Allah is closer to us than our jugular vein

Asslamu alaikum. I have a Small doubt and confused about it, it is : Allah is closer to us than our Jugular vein right ? Then why is it when we pray tahajad Allah comes From the Arsh to the lowest heaven to answer our prayers ? I'm not dumb or anything  I'm just confused 

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

Thank you for this question, you are not dumb, you are merely thinking about Allah; and that is a really good thing . The above Quranic verse and Hadith, are both written in a metaphorical sense.  Both of them are to show the closeness that Allah has towards us.  For example, when I say “my mother is in my heart”, it does not necessarily mean that my mother is physically in my heart, it means I love her very much as the heart is a symbol of love.  Another example is when somebody says “the sun is smiling today”, it does not necessarily mean that the sun has teeth and a mouth and is using them to smile; it simply means that the sun is shining brightly today, as a smile is a symbol of light and happiness.

Now when we consider Allah SWT, we need to realize that Allah is nothing like creating.  Creation has distance, shape, time, etc.  And Allah is above all of these things.  Allah is above the concept of time, i.e.  Allah is timeless; Allah is above the concept of distance, i.e.  Allah does not travel distance, but He is everywhere; but the reason why Allah uses metaphors to describe things to us, is because it allows us to encapsulate the idea which Allah puts forth, as we have not seen with our own eyes what it is which Allah is explaining to us.

Now let’s think a little further to try and explain this concept.  When we look at the verses of the Quran, the ones that speak about hell, Allah uses the metaphor of saying hell is like the desert, that it is hot and fiery.  The reason Allah uses the metaphor of the desert to describe how the hell is because it is something that the people of the Quraysh understood to be tortured or “hot and fiery”, so we can understand that hell burns and is torturous.  If Allah had to not use metaphors to describe things to us (like hell and heaven, which we have not seen), we would not understand what Allah is describing.  

So understanding what I have been trying to say in the above, we can look at the two different verses you are confused about.

From the looks of things, you are actually trying to find out ‘where’ Allah is, using these verses, but these verses are not there to describe ‘where’ as in the ‘place’ Allah is.  These verses are trying to show the emotional closeness which Allah has towards us.

“And indeed We have created man, and We know whatever thoughts his inner self development, and We are closer to him than (his) jugular vein.”

(Quran 50:16)

The first verse you mentioned is that Allah is closer to us than our jugular vein.  This means that Allah is closer to us than we are to ourselves i.e.  Allah understands us and loves us more than we can ever love ourselves, and those are our inner thoughts.  Sometimes we feel like Allah is detached from us, so from this verse Allah explains to us that in fact Allah is closer to us than the vein that is right in the middle of our bodies, i.e.  Allah is never away from us, rather always with us and understands us.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Our Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, and He says, ‘Who will call Me that I might answer him, who will ask of Me that I might give him, who will ask My forgiveness, that I might forgive him?’”

 (narrated by al-Bukhaari, Kitaab al-Tawheed, 6940; Muslim, Salaat al-Musaafireen, 1262)

The second verse you mentioned is how Allah comes down to the lowest heaven.  This does not mean, necessarily, that Allah travels the distance between the highest level of heaven to the lowest level of heaven when we pray, it simply means how much Allah appreciates our prayers.  Allah appreciates our prayers so much that he comes “closer to earth” to hear our prayers…  To describe how this means appreciation rather than distance, here is an example of a similar idea: when somebody admires somebody else they often say “you fell down from heaven”, this does not literally mean that this person physically fell down covering the distance between heaven and earth, it means that this person being appreciated is someone that is seen as ‘amazing’, hence appreciated.  Therefore, when Allah “lowers himself down from the highest heaven to the lowest heaven” it means His appreciation for our prayers is so great, that Allah (being the Highest and most Noble of us all) would actually “come down” just to hear us pray i.e. Allah gives us special attention when we pray.

It is a very confusing topic and is very hard to explain, and therefore hard sometimes to understand; but with the same token Allah, as an Entity, is very hard for our minds to encapsulate, and of course rightly so.

Here is a verse from the Quran:

“There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him.”

(Qur’an 42:11)

As you can see from the above verse, there is nothing like Allah that is out there, ever.  Nothing that exists in the whole of existence is like Him.  Distance is in existence, therefore He has no distance, therefore He has no place; He is everywhere and anywhere.  It is all very confusing and mind blowing, but the same time shows us how beyond Magnificent, Powerful and Praiseworthy Allah is.

It is a good thing that you were thinking about Allah, as Allah always asks us to remember Him.

Here is a verse from the Quran:

“Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.”

 (Qur’an, 13:28)

Insha’Allah I have answered your question <3

If there is something you don’t understand (as this is a very confusing topic), or would like additional details, please let me know and I will be happy to provide