22 - And Yūsuf informed us, Abū Manṣūr informed us, Abū al-Ḥasan informed us, Abū al-Qāsim informed us, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Baṭṭa, may Allah have mercy on him, informed us that he said:
Know — may God have mercy on you — that the Jahmiyya deny that God has a Throne, and they said: (We do not say: God Almighty is over the Throne; because He is greater than the Throne, and whenever we acknowledge that He is over the Throne, we have limited Him, and many places other than the Throne would be devoid of Him).
Thus, they rejected the textual evidence of the Revelation, and belied the reports of the Messenger, peace and blessings of God be upon him (1).
even if the word 'throne' in general has several meanings. The definite article 'al-' (the) is for specificity, and by it the Throne has become specified; it is the Throne of the Lord, majestic is His majesty, which is the seat of His dominion, upon which the messengers agreed, and which the nations acknowledged, except for those who opposed the messengers.
And your statement: 'Establishment has several meanings' is another obfuscation. For establishment (istiwāʾ) made transitive with the particle 'ʿalā' (over/upon) has only one meaning. As for absolute establishment, it has several meanings. The Arabs say: 'Such-and-such is established (istawā)' when it is finished and complete... and they say: 'He is established (istawā) with such-and-such' when he equals it... and they say: 'He established himself (istawā) toward such-and-such' when he intends it with elevation and rising... and 'He established himself (istawā) over such-and-such', meaning when he rises over it and is elevated above it. The Arabs know nothing other than this. Thus, establishment in this construction is explicit textual evidence that bears no meaning other than its own... So abandon obfuscation, for it will avail you nothing but hatred from God and from those who believe. End quote.
I say: The denial of the Throne was adopted by some later Ash'arites. Here is ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Baghdādī saying in Uṣūl al-Dīn, while mentioning the disagreement regarding His statement, the Exalted: {The Most Merciful is established over the Throne}, he said: (And the correct view according to us is the interpretation of the Throne in this verse to mean dominion, as if He intended that dominion is not established for anyone other than Him...) End quote.
