All that is in the heavens and on Earth glorify Allah

Allah says: “All that is in the heavens and on Earth glorify Allah.” [Sūrah al-Hashr: 1]

Allah says elsewhere in the Qur’an: “Everything in the heavens and on Earth glorifies Allah.” [Sūrah al-Jumu`ah: 1]

Allah also says: “The seven heavens and the Earth and all they contain glorify Him, and there is not a thing but extols His glory; but you do not understand how they glorify Him.” [Sūrah al-Isrā': 44]

Allah is glorified in Creation in two ways in which. First, all things extol Allah’s glory by virtue of their very existence. Secondly, some of Allah’s creatures glorify their Lord of their own free will.

These verses speak about is the glorification of Allah that all creation participates in by its very nature. This includes every inanimate object in the heavens and the Earth, as well as every living thing. We also participate in this glorification. Each limb of our physical bodies extols Allah’s praises, as does every cell and atom from which they are composed. This glorification is inherent in the very nature of created things.

Some scholars have explained this glorification of Allah as being how everything in creation obeys the physical laws Allah has subjected them to. For example, the Sun and the stars glorify Allah by giving off light and heat, and the Moon does so by reflecting the Sun’s light and orbiting the Earth. The Earth, the Sun, and Moon glorify Allah through their motions that provide us with the phenomena of night and day, the months, and the seasons.

This is one way to understand how all things in creation glorify Allah. It is certainly true that Allah’s glory is manifest in the obedience of all things to the natural laws that He created and subjected them to. However, this does not rule out the possibility that these things glorify Allah in other ways that we are unaware of, for Allah says: “but you do not understand how they glorify Him.”

Allah also says: “And assuredly We gave David grace from Us, (saying): O ye hills and birds, echo his psalms of praise!” [Sūrah Saba’: 10]

And Allah says: “Do you not see that all things that are in the heavens and on Earth bow down in worship to Allah – the Sun, the Moon, the stars; the hills, the trees, the animals, and a great number of human beings? But a great number are (also) such as are fit for punishment. And those whom Allah shall disgrace none can raise to honor, for Allah carries out all that He wills.” [Sūrah al-Hajj: 18]

The second way Allah is glorified in creation is through the willing act of those who believe in Him. The believers extol Allah’s praises and glorify Him through His names and attributes.

We glorify Allah in our five daily prayers. While bowing we say: “Glory be to Allah the Magnificent.” And while prostrating, we say: “Glory be to Allah, the Most High.” In doing so, we exalt Allah’s magnificence with our bodies and our words, by invoking Allah’s transcendent glory while we are ourselves in positions of utmost humility and subservience to our Lord.

We glorify Allah when we offer our daily prayers, when we read the Qur’an, and when we beseech Him with the words of praise and supplication that we have learned from Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Allah says: “So glory be to Allah when you enter upon the night and when you enter upon the morning – unto Him be praise in the heavens and on Earth! – and at the Sun’s decline and at midday.” [Sūrah al-Rūm: 17-18]

By Sheikh Salman al-Oadah
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"Whoever guides [another] to a good deed will get a reward similar to the one who performs it." Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)[Sahih Muslim]
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