Aamintum man fee assama-i an yakhsifa bikumu al-arda fa-itha hiya tamoor (surah Mulk: 16)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(67:16) Do you feel secure that He Who is in the heaven *25 will not cause the earth to cave in with you, and then suddenly it will begin to rock violently?

A-amintum man fissamaaa`i aiyakhsifa bi kumul arda fa izaa hiya tamoor

*25) This does trot mean that Allah lives in the heavens, but it has been so said because man naturally looks up to the heaven whenever he wants to turn to Allah, raises his hands heavenward in prayer and implores Allah turning his eyes up to heaven whenever he finds himself helpless in an affliction. Then whenever a calamity befalls him suddenly, he says it has descended from heaven; whenever something unusual happens, he says it has come from heaven; and he calls the Books revealed by Allah as heavenly Books. Accordingly to a tradition-in Abu Da'ud, a person came before the Holy Prophet with a black slave-girl and said: "It has become obligatory on me to set a slave free; can 1 set this slave-girl free? Holy Prophet asked the slave-girl, "Where is Allah?" She pointed heavenward with her forger. The Holy Prophet asked, "Who am I?" She first pointed towards him and then towards the heaven, by which she obviously meant to say: "You have come from Allah." Thereupon the Holy Prophet said: "Set her free; she is a believer." (A story closely resembling this has been narrated in Mu'watta, Muslim and Nasa'i also). About Hadrat Khawla bint Tha`Ibah.. Hadrat 'Umar once said to the people: "She is the lady whose complaint was heard above the seven heavens" (In E.N. 2 of Surah al-Mujadalah, we have given full details concerning this). All this clearly shows that it is natural with man that whenever he thinks of God, his mind turns to the heaven above and not to the earth below. In view of this very thing the words man fis-samaa. (He Who is in the heaven) have been used about Allah. There is no room here for any doubt that the Qur'an regards AIIah Almighty as living in the heaven. In fact, there cannot be any basis for this doubt, for in the very beginning of this Surah Al-hulk, it has been stated: "He Who created seven heavens, one above the other", and in Al-Baqarah it has been said "You will face Allah in whatever direction you turn your face." (v : I15)