The People of the Sunnah have narrated in their works hadiths and reports from the predecessors (Salaf) affirming the sitting (julus) of the Lord, the Exalted. They received these with acceptance and submission, and they narrated them without objection. Thus, we are followers of them in this regard, just as Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) did when Shadhan sent word to him, seeking his permission to narrate the hadith of Qatadah, from 'Ikrimah, from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "I saw my Lord." Ahmad said: "Narrate it, for the scholars have indeed narrated it."
Al-Marrudhi said to Ahmad: "Is this something for which we are being vilified?" I asked: "Have the scholars not received it with acceptance?" Ahmad replied: "Indeed." [Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah (7/195-196)].
This is also like what appears in the report of Waki' when he narrated the hadith of Isra'il, from Abu Ishaq, from 'Abdullah bin Khalifa, from 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "When the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, sits upon the Chair (al-Kursi)..."
A man shuddered in the presence of Waki', so Waki' became angry and said: "We reached al-A'mash and Sufyan, and they would narrate these hadiths without rejecting them." [Its documentation will follow (43)].
Al-Darimi (d. 280 AH, may Allah have mercy on him) stated in al-Naqd (p. 343): "We have taken what the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, and we have only accepted from it what was narrated by the jurists, the precise memorizers (al-huffaz al-mutqinun); such as: Ma'mar, Malik bin Anas, Sufyan al-Thawri, Ibn 'Uyaynah, Zuhayr bin Mu'awiyah, Za'idah, Sharik, Hammad bin Zayd, Hammad bin Salamah, Ibn al-Mubarak, Waki', and their peers who were renowned for narrating them, knowing them, and possessing understanding (tafaqquh) regarding them—contrary to the understanding of al-Marisi and his companions. Thus, whatever these imams and their peers circulated with acceptance, we have accepted; whatever they rejected, we have rejected; and whatever they did not employ..."
