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All praise is due to Allah, and may His blessings and peace be upon His Messenger ﷺ, his family, and his Companions. To proceed:

The expression “Allah is everywhere” requires clarification because it can convey a correct meaning or an incorrect one. In the Ashʿarī exposition of the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah, Allah exists without being contained by place or confined to a direction. He created space and does not depend upon His creation.

If someone means that Allah knows, sees and hears everything wherever it occurs, the intended meaning is correct. However, if they mean that Allah’s Essence occupies every place, is spread throughout the universe or dwells within created things, that meaning is incorrect. It is therefore better to use clear wording: “Allah’s knowledge encompasses everything, and He is not confined to any place.”

Allah is unlike His creation

The foundational principle is Allah’s statement:

“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.”
(Al-Shūrā 42:11)

Created bodies occupy space and have dimensions and boundaries. Allah is not a body and does not possess these created limitations. Affirming that He exists without place does not deny His existence; it denies that His existence resembles ours.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

“Allah existed and there was nothing other than Him.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 3191.)

The Ashʿarī explanation is that Allah existed before places were created and did not acquire a need for them afterwards.

Imām al-Ghazālī expresses this clearly:

"He is not bounded by measure, contained within regions, encompassed by directions, or enclosed by the earths or the heavens" He further says "He does not dwell in anything, nor does anything dwell in Him. He is exalted beyond being contained by place, just as He is sanctified beyond being bounded by time. He existed before He created time and place, and He is now as He was then." (Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, Book of the Foundations of Belief, first chapter, exposition of the creed.)

What does “He is with you wherever you are” mean?

Allah says:

“And He is with you wherever you are.”
(Al-Ḥadīd 57:4)

This does not mean that Allah occupies the same physical space as His servants. Imām al-Qurṭubī explains this divine accompaniment through Allah’s power, sovereignty and knowledge: nothing people do is hidden from Him. (Al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, commentary on al-Ḥadīd 57:4.)

Thus, wherever you are, Allah knows your circumstances, hears your supplication and sees your deeds. His knowledge is not a substance distributed across places; nothing escapes it.

“Allah exists without place. His knowledge encompasses everything; He hears and sees all things, and nothing is hidden from Him.”

Allah knows best.