allah knows best.