ʿAqīdah of Ahl al-Sunnah: Allah is Established Over the Throne
Source: Fatāwā Amanpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri
❖ Question:
Those who deny that Allah is above the Throne argue that affirming this implies direction (jiha), and affirming direction leads to corporeality (tajsīm), which is forbidden for Allah. What is the correct belief?
❖ Answer:
The unanimous creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah is that Allah Almighty is established over His Throne (istiwaʾ ʿala al-ʿArsh) in a manner befitting His Majesty.
- Some people claim that Allah cannot be described with direction, arguing that doing so would necessitate corporeality, and since all bodies resemble each other, this would entail likening Allah to creation. Hence, they deny Allah’s direction altogether.
- In reality, denying direction leads to denying Allah’s existence altogether, because we cannot conceive of any existent being that is neither above nor below, neither to the right nor to the left, neither before nor behind, neither connected nor separate. To describe Allah in this way is closer to describing non-existence.
- The claim that affirming direction implies corporeality is false. This objection only arises if one claims similarity between the Creator and creation. But Ahl al-Sunnah affirm Allah’s attributes without likening them to creation and without delving into modality (kayfiyyah).
- If by “body” one means something composed of parts that cannot exist independently without those parts, then Ahl al-Sunnah do not affirm this for Allah. Allah is One, Unique, Self-Sufficient, and unlike His creation.
- Thus, whoever argues that affirming Allah’s elevation (ʿulūw) over the Throne necessitates corporeality has made a false claim and has, in fact, mistrusted the way of the Salaf al-Ṣāliḥīn, who unanimously affirmed that Allah is above the Throne.
Conclusion:The creed of Ahl al-Sunnah is that Allah is above the Throne in a manner befitting His perfection, without likening Him to creation and without denying His attributes. Denying Allah’s elevation is more dangerous, for it leads to describing Him with non-existence.
