The refutation by Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, against al-Bayhaqī and others who disparaged this hadith and other hadiths of the attributes has recently preceded.

Then I came across some articles by some of his followers who follow his path, trace his footsteps, and support his doctrine regarding Irjāʾ and other issues of creed (Aqidah)—such as the interpretation of the hadith of the Image, which was discussed previously and that no one rejects it except the Jahmiyya, and the rejection of the report of Mujāhid, may Allah have mercy on him, regarding the seating, which will be discussed shortly and that no one rejects it except the Jahmiyya. There he is, supporting the speech of the Ash'arite al-Bayhaqī and al-Albānī in disparaging the hadith of lying on the back and rejecting it with the utmost rejection, and accusing everyone who accepted it and adopted it of opposing the methodology of the Predecessors (Salaf) and their noble objectives!!

Then he began refuting the Imams of the Sunna and hadith who accepted this hadith and narrated it in their compilations on the Sunna and creed (Aqidah) one by one, accusing them of leniency, heedlessness, and a lack of veneration for God Almighty for narrating these hadiths and reports transmitted from the Children of Israel—according to his claim—such as Kaʿb al-Aḥbār and Wahb bin Munabbih, may Allah have mercy on them, and others who embraced Islam and whose Islam was good. Many of the Companions, may God be pleased with them, the Predecessors (Salaf) of the Umma, and the scholars of the Sunna heard from them, believed them, and used their speech as evidence. Their statements are scattered throughout the books of the Sunna and creed (Aqidah), and hardly any book is devoid of them! Despite all of this, this (pseudo-scholar) claimed that they spread many flimsy and fabricated hadiths in the Umma!—Glory be to You, this is a great slander—and he disparaged the Imams of the Sunna and the religion, just as the attribute-denying Jahmiyya and their fledglings disparage the Imams of the Sunna, claiming that they narrate rejected reports in their compilations and spread them in the Umma without any rejection or warning!

Two Notes:

1 - (ʿUbayd bin Ḥunayn), the narrator from Qatāda, appeared in Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim's original text as (ʿAbd Allāh bin Ḥunayn). Al-Albānī said in his verification of al-Sunna by Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim (568), and his student al-Jawābra in his verification of al-Sunna by Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim as well (580): Indeed,