I am actually a Sunni Muslim, only asking this question out of my interest in Jewish interpretations of God as they are similar and distinct in many ways with the Islamic ones.
So in Sunni Islam, there are 2 main, equally valid (Valid here doesn't mean equally correct, it just means equally valid, or blatantly speaking: both opinions aren't heretical) opinions regarding this:
- The majority opinion, اللهُ مَوْجُوْدٌ بِلاَ مَكَانٍ: God is present beyond place. This opinion simply states that since God is the creator of everything, he is the creator of space and all the changes that happen within it, the creator of time as well. The opinion holds that since God is transcendent beyond all creation, he is transcendent above being bound by space and the 6 directions as well as he created them in the first place.
- The minority opinion, based on the Quranic verse: الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَىٰ, "the Most Merciful established on the throne.": This opinion isn't exactly an opinion but more of a negation on holding an opinion to begin with. They say that God says in the Quran that he is above the throne, and we believe it. How he is above the throne? What is the modality of the throne? What does above mean? We refuse to interpret it at all and simply accept the verse on face value and don't get into its meaning at all and say "only God knows". Those who hold the prior opinion simply do a different interpretation of this verse that does not have to do with where God is.
There are other opinions, but they are either considered heretical or amount to disbelief by the standards of orthodox sunnism. That, or they ultimately amount to either of the two I mentioned with only slight details diferring.
I was wondering what the Jewish view on this is. Is it the same or similar to either of the two opinions I mentioned? Does it entail a physical body for God and binding within a place, or something else entirely?
