Is God Bound by Time and Space?

A brother asked this question: “I have heard that Muslims argue that their creator is not bound by time and space. While reading a translation of the Quran, I came across this verse, (a day with your Lord is as a thousand years of what you number), how should we understand this verse?”

Thank you for your question and for contacting the Sunna Files Website.

Yes, what you have heard is true.

Muslims believe that Allah (God), the Creator of the whole universe and everything in it, is not bound by time or space,

He is the Creator of time and its particles, and the Creator of space and its parts

Allah is beyond these limited things which govern our lives and restrict our beings. How can the Creator of time be subject to something He created?

Or how can God, Who is Sublime, Eternal and Perfect be restricted by these limitations?

It is because of this that in the Quran He uses past tense verbs to talk about future events, because, to Him, tenses are all the same.

We need the parts of time in our lives to separate what we have already done and achieved from things we are yet to achieve.

This is because our power is limited, and we are bound by human memory, which tends to forget things.

God’s Understanding: Beyond Our Wildest Imagination

When it comes to Allah, all things are not only achievable but under His eternal control.

Therefore, He does not have to use past present or future because it’s his time.

The terms “century”, “decade”, or “year” do not exist in the dictionary when thinking about Allah. It is we who are restricted by them.

Because God has created time, He is beyond it, and therefore, the laws of time do not apply to Him at all.

Yet, as human beings, we cannot understand things unless they are made clear to us in our language.

He Revealed His Truth in Our Words for Our Understanding

For example, suppose you are talking to a 4-year-old boy.

Will you be able to explain to him how a factory works the same way you will explain to a 30-year-old person? Of course not!

Why is that? Why do you not speak the same language, using the same vocabulary, and the same sentences?

The simple answer is that the knowledge of a 4-year-old boy is not enough to enable him to understand the details given to a 30-year-old person.

Therefore, it is a fact that based on our experiences and limitations, we do understand or perceive things in certain ways.

If things are presented to us in a way that is higher than our understanding and intellect, it will be very difficult for us to understand them

It is for this purpose that the verse you have referred to has been revealed: Allah wants to tell people that the Day of Judgment is immensely long.