al-Qayyum (The Self-Sustaining), he said: “Because the Self-Sustaining acts as He wills, moves when He wills, descends and ascends when He wills, contracts and expands, and stands and sits when He wills.”

14. ‘Ali ibn ‘Umar al-Daraqutni (d. 385 AH) (may Allah have mercy upon him) said in his poem:

“Do not deny that He is sitting,

Nor deny that He seats him [the Prophet].”

[The chain of transmission (isnad) for this poem is authentic from al-Daraqutni, as will be seen under No. 56].

15. Abu Isma‘il al-Harawi (d. 481 AH) (may Allah have mercy upon him) said in his Persian-language exegesis (Tafsir):

“Istiwa’ in the Arabic language conveys the meaning of: ‘settling’ (al-istiqrar)... and the meaning of ‘sitting’ (al-julus), such as the Prophet (peace be upon him) being settled (astawa) upon the pulpit in a linguistic sense. It also conveys the meaning of ‘ascending to,’ as in: {Then He turned (astawa) to the heaven} [Al-Baqarah: 29]. Istiwa’ [there] means: He turned towards and ascended. As for istiwa’ in the sense of ‘seizure’ (al-istila’), this is disbelief (kufr) and misguidance.”

16 and 17. Abu al-Qasim Isma‘il ibn Muhammad al-Taymi (d. 535 AH) and Abu Musa al-Madini (d. 581 AH) (may Allah have mercy upon both of them).

Abu Musa said: “I once asked Isma‘il: ‘Has it not been narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) regarding the word {He rose (astawa)} that he said: “He sat (qa‘ada)”?’ He replied: ‘Yes.’” [Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’ (20/87)].

18. Abu ‘Abdullah ibn Hamid al-Hanbali (d. 403 AH) (may Allah have mercy upon him).

[See: al-Riwayatayn wa-al-Wajhayn: Masa’il min Usul al-Diyanat by Abu Ya‘la (p. 52)].