Source: Excerpt taken from the book Where Is Allah? by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
إن الله عز وجل استوى على عرشه بلا كيف ولا تشبيه ولا تأويل، فالاستواه معقول، والكيف فيه مجهول، والإيمان به واجب، والإنكار له كفر… وأنه جل جلاله بائن من خلقه والخلق باتنون منه، فلا حلول ولا ممازجة ولا اختلاط ولا ملاصقة، لأنه الفرد البائن من خلقه، والواحد الغني عن الخلق، علمه بكل مكان، ولا يخلو من علمه مكان.
Translation:
“Indeed, Allah Almighty rose over His Throne without (asking) how, without resemblance, and without (unwarranted) interpretation. Istiwāʾ is known in meaning, but its manner is unknown. Belief in it is obligatory, and denial of it is disbelief. Allah, Glorified be He, is distinct and separate from His creation, and creation is separate from Him. There is no indwelling, mixing, intermingling, or physical contact, because He is the One, distinct from His creation, the One free of need from creation. His knowledge encompasses every place, and no place is devoid of His knowledge.”
مسلم من أول العصر إلى عصرنا هذا إذا دعا الله سبحانه رفع يديه إلى السماء، والمسلمون من عهد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إلى يومنا هذا، يقولون في الصلاة ما أمرهم الله به تعالى به فى قوله تعالى: (سبح اسم ربك الأعلى)…
Translation:
“From the earliest era of Islam until our time, whenever a Muslim supplicates to Allah Almighty, he raises his hands toward the sky. From the blessed era of the Prophet ﷺ until today, Muslims say in their prayers what Allah commanded in His saying:
﴿سَبِّحِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ الْأَعْلَى﴾
Allah has no need of the Throne, but the believers were in need of knowing their Lord, Mighty and Majestic. Every worshipper points to a place or mentions a sign of his deity. Thus, our Compeller and Creator created the Throne so that when a believing servant is asked: Where is the Most Merciful? he may reply: He rose over the Throne.
Its meaning is that Allah is above every created thing, over His Great Throne. There is no description of its manner, nor any resemblance.”
أجمع أهل السنة على أن الله تعالىٰ استوى على العرش على حقيقته، لا على المجاز.
Translation:
“The people of Sunnah are unanimously agreed that Allah Almighty rose over the Throne in a real and literal sense, not metaphorically.”
أجمع المسلمون من أهل السنة على أنه معنى قوله: (وهو معكم أين ما كنتم)… أنه علمه، وأن الله تعالى فوق السماوات بالذات مستو على عرشه كيف شاء.
Translation:
“The Muslims of Ahl al-Sunnah are unanimously agreed that the meaning of Allah’s saying:
﴿وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ﴾
[Al-Ḥadīd: 4]
is His knowledge. Allah Almighty, by His Essence, is above the heavens, established over His Throne in a manner befitting Him.”
لا نقول كما قال الجهمية: إنه داخل للأمكنة… بل هو بذاته على العرش، وعلمه محيط بكل شيء…
Translation:
“We do not say as the Jahmiyyah say: that Allah is within places, mixed with everything, and that we do not know where He is. Rather, Allah is, by His Essence, over the Throne, and His knowledge encompasses everything. His knowledge, hearing, sight, and power encompass all things. This is the meaning of His saying:
﴿وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ﴾
Allah is, by His Essence, over His Throne, just as Allah Himself and His Messenger ﷺ have stated.”
أئمتنا كسفيان، ومالك، والحمادين… متفقون على أن الله سبحانه فوق العرش وعلمه بكل مكان…
Translation:
“Our Imams—such as Sufyān (al-Thawrī), Mālik, the two Ḥammāds (bin Salamah and bin Zayd), Ibn ʿUyaynah, al-Fuḍayl (bin ʿIyāḍ), Ibn al-Mubārak, Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, and Isḥāq (bin Rāhawayh)—are unanimously agreed that Allah Almighty is above the Throne, and His knowledge is in every place. He descends to the lowest heaven, He becomes angry and pleased, and He speaks as He wills.”
علماء الأمة وأعيان الأئمة من السلف… لم يختلفوا في أن الله تعالى على عرشه…
Translation:
“The scholars of the Ummah and the eminent Imams of the Salaf have not differed that Allah Almighty is over His Throne, and His Throne is above His heavens. They affirm for Allah what Allah has affirmed for Himself, believe in it, and affirm what Allah has informed about Himself. They leave unrestricted what Allah left unrestricted—namely His rising over the Throne—maintaining it upon its apparent meaning and entrusting its reality to Allah.”
After mentioning the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه regarding Divine Descent, he writes:
فيه دليل على أن الله عز وجل في السماء على العرش من فوق سبع سماوات…
Translation:
“This ḥadīth is evidence that Allah Almighty is above the seven heavens, over the Throne, as held by the Jamāʿah (Ahl al-Sunnah). This is their proof against the Muʿtazilah and the Jahmiyyah, who say that Allah is everywhere and not specifically over the Throne.”
He further states:
لم يزل المسلمون في كل زمان… يرفعون وجوههم وأيديهم إلى السماء…
Translation:
“Throughout every era, whenever Muslims were distressed by an affair or troubled by hardship, they would raise their faces and hands toward the heavens, turning to Allah Almighty in hope that He would remove their affliction.”
The Fifth-Century Imams and the Belief of Istiwāʾ
① Statement of ʿAllāmah Maʿmar bin Aḥmad bin Ziyād al-Aṣbahānī رحمه الله (d. 418 AH)
إن الله عز وجل استوى على عرشه بلا كيف ولا تشبيه ولا تأويل، فالاستواه معقول، والكيف فيه مجهول، والإيمان به واجب، والإنكار له كفر… وأنه جل جلاله بائن من خلقه والخلق باتنون منه، فلا حلول ولا ممازجة ولا اختلاط ولا ملاصقة، لأنه الفرد البائن من خلقه، والواحد الغني عن الخلق، علمه بكل مكان، ولا يخلو من علمه مكان.
Translation:
“Indeed, Allah Almighty rose over His Throne without (asking) how, without resemblance, and without (unwarranted) interpretation. Istiwāʾ is known in meaning, but its manner is unknown. Belief in it is obligatory, and denial of it is disbelief. Allah, Glorified be He, is distinct and separate from His creation, and creation is separate from Him. There is no indwelling, mixing, intermingling, or physical contact, because He is the One, distinct from His creation, the One free of need from creation. His knowledge encompasses every place, and no place is devoid of His knowledge.”
Reference: Al-Ḥujjah fī Bayān al-Maḥajjah wa Sharḥ ʿAqīdat Ahl al-Sunnah: 1/248–249 (Sanad Ṣaḥīḥ)
② Statement of Imām Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā bin ʿAmmār al-Sijzī رحمه الله (d. 422 AH)
مسلم من أول العصر إلى عصرنا هذا إذا دعا الله سبحانه رفع يديه إلى السماء، والمسلمون من عهد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إلى يومنا هذا، يقولون في الصلاة ما أمرهم الله به تعالى به فى قوله تعالى: (سبح اسم ربك الأعلى)…
Translation:
“From the earliest era of Islam until our time, whenever a Muslim supplicates to Allah Almighty, he raises his hands toward the sky. From the blessed era of the Prophet ﷺ until today, Muslims say in their prayers what Allah commanded in His saying:
﴿سَبِّحِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ الْأَعْلَى﴾
Allah has no need of the Throne, but the believers were in need of knowing their Lord, Mighty and Majestic. Every worshipper points to a place or mentions a sign of his deity. Thus, our Compeller and Creator created the Throne so that when a believing servant is asked: Where is the Most Merciful? he may reply: He rose over the Throne.
Its meaning is that Allah is above every created thing, over His Great Throne. There is no description of its manner, nor any resemblance.”
Reference: Al-Ḥujjah fī Bayān al-Maḥajjah li al-Aṣbahānī: 2/108
③ Statement of Imām al-Kabīr, al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū ʿUmar al-Ṭalmanakī رحمه الله (d. 429 AH)
أجمع أهل السنة على أن الله تعالىٰ استوى على العرش على حقيقته، لا على المجاز.
Translation:
“The people of Sunnah are unanimously agreed that Allah Almighty rose over the Throne in a real and literal sense, not metaphorically.”
Reference: Ijtimāʿ al-Juyūsh al-Islāmiyyah by Ibn al-Qayyim: 2/142
④ His Statement in al-Wuṣūl ilā Maʿrifat al-Uṣūl
أجمع المسلمون من أهل السنة على أنه معنى قوله: (وهو معكم أين ما كنتم)… أنه علمه، وأن الله تعالى فوق السماوات بالذات مستو على عرشه كيف شاء.
Translation:
“The Muslims of Ahl al-Sunnah are unanimously agreed that the meaning of Allah’s saying:
﴿وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ﴾
[Al-Ḥadīd: 4]
is His knowledge. Allah Almighty, by His Essence, is above the heavens, established over His Throne in a manner befitting Him.”
Reference: Kitāb al-ʿUluww: p. 178
⑤ Statement of Imām Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā bin ʿAmmār al-Sijistānī رحمه الله (d. 442 AH)
لا نقول كما قال الجهمية: إنه داخل للأمكنة… بل هو بذاته على العرش، وعلمه محيط بكل شيء…
Translation:
“We do not say as the Jahmiyyah say: that Allah is within places, mixed with everything, and that we do not know where He is. Rather, Allah is, by His Essence, over the Throne, and His knowledge encompasses everything. His knowledge, hearing, sight, and power encompass all things. This is the meaning of His saying:
﴿وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ﴾
Allah is, by His Essence, over His Throne, just as Allah Himself and His Messenger ﷺ have stated.”
Reference: Kitāb al-ʿArsh by al-Dhahabī: 2/448
Reference: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā by Ibn Taymiyyah: 5/191
⑥ Statement of al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Naṣr ʿUbaydullāh bin Saʿīd al-Wāʾilī al-Sijzī رحمه الله (d. 444 AH)
أئمتنا كسفيان، ومالك، والحمادين… متفقون على أن الله سبحانه فوق العرش وعلمه بكل مكان…
Translation:
“Our Imams—such as Sufyān (al-Thawrī), Mālik, the two Ḥammāds (bin Salamah and bin Zayd), Ibn ʿUyaynah, al-Fuḍayl (bin ʿIyāḍ), Ibn al-Mubārak, Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, and Isḥāq (bin Rāhawayh)—are unanimously agreed that Allah Almighty is above the Throne, and His knowledge is in every place. He descends to the lowest heaven, He becomes angry and pleased, and He speaks as He wills.”
Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 17/658
Reference: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā: 5/190
⑦ Statement of Imām Abū ʿUthmān Ismāʿīl bin ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣābūnī رحمه الله (d. 449 AH)
علماء الأمة وأعيان الأئمة من السلف… لم يختلفوا في أن الله تعالى على عرشه…
Translation:
“The scholars of the Ummah and the eminent Imams of the Salaf have not differed that Allah Almighty is over His Throne, and His Throne is above His heavens. They affirm for Allah what Allah has affirmed for Himself, believe in it, and affirm what Allah has informed about Himself. They leave unrestricted what Allah left unrestricted—namely His rising over the Throne—maintaining it upon its apparent meaning and entrusting its reality to Allah.”
Reference: ʿAqīdat al-Salaf wa Aṣḥāb al-Ḥadīth: pp. 15–16
⑧ Statement of al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr رحمه الله (d. 463 AH)
After mentioning the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه regarding Divine Descent, he writes:
فيه دليل على أن الله عز وجل في السماء على العرش من فوق سبع سماوات…
Translation:
“This ḥadīth is evidence that Allah Almighty is above the seven heavens, over the Throne, as held by the Jamāʿah (Ahl al-Sunnah). This is their proof against the Muʿtazilah and the Jahmiyyah, who say that Allah is everywhere and not specifically over the Throne.”
Reference: Al-Tamhīd limā fī al-Muwaṭṭaʾ min al-Maʿānī wa al-Asānīd: 7/129
He further states:
لم يزل المسلمون في كل زمان… يرفعون وجوههم وأيديهم إلى السماء…
Translation:
“Throughout every era, whenever Muslims were distressed by an affair or troubled by hardship, they would raise their faces and hands toward the heavens, turning to Allah Almighty in hope that He would remove their affliction.”
Reference: Al-Tamhīd limā fī al-Muwaṭṭaʾ min al-Maʿānī wa al-Asānīd: 22/81
