Al-Anbya 22: If there were any deities on earth and in the heavens other than Allah, the earth and heavens would surely be in conflict and chaos. Allah, the Lord of the Throne is exalted above the things they attribute to Allah.

In verse 22 of Surah Al-Anbiya: If there had been gods other than Allah on earth and in heaven, the earth and heaven, their order, would certainly have fallen apart. Certainly. So Allah, the Lord of the Throne, is far above the attributes they ascribe to Him. Let us open this up verse by verse, before reading the tafsir. It needs some explaining. If there had been gods other than Allah on earth and in heaven, that is, if on earth there were one creator and in heaven another creator, if they were separate, or if besides Allah there were even a single other creator, that one by what it created and this one by what it created, then, He says, everything would certainly sink into corruption.

Why? One would take what it created, and the other would take what it created. As if saying: you stay with what you created, and I with what I created. Just as states today are divided, for example. Just as each has its own head over it, isn't it so? Be it in America, in France, in England, in Turkey, or in other states. They have their own laws. So if there had been another god besides Allah, one would take what it created, and the other would take what it created. The heavens and the earth and what is between them would have been corrupted. The earth and heaven, their order, would certainly have fallen apart, He says.

So Allah, the Lord of the Throne. Why? He does not say Lord of the universe, He says Lord of the Throne. The Owner of the universe. And by saying Lord of the Throne He means the universe. How? All these created things, the seven layers of heavens, are surrounded by the Throne of Allah. Picture a balloon. Picture layers inside the balloon. Those layers, seven layers, the earths, and after the earth the heavens, seven layers, enclosed in the balloon. Take the outside of the balloon as the Throne of Allah. Or else picture this house, the building: the seven heavens, picture seven floors, floor upon floor.

Its outer facade is the Throne of Allah. Now, whose house is this? Mr. Ramazan's, or Mr. Habibi's. But there are strangers inside. The strangers do not count. Who counts? Whose house is it? Habibi's. Habibi's house. By saying the Throne of Allah it encompasses the universe, so saying Owner of the Throne means the Owner of the universe. (?) In this way it grasps this. What does it say? Owner of the Throne, that is: so Allah, the Lord of the Throne, is far above the attributes they ascribe to Him. That is, they take for themselves certain gods on earth, and Allah Almighty is far above the attributes by which they associate partners with Allah.

Because those objects they make with their hands can neither be equal to Allah, nor are they aware of themselves. Yes. With this verse Allah Almighty again proves that there is no god other than Himself, we said. Namely: one, if there were another god besides Allah on earth and in the heavens, one would take what it created and the other what it created, and everything would sink into corruption. Two, if there were again another god besides Allah, it could also be like this. One needs the other. Because it does not fully have the power to create. And the other does not create what the first creates.

It too needs the other. Even so, disputes would arise between them out of disagreement. Again everything would be in turmoil. In that case they would be in helplessness. They would be marked as not being one and perfect. Indeed, one creates one thing. Since the other cannot create it, one creates one thing, and the other creates what the first cannot create. What happens? Both become dependent on each other. That is, they cease to be complete and perfect. Three. If the universe, the universe had been created by two Lords, then when one in time came to have the full power to create and gained the upper hand over the other, it would take a stand against the other, and disputes would arise between them out of disagreement.

Again everything would be in turmoil. In that case, since both sides would be in helplessness, even if one had later gained the upper hand over the other, even then Allah would have been described this way. Yet Allah is the First and Everlasting for eternity. Hüve'l-evvelü ve'l-âhiru ve'z-zâhiru ve'l-bâtın. He is the First, the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden. Yes.

Before He created the universe, He existed. Allah existed. Before the universe was created. Self-subsisting. That is, there is no universe. No earth, no heaven. Nothing at all. Self-subsisting, He simply subsists. What did He do? An unknown treasure, He willed to be known. Yes. There was no being other than Him. That is: when you say First, it is first. Right? First. Can there be a first before the First, anything earlier? A First that has embraced the infinite. Well, nothing created. Last: after creating, again it is He; once the worlds are (?), He Himself will remain. Manifest: manifest (?) manifest, He proves His existence everywhere with knowledge.

Hidden: also Owner of the hidden worlds, that is, also Owner of the inner worlds. So there is no god other than Him. Has another god besides Him ever appeared, saying I too am Lord, ever since our father Adam, since man came into the world, up to now, and addressed us? Is there any? No. Did none come forth who addressed people? They did. Like the Nimrods, like the Pharaohs. What happened? They perished. Gone. So there is no god but Allah. He speaks to us continually. Yes. Moreover, he and those who say I am god were also in need of what Allah created. They ate and drank what was given them, what Allah gave, and in the end they too tasted death.

Yes. Whereas He is the First and Everlasting for eternity. Before He created the universe, He existed. There was no being other than Him. So, in order for His Essence to be known, Allah first created His Beloved from His light. And from the light of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) He created the universe. Then He gave the Prophet (peace be upon him) of His spirit. By creating from his spirit the prophets, and from the prophets' spirits the spirits of their peoples, Allah, besides whom there is no other god, thus created the worlds. So, within this order and harmony, the arrangement of this world was created with knowledge.

In all the worlds, from the atom to the globe, everything remembers Allah, its Creator, and the Creator has stamped His sign on His creations, made Himself known, and announced that there is no god other than Allah.

If He makes them remember Him, He thus proves to the worlds that there is no god other than Allah. So Allah, the Lord of the Throne, is free of the attributes they ascribe to Him. By saying Lord of the Throne, Allah Almighty declares that He is Lord of the whole universe, of the heavens and the earth and what is between them. Because the Throne of Allah has encompassed these created things, the heavens and the earth existing in time and space, and what is between them. It has surrounded the created things; this created universe lies within the Throne. Saying Lord of the Throne means Owner of His creations.

Picture a building: if the building had billions of flats and in them billions of people lived as tenants, but the house belonged to one person, that house would be called by that man's name. It is called so-and-so's building. And the billions of people renting in that house are that person's tenants. Just so, when the Throne of Allah surrounds the universe in this way, when Allah Almighty encompasses His creations with the Throne, Lord of the Throne means the Lord who is the absolute power and Owner of the universe. Those within it are Allah's servants. They are the servants of the Creator. Allah is free of the attributes people have ascribed to Allah Almighty.

Allah is far above those who say He has a wife and children, those who associate partners with Allah, and such deficient attributes. Yes.