Sunnah; so why the persistence in these strange matters?!”
This is part of his misguidance and his deception of the ignorant and straying people like himself:
Even if the narration from ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) is broken (munqati’) in this specific chain of transmission, its authenticity from Ibn al-Mubarak was affirmed by Ahmad ibn Hanbal—and who is he but the foremost authority in the science of Hadith and hidden defects (‘ilal)!
It is narrated through connected and authentic chains from ‘Abd Allah (may Allah have mercy on him), as seen in the books of the Sunnah, including this very treatise! The scholars of this field have authenticated it from him.
The Book and the Sunnah command the following of the path of the believers and asking the people of knowledge and remembrance, and they have affirmed the “limit” (al-hadd) for Allah the Exalted from the Book, the Sunnah, and the statements of the Salaf (pious predecessors) of the Ummah.
Do you realize, O ignorant one, whom you have described as persistent? You are describing ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak and Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on them) with this, not to mention the leading imams of Ahl al-Sunnah who reached a consensus on this creed.
What is the basis for claiming persistence or strangeness? For the “limit” is the meaning of the Lord’s (Mighty and Majestic is He) distinctness (baynuna) from His creation. This is the consensus of all of Ahl al-Sunnah; none oppose it except for a Jahmite who believes in divine indwelling (hululi)!
Among them is al-Saffarini, who said in his poem al-Durrah:
“Glorified is He, He established Himself (istawa) as has been narrated,
Without asking ‘how,’ He is far too exalted to be limited.”
Then he explained it in his work Lawami’ al-Anwar (1/201), saying: “In it is a rebuttal against those who claim that His being established over His Throne necessitates that Allah be limited—exalted is He far above that—since that which is limited”
