Allah is all pervading

Allah is all pervading

هُوَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ

Huwa az-zahir wa huwa al-batin:

"He is the Outward and He is the Inward."

(The Qur'an 57.3)

"Allah is all-pervading," Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu continued.

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 18.191)

Here Mahaprabhu explains that Allah is all-pervading. Allah is inside and outside everything. One cannot turn in any direction without encountering Allah. He is omnipresent; but He never looses His oneness. Such is the inconceivable potency of Allah. He is One Supreme Being and simultaneously present everywhere. Thus in the Holy Qur'an Allah is referred to as al-Muhee, or all-pervading, omnipresent Being.

So, it is stated in the sura "Al-An'am", or "Cattle":

Wa huwal-lahu fis-samawati wa fil-'arz ya'-lamu sirakum wa jahrakum wa ya'-lamu ma taksibun: "He is Allah in the heavens and in the earth. He knows what you hide, and what you reveal, and He knows what you earn." (6.3)

It is absurd to think that Allah is present only in the heavens. He is certainly present on the earth too. Indeed, He is omnipresent.

Furthermore in the sura "Al-Hadid", or "Iron" it is said:

Huwa al-awwal wa huwa al-akhir / wa huwa az-zahir wa huwa al-batin: "He is the First and the Last, and the Outward and the Inward; and He is the Knower of all things." (57.3)

The following tradition in Sahih Muslim is significant for an understanding of this verse. The Prophet (peace be on him) said:

"You are the First, so that there was nothing before You; and You are the Last, so that there is nothing after You; and You are Outward, or Evident, so that there is nothing above You, and You are the Inward, or Hidden, the Knower of the hidden things, so that there is nothing hidden from You."

It is stated in the same sura "Al-Hadid", or "Iron" of the Holy Qur'an:

Wa huwa ma-'ruju fiha / Wallaahu bimaa ta'-maluuna basiir: "And He is with you wherever you may be. And Allah sees well all that you do." (57.4)

This is yet another evidence of the omnipresence of Allah. Allah is always with each and everyone of us, no matter where we are. He watches all of us, mercifully allowing us to act according our desires. Allah has granted us a little independence; but we should never misuse such independence by disobeying Him. We must always remember that Allah is omnipresent and that He is a witness to every activity that we perform and every little thing that we do.

There is another interesting verse in the sura "Qaf":

Wa laqad khalaqnal-'insaana wa na'-lamu maa tuwas-wisu bihii nafsuh / Wa nahnu 'aqrabu 'ilayhi min hablil-wariid: "We verily created man, and We know what suggestions his soul makes to him. For We are closer to him than his jugular vein." (50.16)

Thus Allah created man, and gave him his limited independence. Allah knows the inmost desires and motives of man even better than man does himself. He is closer to a soul than man's own jugular vein. The jugular vein is the big trunk vein, one on each side of the neck, which brings the blood back from the head to the heart. The two jugular veins correspond to the two carotid arteries which carry the blood from the heart to the head. Allah is closer to the soul than the jugular vein in the body and He is aware of the soul's every desire.

Allah is the all-pervading personality who dwelling within everything, including every single atom. Allah is one, yet by His inconceivable potency He is present everywhere, just as the sun is one but it appears in many places at once through its light. Allah is directly all-pervading by His diverse material and spiritual energies. Although He is present in His eternal abode, He is all-pervading and everything is situated within Him. Although Allah is present everywhere, He is inconceivable by our material senses. He is present everywhere as the Supreme Truth by His all-pervading features. He is all-pervading and therefore He can see everyone's activities, He is unlimitedly able to exert His influence over all places and times, and over all living beings. Like the omnipresent material sky, Allah is all-pervading inside and outside of everything, by the omnipresent rays of His effulgence. Fire is already present in wood, but by a certain process, fire in kindled. Similarly, God is all-pervading. He is everywhere, and since He may come out from everything, His supreme consciousness pervading the entire universe. Since the Lord is all-pervading, He is also situated in eternal time and there is nothing existing outside His knowledge. The all-pervading nature of Allah can never be within the limited knowledge of a living entity.