issues that have been the subject of dispute between the People of the Sunnah and the Community (Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jama‘ah) and the deniers of the Divine Attributes (mu‘attilat al-sifat).
The First Issue:
The affirmation of a limit (hadd) for Allah the Exalted, and an explanation of its connection to the issue of the Lord’s loftiness (Exalted and Glorified is He), His distinctness from His creation, and His rising (istiwa’) over His Throne.
The Second Issue:
The affirmation of sitting (julus) and seating (qu‘ud) for Allah the Exalted in a manner that befits Him (Glorified is He), along with the mention of the evidence for its affirmation from the authentic and explicit Sunnah, and the narrations (athar) of the Righteous Predecessors (al-salaf al-salih) from among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), the Successors (tabi‘un), and those who followed them (may Allah the Exalted have mercy on them).
In this book, the author (may Allah have mercy on him) has striven to record the creed of the People of the Sunnah and Narrations (Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Athar) and their statements regarding these two issues. He has not introduced any unprecedented speech or reprehensible belief; rather, he has carefully sought to emulate and follow the path of the predecessors of the Ummah—the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), the Successors, and the leading imams of the religion who came after them, walked upon their path, and followed in their footsteps, as you shall see throughout this book.
Therefore, do not be hasty—O reader—in rejecting this book or what has been transmitted therein from the imams of the People of the Sunnah, lest you fall into opposing them. For the denial of these two issues has generally only originated from the Jahmites, the enemies of the Sunnah and Monotheism (tawhid), who negate the attributes of the Lord of the worlds. From them, these views were adopted by those who came after them among those who occupied themselves with examining the books of the people of theological rhetoric (Ahl al-Kalam) and turned away from studying what the People of the Sunnah authored in these chapters.
