Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
The proofs affirming Allah’s exaltation above His creation and His establishment above His Throne are numerous and varied. They are established by the Qur’an, the Sunnah, scholarly consensus, reason, and sound natural disposition.
This was the belief of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah, including the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ and those who followed them with excellence: affirming Allah’s exaltation, His being above His creation, and His establishment above His Throne in a manner befitting His majesty, without likening Him to His creation or asking how.
The claim that no recognized scholar ever stated that what is meant by Allah’s saying:
“Do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you?”
is Allah تعالى, and that it refers exclusively to the angels, is incorrect.
A number of leading scholars of Qur’anic interpretation explicitly stated that the intended referent is Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
Among the clearest examples is what Imam al-Tabari رحمه الله, one of the greatest authorities in Qur’anic exegesis, stated in his interpretation of the verse:
“Or do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven” — and He is Allah.
He then explained Allah’s saying:
“that He should cause the earth to swallow you, and then it would suddenly shake”
as meaning that the earth would swallow them and shake beneath them.
This statement alone is sufficient to refute the claim that no recognized scholar said that “He who is in the heaven” refers to Allah تعالى.
Al-Hafiz Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr رحمه الله also said concerning the verse:
“As for Allah’s saying: ‘Do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you’ [Al-Mulk: 16], its meaning is: He who is above the heaven, meaning above the Throne.”
This confirms that interpreting the verse as referring to Allah تعالى is a well-known position among leading scholars.
Among the proofs supporting this interpretation is that the Qur’an attributes the act of causing the earth to swallow people to Allah تعالى in other passages.
Allah says concerning the story of Qarun (Korah):
“So We caused the earth to swallow him and his dwelling.”
[Al-Qasas 28:81]
Allah also says:
“Do those who plot evil deeds feel secure that Allah will not cause the earth to swallow them, or that punishment will not come upon them from where they do not perceive?”
[Al-Nahl 16:45]
And He سبحانه says:
“Do you feel secure that He will not cause the land to swallow you, or send against you a storm of stones, and then you would find no protector? Or do you feel secure that He will not return you to it another time and send against you a violent wind and drown you for your disbelief, and then you would find no one to take revenge for you against Us?”
[Al-Isra’ 17:68–69]
Thus, attributing the act of causing the earth to swallow people to Allah تعالى in these verses reinforces the interpretation mentioned above concerning “He who is in the heaven.”
The Prophetic Sunnah also contains hadiths in which the expression “He who is in the heaven” is used to refer to Allah تعالى.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Do you not trust me while I am the trustworthy one of Him who is in the heaven? The news of heaven comes to me morning and evening.”
Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
He ﷺ also said:
“Have mercy on those who are on earth, and the One who is in the heaven will have mercy on you.”
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi and authenticated by al-Albani.
These texts occur in the context of affirming Allah’s exaltation and elevation. It is therefore not correct to divert them from their apparent meaning without valid evidence.
What is intended is to affirm Allah’s exaltation and His being above His creation. It does not mean that the heaven surrounds Allah or contains Him, for Allah سبحانه وتعالى is far greater than anything among His creation being able to encompass Him.
The expression “in the heaven” has been explained by scholars in a manner indicating exaltation and elevation. It can also be expressed as “above the heaven,” meaning above it. The intended meaning is Allah’s exaltation above His creation and His establishment above His Throne in a manner befitting Him سبحانه وتعالى.
Therefore, it is not correct to restrict the meaning of the verse to the angels, nor is it correct to definitively claim that it refers specifically to Jibril (Gabriel), peace be upon him, when recognized scholars of Qur’anic interpretation and Islamic knowledge have explicitly stated that the intended referent is Allah تعالى.
Allah’s saying:
“Do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you?”
has been interpreted by a number of leading scholars as referring to Allah تعالى, including Imam al-Tabari and al-Hafiz Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr رحمهما الله.
The verse is among the evidences used by Ahl al-Sunnah to affirm Allah’s exaltation and His being above His creation, while believing that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is not encompassed or contained by His creation or by the heavens, and that He is established above His Throne in a manner befitting His majesty.
And Allah knows best.