30. On how Allah Sat Himself on His Throne: Kitāb al-Tawḥīd (The Book on Monotheism) by Abū Bakr b. Khuzaymah

 Allah does as He wishes. He sat Himself on His throne. He is above everything. He is Graceful as He Himself has told us in His saying: “The Most Gracious is firmly established on the throne” (Q 20:05). He has also said: “Your Guardian-Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and is firmly established on the throne” (Q 6:53). On another occasion, He has said: “It is Allah Who has created the heavens and the earth, and all between them, in six days, and is firmly established on the throne” (Q 32:04). Allāh the Graceful said: “He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six days - and His throne was over the waters” (Q 11:07).

We believe in what Allāh has informed us. He stated that He has a throne upon which He sits firm. We do not dare to change Allāh’s words. We do not hold anything that is not revealed to us by Allah after the fashion of Muᶜaṭṭilah Jahmīs. They say God hold command over (ᵓistawlāᵓ) on His throne rather than saying He sat firm (istawā). They have changed the words of Allah. They state something that they were not asked to utter. They follow the Jews who were asked to say “ḥiṭṭatun” and instead they uttered, “ḥinṭatun”. Thus, they defied Allāh’s command. So do these Jahmīs.

144. (1) Aḥmad b. Baṣr → al-Dashtakī ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. ᶜAbd Allāh al-Rāzī → ᶜAmmar b. Abī Qays → Sammāk b. Ḥarb → ᶜAbd Allāh Ibn ᶜUmayrah → al-Aḥnaf b. Qays → al-ᶜAbbās b. ᶜAbd al-Muṭṭalib:

I was sitting among a group in al-Baṭḥāᵓ. The Prophet too was sitting among the party. A cloud appeared above the people. He they looked towards it. The Prophet said: “Do you know what it is called?” They answered: “Yes. These are clouds (saḥāb).” The Prophet said: “And al-muzm (clouds and rain)?” They answered: “Yes. And al-muzn also.” The Prophet said: “And also al-ᶜinān?” Then he said: “Do you know how far the earth from the heavens is?” They said: “By Allah, we do not know.” He said: “These two are distanced by either one, or two or seventy-three years and similar is the distance between the first and the second heaven. This way the Prophet mentioned all the seven heavens. Then he said: “Over the seventh heaven there is a sea as thick as the distance between a heaven and another. Then above that sea are the eight angels. Or he said: “The distance between their feet and knees is equal to the distance between a heaven and the next. On their back is the throne of Allah. It is as high as a heaven is separated from another. Allah is above that.”

This narrative has been reported by Al-Walīd b. Abī Thawr from Sammāk form ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜUmayrah from al-Aḥnaf Ibn Qays from ᶜAbbās b. ᶜAbd al-Muṭṭalib. The last mentioned (ᶜAbbās b. ᶜAbd al-Muṭṭalib) said: “We were sitting with the Prophet in al-Baṭḥāᵓ.” Then he reported the above mentioned ḥadīth However, he changed the wording in the following part: “Above the seventh heaven there is a sea as deep as two heavens are separated from each other. And above the sea there are the eight angels.”

145. (2) The same ḥadīth has been reported by Ibād b. Yaᶜqūb who is relatively reliable in his reports, but his views are not generally accepted. He stated that al-Walīd b. Abī Thawr narrated this ḥadīth to him.

Abū Bakr said: This ḥadīth proves that the water mentioned by Allah in His book on which His throne is placed is the same sea described by the Prophet in this report. And he (the Prophet mentioned its depth. The words in the relevant verse: kāna ᶜarshuhū ᶜalā al-māᵓ, that is, His throne is over the water. The verb kāna in this statement gives the same meaning as in kāna allāhu ḥakīman meaning “Allah is wise”. It cannot be interpreted to mean Allah was wise.

146. (3) Salm b. Junādah → Abū Muᶜāwiyah → al-Aᶜmash → al-Minhāl (Ibn ᶜAmr → Saᶜīd b. Jubayr → Ibn ᶜAbbās:

A person came to him and said: “Have you noticed Allāh’s saying (wa kāna allāhu, Allah was?) Ibn ᶜAbbās said: “It means, He always is.”

147. (4) Muhammad b. Bashshār → Wahb i.e. Ibn Jarīr → his father → Muhammad b. Ishāq → Yaᶜqūb → ᶜUtbah → Jubayr b. Muhammad b. Jubayr b. Muṭᶜim → his father’s uncle → his grandfather:

A Bedouin (iᶜrābī) came to Prophet and said: “Souls have been exhausted, children have been annihilated, assets have been spoilt, quadruples have been killed. Please pray to Allah for rain. We seek your intercession for us before Allah and we ask Allah to mediate for us before you.” The Prophet said: “Woe to you! Do you know what you say?” The Prophet started glorifying Allah and continued to do so until he noticed the expressions on the faces of his companions. Then he said: “Woe to you! Allah is not evoked to intercede before any of His created things. Allāh’s stature is beyond that. Do you know Allāh? Allāh is on His throne. His throne is over His heavens and His heavens are over the earth.” He said that while forming a dome with his hands. “It creaks with the [steps of Allah] like a loaded saddle.”

This narrative was related to Abū Mūsā while I was listening. I learn that Wahb too reported this ḥadīth with the same isnād.

Abū Bakr said: A ḥadīth reported by Falīḥ b. Sulaymān from Hilāl b. ᶜAlī from ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī ᶜAmarah from Abū Hurayrah states that the Prophet said: “When you ask Allah, ask of Firdaws (a name of Jannah). It is the central part of Paradise and the most elevated portion of it. Above it is the Throne of Allah, the merciful. It is from Firdaws that all the canals of Paradise spring.”

Abū Bakr said: I have included this (ḥadīth) in the section al-Jihād.

Abū Bakr said: The report clarifies that the Throne of the Lord is above His Paradise. We learn that He is seated over His throne. Therefore, Our Lord is sitting high on His throne which is over His Paradise.

148. (5) Baḥr b. Naṣr b. Sābiq al-Khawlānī → Asad (Ibn Mūsā) → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. al-Zanād → his father → al-Aᶜraj → Abū Hurayrah → the Messenger of Allah:

When Allāh decided to create, he wrote in His book which He keeps with Him on His throne that His blessing will dominate His wrath.

Abū Bakr said: I have mentioned all the isnāds involved in the report of this ḥadīth in another book also. These reports establish the claim that our Lord is over His throne where He has written that His mercy will dominate His anger.

149. (6) Aḥmad b. Sinān al-Wāsiṭī → Yazīd b Hārūn → Ḥammād (Ibn Salamah) → ᶜĀṣim → Zirr → ᶜAbd Allāh:

Each heaven is at five hundred years from the next one. The distance between the earth and the first heaven is five hundred years. Five hundred years separates the seventh heaven from the throne of Lord. The throne of Allah is situated at five hundred years from the water. The Throne is over the water. Allāh is on His throne. He knows what you do.

….. (7) Aḥmad b. Sinān → Yazīd b. Hārūn → Ḥammād → ᶜĀṣim → al-Musayyib b. Rāfiᶜ → Wāᵓil b. Rabīᶜah → ᶜAbd Allāh:

The distance between every two heavens is five hundred years.

150. (8) Baḥr b. Naṣr b. Sābiq al-Khawlānī → Asad → Ḥammād b. Salamah → ᶜĀṣim b. Bahadlah → Zirr b. Ḥubaysh → Ibn Masᶜūd:

The nearest heaven (to the earth) and the next one are separated by five hundred years. Every two heavens are separated by five hundred years. The distance between the seventh heaven and the Throne is five hundred years. The Throne is over this last heaven. Allāh, the graceful is on the Throne. He knows what you intend to do.

Isrāᵓīl has narrated from Abū Isḥāq who narrated from ᶜAbd Allāh (son of a Caliph) (I believe it is ᶜUmar) that a woman came to the Prophet and said: “Ask Allāh to admit me in the Heaven. He sang Allāh’s praises and said:

His throne extends over the heavens and the earth. It creaks with the [steps of Allah] like a loaded saddle.

151. (9) Yaᶜqūb b. Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī → Yaḥyā b. Abī Bukayr → Isrāᵓīl:

Abū Bakr said: I am unable to solve the doubt about the last narrator. I believe it is ᶜUmar. The complete chain would then include Yaḥyā b. Abī Bukayr or Isrāᵓīl. Wakīᶜ b. al-Jarrāḥ too has reported from Isrāᵓīl b. Abī Isḥāq from ᶜAbd Allāh son of a Caliph. Which caliph? I am not sure. He has reported it in mursal form. He does not name ᶜUmar with certainty nor even doubtfully. This report is not of the kind of report which we evoke as evidence. It is not directly traced back to the Prophet without a break. We do not, as a principle, evoke mursal narratives, and also such as are transmitted by a broken chain of narrators to establish this kind of knowledge which requires certainty.

152. (10) Salm b. Junādah → Wakīᶜ → Ibn Khuzaymah → Bishr b. Khālid al-ᶜAskarī → Abū Usāmah → Zakariyyah b. Abī Zāᵓidah → Abū Ishḥāq → Saᶜd b. MuᶜAbbad → Asmāᵓ b. ᶜAmīs:

I was with Jaᶜfar in Abyssinia. I saw a woman carrying a basket full of flour on her head. She passed by an Abyssinian man. He hit it and the air swept away the flour. She said: “I refer your affair to the King Lord who will hold His chair of justice one day. He will extract from the cruel the rights of the suppressed ones.

153. (11) Abū Mūsā → ᶜAffān b. Muslim → Hamām → Zayd b. Aslam → ᶜAtāᵓ b. Yasār → ‘Ibādah b. al-Ṣāmit → the Prophet:

Paradise has a hundred stations. Each station is separated by a distance equal to that of separating earth and the first heaven. Above Paradise is the Throne. And Firdaws is the topmost station of Paradise. It is from this station that the four canals of Paradise spring. Therefore, beg Firdaws from Allah.

I have included the ḥadīths on this topic in the section entitled “On Bounties of Paradise.”

154. (12) Bundār Muhammad b. Bashshār → Abū ‘Āsḥim → Sufyān → ᶜAmmār (al-Dahnī) → Muslim → al-Baṭīn → Saᶜīd b. Jubayr → Ibn ᶜAbbās:

The throne is but the place upon which His two feet will be set. No one can assess the throne.

155. (13) Bundār → Aḥmad → Sufyān → ᶜAmmār → Muslim al-Batḥīn → Saᶜīd b. Jubayr → Ibn ᶜAbbās:

The throne is but the place upon which His two feet will are set.

156. (14) Muslim b. Junādah → Wakīᶜ → Sufyān → ᶜAmmār al-Dahnī → Muslim al-Baṭīn → Saᶜīd b. Jubayr → Ibn ᶜAbbās:

The throne is but the place upon which His two feet are set. The throne, however, cannot be estimated.

157. (15) Muhammad b. al-ᶜAlāᵓ (Abū Kurayb) →Abū Usāmah → Hāshim i.e. Ibn ᶜUrwah → his father:

I met ᶜAbd al-Malik and mentioned the holy rock, which is placed in Sacred House, (bayt al-muqaddas in Jerusalem). ᶜAbd al-Malik said: “This is the Rock of the Benevolent, upon which He set His foot.” I said: “Glory to Allah. Allāh, the graceful says: “His throne extends over the heavens and the earth” (Q 2:255). Whereas you say that He put His foot upon this rock. Glory be to Allāh, did He really set His foot at it? This is the mountain about which Allāh told us that He will uproot and scatter it as dust and will leave it as leveled and smooth plain.”

Abū Bakr said: Someone among the seekers of knowledge may think that the report of al-ᶜAbbās b. ᶜAbd al-Muṭṭalib from the Prophet about the distance between a heaven and the next heaven contradicts the report of Ibn Masᶜūd on this issue. This is not the case. For it is certain that the distances are different on different measures and with the perspective of the travelers. Four-footed animals including horses, camels, mules, donkeys, and dromedary can travel different distances in a single unit of time. Similarly different human beings walk in different speeds. Therefore, it may be the case that the Prophet meant to refer to the walking speed of fast horse riders. Ibn Masᶜūd might have meant to refer to a walking human being or one riding a mule, a donkey, a camel, or a slow horse.

Therefore, neither of these two ḥadīths contradicts the other. Our stance is that, in all the [religious] disciplines, any two [apparently different] reports can be reconciled, and once reconciled, cannot be declared mutually contradicting. We have explained this in other works by us.

158. (16) ᶜAlī b. Ḥijr al-Saᶜdī → Sharīk → ᶜAbadah b. ᶜAbd Allāh al-Khuzāᶜī → Yaḥyā b. Ādam → Sharīk → Sammāk → ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜUmayrah → al-Ahḥnaf b. Qays:

ᶜAbbās b. ᶜAbd al-Muṭṭalib explained the divine words “and eight will, that Day, bear the Throne of your Lord above them” (Q 69:17) by “angels in shape of he-goats”.

The report of ᶜAli b. Ḥijr concludes here. ᶜAbdah, however, has added in his report the following words: “Length of their hooves (from their knees) equals a distance of sixty-three years.” Sharīk once said: “and their wings touch the throne.”

Sufyān →Abū Zanād → al-Aᶜraj → Abū Hurayrah → the Prophet:

Allāh said: “My mercy dominates over my wrath.” And the Prophet said: “Allāh’s right Hand is generous; constant spending day and night does not lessen what it contains.”

159. (17) Muhḥḥammad b. Yaḥyā → Muᶜāwiyah b. ᶜAmr → Zāᵓidah → al-Aᶜmash → Abū Sāliḥ → Abū Hurayrah → the Prophet:

Adam and Moses entered an argument and Moses said: “O Adam! Allāh created you with His own hand, and breathed into you, His spirit. You betrayed mankind and sent them out of paradise?” Adam said: “You, O Moses, are the one whom Allāh chose to speak to. You blame me of a deed Allāh decreed for me before the creation of the heavens and the earth.” And they argued on.

160. (18) Muhammad b. ᶜAqabah → Abū Bakr b. Abī Shaybah → Wakīᶜ → al-Aᶜmash → Abū Ṣāliḥ → Abū Saᶜīd:

Adam and Moses argued …..

Abū Bakr said: Al-ᶜAmash has directly heard the report of Abū Ṣāliḥ from Abū Hurayrah. He has not committed tadlīs. The report of Abū Saᶜīd with the given isnād is sound (ṣaḥīḥ). There is no doubt in that report. However, the report of Abū Saᶜīd with the other isnād which does not include Abū Hurayrah as authority admits of doubt.

161. (19) Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → ᶜUmar b. Ḥafṣ b. ᶜIyāth → his father → al-Aᶜmash → Abū Ṣāliḥ → Abū Hurayrah (perhaps he also included Abū Saᶜīd al-Khudrī) → the Prophet:

Adam and Moses argued.

Then he repeated the same ḥadīth.