“Between the Kursī and the water is the distance of 500 years, and the Throne is above the water, and Allāh is above the Throne…” The Belief of Ahlus-Sunnah in the Names and Attributes

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“Between the Kursī and the water is the distance of 500 years, and the Throne is above the water, and Allāh is above the Throne…” The Belief of Ahlus-Sunnah in the Names and Attributes.

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid

All praise is due to Allāh, Lord of the worlds. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon his Messenger, his family, his Companions and all who truly follow him.

Our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, is as He has described Himself without likeness to His creation:

  لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ ۖ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ 

“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.” (Ash-Shūrā 42:11)

He is the Most High above the seven heavens over His Throne. Ibn Jarīr At-Tabarī reports in his Tafsīr (22/120) with his chain of narration to the Companion Ibn Mas’ūd (Allah be pleased with him) who said:

“When I narrate to you a hadīth I will bring to you its truthfulness from the Book of Allāh. The Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “When a person says: subhānallāh wabi hamdihi, alhamdulillāh, lā ilāha illallāh, wallāhu akbar tabārakallāh – an angel takes these words and places them under his wing, then he ascends with them into the sky. The angel does not pass any of the gatherings of the angels [during his ascent] except that those angels seek forgiveness for the one who uttered those words until he greets (or comes to) the Face of the Most Merciful with them.”

Then Abdullāh Ibn Mas’ūd recited:

إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّبُ وَالْعَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ يَرْفَعُهُ

“To Him ascends good speech, and righteous deeds exalt the good speech.” (Fātir: 10)

Al-Mundhirī cited this very same wording in At-Targhīb wat-Tarhīb (2/432-433, hadīth no. 36). He said: “It was reported by Al-Hākim who said: ‘It has an authentic chain of narration.’

So this narration affirms the Face of Allāh as well as the fact that Allāh is above, as stated by Abu Ismā`īl Al-Harawee (d. 481H) in his Kitāb Al-Arba’īn Fī Dalā’ilit-Tawhīd (no. 17).

Imam Abu Ja’far At-Tahāwī (d. 321H) stated in his ‘Aqīdah, “And He (Allāh) has no need of the Throne or whatever is beneath it. He encompasses everything and He is above it (وفوقه). And He has made His creation incapable of encompassing.” (Nos. 50-51) 

Ibn ‘Uthaimīn said, “There appears in some books of the people of theological speculation (Ahlul-kalām) where they say: ‘It is not allowed to describe Allāh with being in a particular direction at all.’ They reject the highness of Allāh and that He is above, thinking that affirming this direction for Allāh necessitates placing limits upon Him. But this is not the case because we know that above the Throne there is nothing from the creation, there is none over it except Allāh, and there is absolutely nothing of His creation that encompasses or confines Him. So we say: Allāh is in the direction of above because Allāh’s Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said to the slave girl, ‘Where is Allāh?’  The term ‘where’ is seeking to know the place. So she replied: ‘Above the sky.’ So she affirmed that Allāh is above, and the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) confirmed that and said: ‘Free her, for she is a believer.’ (Sahīh Muslim no. 33)

So the direction affirmed for Allāh is not lowly – and Highness for Allāh is affirmed by the Fitrah (innate nature), sound intellect and the revealed text. The affirmation of direction for Allāh is not encompassment of Him because of the fact that His Footstool (Al-Kursī) extends over the Heavens and Earth, and it is the place of His two Feet, so how can anything from His creations confine him!? So He is in the direction of above without any confinement, and it is not permitted to say: ‘There is something that confines Him or encompasses Him.’ We say: There is over the ‘Arsh (the Throne) nothing besides Allāh, the Most Perfect, free of all imperfections.” (See Majmū’ Fatāwā war-Rasā’il Al-‘Uthaimīn 10/1131)

To prove this point, we have a narration wherein Allāh’s Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “When Allāh completed the creation, He wrote in His Book that is with Him above the Throne (فوق العرش): ‘My mercy has prevailed over My anger’.” (Muslim no. 2751, Bukhārī no. 7404)

So the Sunni believes with certainty that Allāh (the Most High) is over His Throne. Furthermore, the Throne is above water, which is above the Footstool, which is above the seven heavens, which are above this earth. Ibn Mas’ūd (Allah be pleased with him) narrated from Allāh’s Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam):

“The distance between the sky of this world and the next heaven is five hundred years, and between every heaven and the next is five hundred years. And between the seventh heaven and the Footstool (Kursī) is a distance of five hundred years, and between the Kursī and water, there is a distance of five hundred years. And the Throne (‘Arsh) is above the water, and Allāh is above the Throne— nothing is hidden to Him of your deeds.” This hadīth is reported by Ibn Mahdī (d. 198H) from Hammād Ibn Salamah (d. 167H) from ‘Āsim (d. 127H) from Zirr (d. 127H) from ‘Abdullāh, and narration is ascribed to the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam).

It was collected by Ibn Khuzaimah in At-Tawhīd (139-140), Ad-Dārimī in Ar-Radd ‘Alal-Jahmiyyah (no. 81), and in his Ar-Radd ‘Alal-Mirīsī (no. 98), At-Tabrānī in Al-Kabīr (9/202), Abush-Shaikh in Al-‘Udhmah (no. 279), Adh-Dhahabī in Al-Uluww (1/417, 616), Al-Bayhaqī in Al-Asmā was-Sifāt (no. 851). Adh-Dhahabī stated, “Its chain of narration is authentic.” (Al-‘Uluww no. 177). Ibn Al-Qayyim declared it authentic in Ijtimā’ Al-Juyūsh Al-Islāmiyyah (p.254). Al-Haythamī likewise in Al-Majma’ (1/86). Al-Albānī likewise ruled it to be authentic in Mukhtasar Al-‘Uluww (no. 104).

Imām Mālik (d. 179H) said, “Allāh is above the Heavens and His Knowledge is in every place. Ahlus-Sunnah agree by ijmā’ that the meaning of Allāh’s saying, ‘He is with you wherever you are,’ refers to His Knowledge and Allāh Himself (bi-Dhātihi) is above the Heavens.” (Al-Fatāwā 3/219, Ijtimā’ Al-Juyūsh 76)

Shaikhul-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728H) said, “Allāh, the Most High, said:

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ يَعْلَمُ مَا يَلِجُ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَمَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا وَمَا يَنْزِلُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا يَعْرُجُ فِيهَا وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ 

‘It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days and then ascended over the Throne. He knows what goes into the earth and what comes forth from it, what descends from the heaven and what ascends thereto. And He is with you wheresoever you may be.’ (Al-Hadīd: 4) So Allāh, the Most Perfect, has stated that alongside His Highness over His Throne, He knows everything. So His Highness does not prevent Him from having knowledge of all the affairs…” (See Majmū’ Al-Fatāwā 5/498-499)

Allāh, the Most High, said:

وَسِعَ رَبِّي كُلَّ شَيْءٍ عِلْما ۗ

“My Lord comprehends in His Knowledge all things.” (Al-An’ām: 80)

الرَّحْمَٰنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَىٰ

“The Most Merciful ascended over the Throne.” (Taha: 5)

وَهُوَ الْقَاهِرُ فَوْقَ عِبَادِهِ

“And He is the Irresistible above His slaves…” (Al-An’ām: 18, 61)

إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّبُ

“To Him ascend all the goodly words.” (Fātir: 10)

إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ

“O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself…” (Āli ‘Imrān: 55)

تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ

“The angels and the Ruh [Jibreel] ascend to Him…” (Al-Ma’ārij: 4)

يَخَافُونَ رَبَّهُم مِّن فَوْقِهِمْ

“They fear their Lord above them.” (An-Nahl: 50)

All of these verses establish that Allāh is High above in His Dhāt (Self). Abdullāh Ibn Al-Mubārak (d. 181H) said: “We know our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, is above the Seven Heavens, over His Throne, separate (bā’in) from the creation. We do not say as the Jahmiyyah say, that He is here – and then Ibn Al-Mubārak pointed to the earth.”

Allāh (the Mighty and Majestic) stated,

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ ۖ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ

“And indeed We have created man, and We know what his ownself whispers to him. And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein [in knowing him].” (Qāf: 16) And this is in complete agreement with the saying of the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) in the hadīth of Ibn Mas’ūd (Allah be pleased with him), “Allāh is above the Throne— nothing is hidden from Him of your deeds.”

Though He is the Most High, nothing is hidden from Him. From these narrations, we see that the Throne of Allāh is an immense creation. The Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “The Seven Heavens as compared to the Footstool are nothing except like a ring thrown out into an open desert. And the greatness of the Throne over the Footstool is like that desert over that ring.” (Authenticated by Al-Albānī in As-Silsilatus-Sahīhah 1/174)

The Throne of Allāh is above the heavens, and Allāh is above the Throne just as the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) stated, “Paradise is one hundred levels. Between each level is the distance like that between the heaven and earth, and Firdaws is the highest level, and is at it’s most middle. Above it is the Throne (‘Arsh) of the Most Merciful and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise. So when you ask of Allāh (the Mighty and Majestic), ask Him for Firdaws.” (At-Tirmidhī no. 2531, 1530)

Allāh ascended over His Throne just as He (the Most High) has stated in a manner that befits His Majesty without saying “how” and without resemblance to the creation.

As for the Kursī (Footstool), the Companion Ibn ‘Ābbās (Allah be pleased with him) said, “Indeed the Kursī (Footstool) is the place of the two Feet [of Allāh], and no one can estimate the greatness of the Throne with its true estimation.” Reported by Ibn Khuzaimah in At-Tawhīd, p. 107-118; Al-Hākim in Al-Mustadrak: At-Tafseer 2/282, and he said: “This hadīth is sahīh upon the conditions of Bukhārī and Muslim, though it was not reported by them.” Adh-Dhahabī agreed, and Al-Albānī authenticated it in Mukhtasar Al-‘Uluww, p.102. The wording is from Wakī’, and it has been reported from Abu Mūsā, Abu Hurairah, ‘Ikrimah and Abu Mālik.

This narration establishes the belief in the Attribute of the two Feet of Allāh in a manner that befits His Majesty without resemblance. Ibn ‘Uthaimīn (Allah’s mercy be upon him) stated: “Though this is a statement of Ibn ‘Abbās, it is nevertheless ascribed to the Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam), because this is an affair where ijtihād (deduction) has no place.”

End.