Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
To understand this matter correctly, two important principles should be established:
The Qur’an and Sunnah establish that Allah تعالى is exalted above His creation and that He rose over His Throne. Among the evidence is His saying:
﴿To Allah prostrates whatever creature is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, as do the angels, and they are not arrogant. They fear their Lord above them and do what they are commanded.﴾ [An-Nahl: 49–50]
Allah تعالى also says:
﴿Do you feel secure that He who is in heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you, and then it would begin to shake? Or do you feel secure that He who is in heaven will not send against you a storm of stones? Then you will know how My warning is.﴾ [Al-Mulk: 16–17]
The Prophet ﷺ also said:
“Do you not trust me, while I am entrusted by the One who is in heaven? The news of heaven comes to me morning and evening.”
Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
He ﷺ also said:
“Show mercy to those on earth, and the One who is in heaven will show mercy to you.”
Narrated by At-Tirmidhi, who graded it Hasan Sahih.
It is also authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in His Book, which is with Him above the Throne: ‘My mercy has overcome My wrath.’”
Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
These texts and others establish the exaltedness and transcendence of Allah تعالى and His being above His creation, as well as His Istiwa’ over His Throne, in a manner befitting His majesty.
While affirming Allah’s exaltedness, it must also be believed that none of His creation encompasses or contains Him.
Allah تعالى says:
﴿Vision cannot perceive Him, but He perceives all vision, and He is the Most Subtle, the All-Aware.﴾ [Al-An‘am: 103]
He سبحانه وتعالى also says:
﴿He knows what is before them and what is behind them, but they cannot encompass Him in knowledge.﴾ [Ta-Ha: 110]
Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the Creator of the heavens, the earth, the Throne, and all created things. He is independent of them, has no need for any of them, and nothing from His creation encompasses Him.
Accordingly, when Ahl al-Sunnah say that Allah تعالى is “in the heaven,” this does not mean that the created heaven contains or encompasses Allah.
Rather, the expression has been explained as affirming His exaltedness and being above His creation. The word sama’ (heaven) in this context may refer to the direction of exaltedness, and the preposition fi (“in”) may carry the meaning of ‘ala (“upon/above”), as occurs in Arabic usage and in the Qur’an.
For example, Allah تعالى says:
﴿So travel freely throughout the land for four months.﴾ [At-Tawbah: 2]
Meaning: travel upon/on the earth.
Likewise, He تعالى says:
﴿And I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees.﴾ [Ta-Ha: 71]
Meaning: upon the trunks of palm trees.
Therefore, the meaning of Allah’s saying:
﴿Do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven...﴾
is an affirmation of Allah’s exaltedness and being above His creation. It does not mean that Allah is confined within the created heaven or that the heaven encompasses Him.
It is authentically reported from Ali ibn Al-Hasan ibn Shaqiq, the teacher of Imam Al-Bukhari, that he said:
“I asked Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak: How do we know our Lord?”
He replied:
“[He is] in the seventh heaven, above His Throne.”
In another narration:
“[He is] above the seventh heaven, above His Throne.”
When Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal رحمه الله was asked about this, he said:
“This is how it is according to us.”
Imam Adh-Dhahabi رحمه الله explained that the narration stating “above the heaven” clarifies the intended meaning of the other narration stating “in the heaven”: namely, affirming exaltedness and being above.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Abd al-Barr رحمه الله said:
“As for His saying تعالى: ﴿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. The preposition fi may also carry the meaning of ‘ala.”
He then mentioned as evidence Allah’s saying:
﴿So travel freely throughout the land﴾
meaning: upon the earth; and His saying:
﴿And I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees﴾
meaning: upon the trunks of palm trees.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله explained this meaning:
“When the Salaf, the Imams, and all the scholars of the Sunnah say that He is above the Throne and that He is in heaven above everything, they do not mean that anything encompasses Him, confines Him, serves as a place for Him, or constitutes a container or vessel for Him. Exalted and glorified is He above that.”
He explained that Allah تعالى is above everything and independent of everything, while all created beings are dependent upon Him. He is independent of the Throne and of all His creation.
He also mentioned that Allah’s saying:
﴿Do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven...﴾
may be understood as referring to the heaven as the created thing that is above. In this case, “in the heaven” means “above the heaven.” He also explained that sama’ may be used as a generic term for what is elevated, so “in the heaven” can mean “in the exalted realm,” as opposed to what is below.
Your belief that Allah تعالى is established over His Throne, above His heavens, and above all His creation is the meaning indicated by the relevant Qur’anic and Prophetic texts.
As for what you have read in some commentaries—that Allah تعالى is “in the heaven”—this does not necessarily contradict that meaning. Rather, it is an expression found in the Qur’an, Sunnah, and statements of scholars when understood correctly.
It does not mean that the created heaven surrounds or contains Allah تعالى. Rather, it means affirming His exaltedness and being above His creation, and that He سبحانه وتعالى is above His creation and established over His Throne in a manner befitting His majesty.
If the commentator means this when saying “in the heaven,” then it agrees with what the texts indicate. But if it is intended to mean that the heaven surrounds or contains Allah, then that meaning is false and rejected.
And Allah knows best.