21/a - Ḥarb said: Isḥāq dictated to me: God has described Himself in His Book [11/a] with attributes that make it unnecessary for the creation to describe Him with anything other than what He described Himself with; among that is His statement: {except that God should come to them in shadows of clouds} [al-Baqara: 210],
and His statement: {And you will see the angels surrounding the Throne} [al-Zumar: 75], among verses all of which describe the Throne.
The narrations regarding the Throne have been established, and the highest and most established thing regarding it is the statement of God Almighty: {The Most Merciful rose over the Throne} [Ṭā Hā: 5] (1).
Notes
- (1) Narrated by Ḥarb in the book al-Sunna (347), Ibn Baṭṭa in al-Ibāna al-Kubrā (2678), and al-Harawī in Dhamm al-Kalām (1208), through the author's route. It is authentic from Isḥāq, may Allah have mercy on him, as preceded in the statement of Ibn Taymiyya, may Allah have mercy on him. I say: The Jahmiyya have denied the Throne of the Most Merciful, the Exalted, and said: The Throne in His statement, the Exalted: {The Most Merciful is established over the Throne} has seven meanings according to us, and it is not known which of them is intended. Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, answered this specious argument in al-Ṣawāʿiq al-Mursala (1/194), saying: And similar to this is the statement of the obfuscating Jahmī: If the anthropomorphist (mushabbih) says to you: {The Most Merciful is established over the Throne}, then say to him: The Throne has seven meanings according to us, and establishment (istiwāʾ) has five meanings, so which of those is intended? Then the anthropomorphist will be bewildered and will not know what to say, and that will spare you his burden. So it is said to this ignorant, unjust, tempting, and tempted one: Woe to you! What is the sin of the monotheist whom you and your companions have called an anthropomorphist, when he has said to you the exact same thing that God said? By God, even if he were an anthropomorphist as you claim, he would be closer to God and His Messenger than you; because he did not overstep the textual evidence. As for your statement: The Throne has seven meanings or the like... it is obfuscation from you, deception of the ignorant, and an apparent lie. For there is only one meaning for the Throne of the Most Merciful over which He is established,
