and came to Bayt al-Maqdis that same night, then he was ascended with to the heaven, until he drew near to his Lord, and was at a distance of two bow-lengths or nearer. End quote.
8- Abū al-Ḥasan al-Karajī al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his book Al-Fuṣūl fī al-Uṣūl ʿan al-Aʾimma al-Fuḥūl, when listing the hadiths of the attributes that Ahl al-Sunna believe in: And in the hadith of the Ascension in the Sahih (Authentic): "...then the Compeller, the Lord of Might, drew near and came down, until He was at a distance of two bow-lengths or nearer from him." End quote. Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (4/184).
9- Maʿmar b. Aḥmad al-Aṣfahānī, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his creed in which he related the consensus of Ahl al-Sunna: ...And that the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, was ascended with in his soul and body... and was at a distance of two bow-lengths or nearer... etc. [Al-Jāmiʿ fī ʿAqāʾid Ahl al-Sunna wa-al-Athar (54/ The Creed of Maʿmar), paragraph (31) of my editing].
10- Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said while speaking about the necessary consequences of opposing revelation with intellects and opinions: And among its necessary consequences—rather, they explicitly stated it—is that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, was not truly ascended with to God, nor did he draw near to his Lord until he was at a distance of two bow-lengths or nearer from Him, nor was he raised from Moses to his Lord repeatedly to ask for a reduction [in prayers] for his nation, because "from" and "to" are impossible in their view regarding God Almighty, as they necessitate a location of beginning and end. End quote. Mukhtaṣar al-Ṣawāʿiq (2/466).
And he said in Al-Nūniyya (1/194): And to Him the Messenger ascended, so it was estimated / From his nearness to his Lord as two bow-lengths.
And he also said (2/446): And to Him the Messenger truly ascended / Do not deny the Ascension with falsehood / And he drew near to the Compeller, may His majesty be glorified / And the Lord, Possessor of Excellence, drew near to him.
Some scholars have rejected this wording in this hadith due to its contradiction with what is established as Marfu' and Mawquf in the exegesis of the Almighty's statement in Sūrat al-Najm: {And he certainly saw him in another descent} [al-Najm: 13], for the intended meaning by it is Gabriel, peace be upon him, as Ibn al-Qayyim clarified. He said in his critique of al-Harawī regarding his inference from this verse: It is as if he understood from the verse that the one who drew near and came down, and was at a distance of two bow-lengths or nearer from Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, is God Almighty and Majestic. And although a group of exegetes have said this,
