Sixth Section: The Statements of the Successors (Tabi‘un) and the Scholars who Followed Them (may Allah have mercy upon them) regarding the Affirmation of Sitting (al-Julus) and Seating (al-Qu‘ud) for Allah the Exalted.

1 and 2. Al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110 AH) and ‘Ikrimah (d. 106 AH) (may Allah have mercy upon them both) said concerning the statement of Allah the Exalted: {The Most Merciful rose over the Throne} [Ta-Ha: 5]: “[He is] sitting.” [This will be mentioned under No. 48].

3 and 4. Muhammad ibn Ka‘b (d. 108 AH) narrated to ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (may Allah have mercy upon them both), saying: “When Allah is finished with the people of Paradise and the Fire, He shall approach in shadows of clouds and the angels...” until he said: “...until He settles [i.e., the Lord, Mighty and Majestic] in His seat (majlis).”

In another wording: “...until He reaches His seat.”

He mentioned this during the exegesis of the statement of Allah the Exalted: {“Peace,” a word from a Merciful Lord} [Ya-Sin: 58].

[Recorded by Ibn Jarir (23/21-22) with his chain of narration via the path of the Tafsir of Ibn Wahb, and others with a good (jayyid) chain of narration. It has a corroborating report (shahid) from the hadith of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) recorded by Ibn Mardawayh in the exegesis of Surah al-Baqarah, verse 210, regarding the statement of the Exalted: {Do they then wait for anything other than that Allah should come to them in shadows of clouds}].

Al-Qadi Abu Ya‘la stated in Ibtal al-Ta’wilat (2/471): “It was said: This is an error; because the report we narrated is not restricted (mawquf) to Muhammad ibn Ka‘b; rather, he narrated it from ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, who is among the prominent Successors and their scholars...”