Praise be to Allah, and may blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Allah تعالى is the Creator of all His creation. He is All-Knowing of them and fully aware of them. Nothing concerning their conditions is hidden from Him. One piece of knowledge does not distract Him from another, one voice is not confused with another, and nothing on earth or in heaven escapes Him. This power and knowledge are part of His perfection, سبحانه وتعالى. It is not permissible to compare His attributes with the attributes of created beings or to imagine their nature according to human ways of understanding.
Allah تعالى says:
﴿Does He who created not know, while He is the Most Subtle, the All-Aware?﴾ [Al-Mulk: 14].
Allah سبحانه is the One who created creation, and He knows them better than they know themselves. He knows their outward and inward conditions, what they disclose and what they conceal.
The multitude of creation does not overwhelm Him, nor do their different languages, their numerous needs, or the great distances between their locations.
Allah تعالى says:
﴿And nothing whatsoever is hidden from Allah, whether on earth or in heaven.﴾ [Ibrahim: 38].
He سبحانه hears the supplications of those who call upon Him, knows their needs, sees their conditions, and knows what their hearts conceal. None of this is confused or unclear to Him.
One of the most important matters a Muslim should keep in mind is that Allah تعالى is unlike anything else, so it is not permissible to imagine the nature of His knowledge, hearing, sight, or seeing by comparing them to human attributes.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله said:
“It must be affirmed with certainty that Allah has nothing comparable to Him, neither in His Essence, nor in His attributes, nor in His actions.”
Allah تعالى says:
﴿There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.﴾ [Ash-Shura: 11].
Thus, the verse combines affirming the attributes of perfection for Allah تعالى with denying that He resembles His creation.
When Allah تعالى informs us about an attribute of Himself, it is obligatory to believe in it in a manner befitting His Majesty, without asking about its nature or “how.”
Among the most well-known statements concerning this is the response of Imam Malik رحمه الله when he was asked about how Allah تعالى established Himself over the Throne. He said:
“The istiwa’ is not unknown, the how is inconceivable, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is an innovation.”
This principle applies to all of Allah’s attributes. We believe in what has been authentically established, and we understand its meaning in a manner befitting Allah, but we do not know its nature.
Therefore, the question should not be: “How does Allah look upon all His creation?” if this means seeking to determine the nature of His seeing. Rather, we say that Allah تعالى is fully aware of His creation, knows their conditions, and sees their deeds, while the nature of this is beyond our knowledge.
When a human being tries to follow several matters at the same time, his perception may weaken or he may forget some of them. Allah سبحانه, however, cannot be compared to created beings.
He knows the conditions of all His servants simultaneously, hears the differences in their voices, their various languages, and the diversity of their requests. No voice is confused with another, and nothing escapes Him.
He knows what hearts conceal, what souls hide, and what has not become apparent to creation.
All of this is part of the perfection and encompassing nature of His knowledge, سبحانه. It is not our role to imagine how this occurs or to compare it with our limited abilities.
The purpose of knowing that Allah encompasses His creation is not merely to investigate the nature of His attributes. Rather, the servant should keep in mind Allah’s watchfulness over him and His awareness of him.
He should know that Allah sees him, hears him, and knows his condition. Therefore, it should not be the same to him whether he is engaged in obedience or disobedience, whether he is alone or in front of people.
When a Muslim keeps Allah’s knowledge of him in mind, this encourages sincerity, mindfulness of Allah, modesty before Him, avoidance of sins, and hastening toward acts of obedience.
It also gives him reassurance that Allah does not fail to hear his supplication and that his need is known to Him. He does not need to worry that his request will become confused with the requests of other creatures or that anything concerning his condition will escape Him.
Allah تعالى encompasses all His creation in knowledge and is fully aware of their conditions. Nothing is hidden from Him, nothing is confused for Him, and the multitude of creation, the differences in their voices, and their needs do not overwhelm Him.
It is obligatory for us to believe in what Allah has informed us about Himself concerning the attributes of knowledge, hearing, sight, seeing, and others, without likening them to the attributes of creation, without comparing them, and without seeking to know their nature, which is known only to Allah.
It is best for the Muslim to put this knowledge into practice through worshipping Allah and being mindful of Him, and to constantly remember that Allah تعالى knows what he conceals and what he reveals, sees where he is, hears what he says, and nothing concerning his affairs is hidden from Him.
And Allah knows best.