Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Allah’s encompassing of His creation is an encompassing of knowledge, power, and authority. Nothing escapes His knowledge, nothing is beyond His power, and all creation is under His power and management.
This encompassing does not mean that created beings exist inside the Essence of Allah, nor that His Essence surrounds the universe in the manner of one physical body surrounding another. This is not the intended meaning.
According to the fatwa, Allah, Glorified be He, is above His creation and distinct from it, while His knowledge and power encompass everything.
Allah’s encompassing knowledge is explicitly mentioned in His saying:
“Allah is the One who created seven heavens and of the earth the like of them. The command descends among them so that you may know that Allah is over all things powerful and that Allah has encompassed all things in knowledge.”
[At-Talaq: 12]
This verse combines the perfection of power with the perfection of knowledge.
The meaning of Allah’s encompassing knowledge is that He knows everything: its outward and inward aspects, its past, present, and future, its minute and great details. Nothing is hidden from His knowledge.
As for the encompassing of power, it means that all created beings are under His power and authority, and no one can escape His will or management.
Allah Almighty says:
“And other gains which you were not able to attain, but Allah has encompassed them. And Allah is over all things powerful.”
[Al-Fath: 21]
The exegetes mentioned that encompassing here includes power. In other words, the Muslims were not able to obtain those gains at that time, but Allah had full power over them and had decreed them for the Muslims.
For this reason, the verse ends with:
“And Allah is over all things powerful.”
Thus, the encompassing here is not a description of spatial location; rather, it is an expression of the perfection of Allah’s authority and power.
Allah Almighty says:
“And when We said to you: Indeed, your Lord has encompassed the people.”
[Al-Isra’: 60]
Al-Tabari interpreted this encompassing as an encompassing of power. The people are within Allah’s grasp and authority, and they cannot escape His will.
He also reported from Mujahid the statement: “They are in His grasp.”
It was also narrated from al-Hasan and others that the verse refers to Allah’s protection of His Prophet ﷺ and His preventing people from harming him.
Thus, the verse gives reassurance to the Prophet ﷺ that his enemies, no matter how powerful they may become, cannot escape Allah’s authority.
Allah Almighty says:
“And Allah encompasses the disbelievers.”
[Al-Baqarah: 19]
And He says:
“Unquestionably, He encompasses all things.”
[Fussilat: 54]
And He, Glorified be He, says:
“And Allah encompasses them from behind.”
[Al-Buruj: 20]
These verses do not mean that the disbelievers or the rest of creation exist inside Allah’s Essence.
Rather, what is intended is that His knowledge, power, and authority encompass them. They cannot escape Him or render Him powerless, and none of their deeds are hidden from Him.
It is preferable not to make this comparison an explanation of the reality of Allah’s encompassing, because the way created things surround one another is material and has a known or imaginable manner.
Allah’s encompassing, however, must not be imagined as one physical body surrounding another.
In the explanation of al-‘Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah, regarding al-Tahawi’s statement about Allah:
“He encompasses everything and is above it,”
it is explained that the meaning is not that Allah surrounds created beings in the way a celestial sphere surrounds what is within it, such that the created beings would be inside His Essence, Glorified be He.
Rather, what is intended is the encompassing of greatness, knowledge, power, and authority.
There is no contradiction between the two.
According to the fatwa, Allah, Glorified be He, is above His creation and distinct from it, while at the same time His knowledge encompasses everything and His power is effective over everything.
Allah’s being above His creation does not mean that anything is hidden from Him because of distance, just as the encompassing of His knowledge and power does not mean that He indwells His creation or that creation exists within His Essence.
This is what is meant by al-Tahawi’s statement:
“He encompasses everything and is above it.”
That is, all created beings are under Allah’s knowledge, power, and authority, while He, Glorified be He, is above His creation.
Allah’s mercy is vast. He, Glorified be He, says:
“My mercy encompasses all things.”
[Al-A‘raf: 156]
However, when the Quran describes Allah as encompassing everything, the clearest meanings indicated by the texts, according to the context, are knowledge, power, and authority.
Therefore, it is more precise not to turn the word “encompassing” into a general technical term that includes every attribute of Allah without evidence. Rather, each text should be interpreted according to its context.
The meaning of Allah encompassing everything is that He, Glorified be He, encompasses all created beings in knowledge, power, and authority. Nothing is hidden from Him, nothing is beyond His power, and no one escapes His dominion and management.
This encompassing does not mean that created beings are inside Allah’s Essence, nor that Allah surrounds them in the manner of one physical body surrounding another.
According to the fatwa, affirming Allah’s encompassing is fully compatible with affirming His highness. He, Glorified be He, is above His creation and distinct from it, while His knowledge, power, and authority encompass everything.
Allah Almighty says:
“Unquestionably, He encompasses all things.”
[Fussilat: 54]
And Allah knows best.