u/turkish_akhi

>Those who carry the Throne and those around it glorify the praise of their Lord, believe in Him, and seek forgiveness for those who believe: “Our Lord, You encompass all things in mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who repent and follow Your way, and protect them from the punishment of Hellfire.

Surah 40:7

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>And the angels will be at its edges, and on that Day eight will carry the Throne of your Lord above them.

Surah 69:17

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>Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated: Prophet ﷺ said: “I was permitted to speak about an angel from the angels of Allah, one of the bearers of the Throne. Indeed, the distance between the lobe of his ear and his shoulder is a journey of seven hundred years.”

Sunan Abi Dawud 4727

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>Ibn Abbas said: A man from the Companions of the Prophet said: The Messenger of Allah said: “Our Lord, when He decrees a matter, the bearers of the Throne glorify Him. Then the inhabitants of the heaven nearest to them glorify Him, until the glorification reaches the people of this lowest heaven. Then those nearest to the bearers of the Throne say to the bearers of the Throne: ‘What did your Lord say?’ So they inform them of what He said. Then the inhabitants of the heavens ask one another until the news reaches this lowest heaven. Then the jinn snatch the hearing and convey it to their allies, and they are pelted because of it. So whatever they bring exactly as it was is true, but they mix falsehood into it and add to it.”

Sahih Muslim 2229a

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>Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib said: I was sitting in al-Batha' with a group while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting among them. Then a cloud came above them, so they looked at it, and he said: "Do you know the name of this?"

>They said: "Yes, this is the cloud."

>The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "And the rain cloud."

>They said: "And the rain cloud."

>The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "And the high clouds."

>Then he said: "Do you know the distance between the heaven and the earth?"

>They said: "No, by Allah, we do not know."

>He said: "Indeed the distance between them is either one, two, or seventy-three years, and the heaven above it is likewise" until he counted seven heavens in this way. Then he said: "Above the seventh heaven is a sea, between its top and bottom is a distance like that between one heaven and another. Then above that are eight ibexes, the distance between their hooves and knees being like the distance between one heaven and another. Then above their backs is the Throne, between its top and bottom is a distance like that between one heaven and another, and Allah is above that."

Sunan Abi Dawud 4723

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>Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib said: I was sitting in al-Batha' with a group while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting among them. Then a cloud came above them, so they looked at it, and he said: "Do you know the name of this?"

>They said: "Yes, this is the cloud."

>The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "And the rain cloud."

>They said: "And the rain cloud."

>The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "And the high clouds."

>Then he said: "Do you know the distance between the heaven and the earth?"

>They said: "No, by Allah, we do not know."

>He said: "Indeed the distance between them is either one, two, or seventy-three years, and the heaven above it is likewise" until he counted seven heavens in this way. Then he said: "Above the seventh heaven is a sea, between its top and bottom is a distance like that between one heaven and another. Then above that are eight ibexes, the distance between their hooves and knees being like the distance between one heaven and another. Then above their backs is the Throne, between its top and bottom is a distance like that between one heaven and another, and Allah is above that."

Sunan Ibn Majah 193

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>Ahmad ibn Nasr narrated to us, he said: al-Dashtaki 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdullah al-Razi informed us, he said: 'Amr ibn Abi Qays narrated to us, from Simak ibn Harb, from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umayrah, from al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, from al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, that he was sitting in al-Batha' with a group while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting among them. Then a cloud came above them, so they looked at it, and he said: "Do you know the name of this?"

>They said: "Yes, this is the cloud."

>The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "And the rain cloud."

>They said: "And the rain cloud."

>The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "And the high clouds."

>Then he said: "Do you know the distance between the heaven and the earth?"

>They said: "No, by Allah, we do not know."

>He said: "Indeed the distance between them is either one, two, or seventy-three years, and the heaven above it is likewise" until he counted seven heavens in this way. Then he said: "Above the seventh heaven is a sea, between its top and bottom is a distance like that between one heaven and another. Then above that are 8 ibexes, the distance between their hooves and knees being like the distance between one heaven and another. Then above their backs is the Throne, between its top and bottom is a distance like that between one heaven and another, and Allah is above that."

Kitab at-Tawhid, Ibn Khuzaymah (1/234)

• Grade: Sahih (Ibn Khuzaymah & Al-Hakim)

https://shamela.ws/book/13011/157

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>Yunus ibn Bukayr narrated to us, Ibn Ishaq said: Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Abdullah ibn Ayyash narrated to me, from Abd Allah ibn Abi Salamah, who said: Ibn Umar sent to Ibn Abbas asking him: “Did Muhammad see his Lord?” So he sent back to him that yes, he did see Him. Ibn Umar sent his messenger back to him and said: “How did he see Him?” He said: “He saw Him upon a chair of gold carried by four angels: an angel in the form of a man, an angel in the form of a lion, an angel in the form of a bull, and an angel in the form of an eagle, in a green meadow, and beneath Him was a carpet of gold.”

Kitab as-Sunnah, Abdullah ibn Ahmad (1/175)

https://shamela.ws/book/323/191#p1

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>Al-Atardi said: Yunus ibn Bukayr narrated to us, from Ibn Ishaq, who said: Ya'qub ibn Utbah narrated to me, from Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah recited the following poem by Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt:

[Al-Bahr al-Tawil]

>A man and a bull under his right foot ... and an eagle under the other (foot), and a lion lying in wait.

>The Messenger of Allah said: “He spoke the truth.”

Kitab al-Shari'ah, al-Ajurri (3/1546)

https://shamela.ws/book/13035/1201#p2

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>Ibn Kathir said: It is a hadith with a Sahih chain of transmission and its men are trustworthy, and it implies that the bearers of the Throne today are 4.

Al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, Ibn Kathir (1/21)

https://shamela.ws/book/4445/19#p2

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>Ibn Ishaq said: al-Zuhri narrated to me, from Ali ibn al-Husayn, from Ibn Abbas, who said: a group of the Ansar told me: While we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah one night, he saw a shooting star and said: “What do you say about this star that has been cast?” We said: “A child is born, someone dies, or a king comes to rule.” The Messenger of Allah said: “It is not like that. Rather, when Allah decrees a matter in the heaven, the Throne glorifies because of it. Then those below it among the angels glorify with their glorification, and those below them continue glorifying until the glorification reaches the lowest heaven. The inhabitants of the lowest heaven then say to the angels above them: ‘For what did you glorify?’ They say: ‘We do not know. We heard the angels above us glorifying, so we glorified with their glorification. But we will ask.’ So they ask those above them, and they continue like that until it reaches the bearers of the Throne. They say: "Allah has decreed such and such." They inform those below them until it reaches the inhabitants of the lowest heaven. The jinn then eavesdrop on what they say and bring it down to their allies among humans, placing it upon their tongues. They imagine it and tell it to the people, so some of it is true and some of it is false. The jinn continued like that until they were struck with these shooting stars.”

Sirat Ibn Ishaq P.113

https://shamela.ws/book/9862/107#p5

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>Ibn Humayd narrated to us, he said: Yahya ibn Wadih narrated to us, he said: al-Husayn narrated to us, from Yazid, from Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas regarding Allah’s statement {And on that Day eight will carry the Throne of your Lord above them}: He said: “Eight rows of angels.”

Tafsir al-Tabari (23/838)

https://shamela.ws/book/7798/15562

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>Assad ibn Musa said: Hammad ibn Salamah narrated: Hisham ibn Urwah said: “The bearers of the Throne: one of them is in the form of a human, the second in the form of a bull, the third in the form of an eagle, and the fourth in the form of a lion.”

Kitab at-Tawhid, Ibn Khuzaymah (1/206)

https://shamela.ws/book/13011/140#p1

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>Abd al-Razzaq said: Imran narrated to us, from Abdullah ibn Wahb ibn Munabbih, from his father, regarding the saying of Allah: {And the Throne of your Lord will be carried} [al-Haqqah: 17], he said: “Four angels carry the Throne upon their shoulders. Each one of them has four faces: the face of a bull, the face of a lion, the face of an eagle, and the face of a human. Each one of them has four wings. As for two wings, they are over his face lest he look at the Throne and be struck unconscious. And as for the other two wings, he flaps with them. They have no speech except that they say: ‘Declare Allah, the Powerful, free of imperfection. His greatness has filled the heavens and the earths.’”

Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq (3/342)

https://shamela.ws/book/21791/3288

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>Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Shurayh narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Rafi' narrated to us, Isma'il ibn 'Abd al-Karim narrated to us, from 'Abd al-Samad, that Wahb ibn Munabbih said: “The bearers of the Throne who carry it, each angel among them has four faces and four wings. Two wings are over his face lest he look at the Throne and be struck unconscious, and two wings with which he flies. Their feet are in the earth, and the Throne is upon their shoulders. Each one of them has the face of a bull, the face of a lion, the face of a human, and the face of an eagle. They have no speech except that they say: ‘Most Holy, Allah the Powerful, whose greatness has filled the heavens and the earth.’”

Kitab al-Azamah, Abu al-Shaykh al-Asbahani (2/600)

https://shamela.ws/book/13043/249

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>Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us from Ja'far ibn Sulayman, who said: Harun ibn Ri'ab informed me, from Shahr ibn Hawshab, who said: “The bearers of the Throne are eight. Four of them say: ‘Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise belongs all praise to You for Your forbearance after Your knowledge.’ And four of them say: ‘Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise belongs all praise to You for Your pardon after Your power,’ as though they are looking at the deeds of the children of Adam.”

Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq (3/342)

https://shamela.ws/book/21791/3289#p1

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>Abd al-Razzaq narrated from Ma'mar, from al-Kalbi, regarding Allah's statement: {And on that Day eight will carry the Throne of your Lord above them} [Al-Haqqah: 17], he said: “Eight rows.”

Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq (3/341)

https://shamela.ws/book/21791/3287#p1

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>Al-Husayn narrated, he said: I heard Abu Mu'adh say: 'Ubayd narrated to us, he said: I heard al-Dahhak say regarding Allah’s statement {And on that Day eight will carry the Throne of your Lord above them}: Some said: “Eight rows, whose number none knows except Allah.” and some said: “Eight angels in the form of ibexes.”

Tafsir al-Tabari (23/583)

https://shamela.ws/book/43/13808

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>Ibn Humayd narrated to us, he said: Jarir narrated to us, from 'Ata, from Maysarah, regarding Allah’s statement {And on that Day eight will carry the Throne of your Lord above them}: He said: “Their feet are in the depths of the earth, and they are not able to raise their eyes because of the radiance of the light.”

Tafsir al-Tabari (23/584)

https://shamela.ws/book/43/13809#p1

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>My father narrated to me, Abu al-Mughira narrated to us, 'Abda bint Khalid ibn Ma'dan narrated to us, from her father Khalid ibn Ma'dan, that he used to say: “Indeed Ar-Rahman becomes burdensome upon the bearers of the Throne from the beginning of the day when the polytheists rise, until when those who glorify Him rise, He becomes eased for the bearers of the Throne.”

Kitab as-Sunnah, Abdullah ibn Ahmad (2/455)

https://shamela.ws/book/323/970#p1

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

This is simply a friendly reminder... as one of the best things I have done for myself by the Grace of Allah is to delete those apps and not worry about such presence in the first place.

We Muslims are far exalted than such lowly stimulation, and that energy & time is supposed to be dedicated to lecture hours, learning your religion under the shuyukh (whether online or in-person), reading the Qur'an, even developing a beneficial skillset.

May Allah bless you all, just a friendly warning.

In-sha-Allah I plan to launch a resource so large and vast... maybe it won't be accessible online as of yet, because if I am being honest, I've simply been trying to get a hold of the whole Agentic Workflow/AI Automation craze that has been happening right now.

In-sha-Allah such skills will be useful in order to propogate Salafiyyah on the internet, easily editable and viewable through GitHub so that others may collaborate too in-sha-Allah.

Again I apologize for my absence... I simply do have other things to fulfill, may Allah bless you all and especially those who take their time to answer questions in this subreddit.

simply wanted to say such thing, as I feel like this is a little pocket of righteousness in a world filled with desires and evil.

May Allah bless you all

>Ibn Uthaymin said: It must be known that the disagreement is almost purely verbal, because it varies according to the meaning intended by affirming or negating “limit”

>Whoever says that Allah is limited means that He is distinct from creation and separate from them, not inside them and they are not inside Him, just as we say: this is the land of so and so and that is the land of so and so, each being distinct from the other, meaning there is a limit between them. So whoever affirms a limit intends this meaning, that Allah is separate and distinct from creation, not indwelling in them and they not indwelling in Him. This meaning is correct.

>And whoever says that He is not limited means that Allah is greater than to be limited, and that nothing from His creation can encompass or contain Him. His Kursi encompasses the heavens and the earth, and it is impossible for anything from creation to limit Him. This meaning is also correct, and all the Salaf are agreed upon it.

>Accordingly, the disagreement between them is verbal, based on this clarification.

>So the author’s statement “He is exalted above being limited” indicates that the author is among those who deny describing Allah with a limit. Thus his words are to be understood such that what is meant by “limit” is: The encompassing limit that confines Allah, Exalted and Majestic. Allah, in this sense, is not limited. Allah is Vast, All-Knowing. His Kursi encompasses the heavens and the earth, and all the heavens and the earths are in the Hand of the Most Merciful like a mustard seed in the hand of one of us. This is by way of approximation, otherwise the difference between the Creator and the creation is far greater than the difference between a human hand and a mustard seed. In any case, the author intended by negating the limit here the limit that confines Allah, and he did not intend the limit that makes Him distinct and separate from creation. For the limit intended to mean Allah’s separateness from His creation is established and obligatory to believe in.

>However, as we said, speaking about “limit” in affirmation or negation is among the matters that should be avoided, because it is not mentioned in the Quran nor in the Sunnah. But if we are put to trial by it, then clarification becomes necessary.

Sharh al-Aqidah al Saffariniyyah (1/237-238)

https://shamela.ws/book/9725/231#p2

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>Ibn Taymiyyah said: This term was not used by us to affirm an additional attribute beyond what is in the Book and the Sunnah. Rather, it was used to clarify what the Jahmiyyah invalidated concerning the existence of the Lord, His distinctness from His creation, and the affirmation of His true reality. It is said to them that the Book and the Sunnah indicate this meaning, as previously shown by Imam Ahmad’s argument using what is in the Quran that points to Allah having a limit by which He is distinguished from created things, and that there is separation and distinction between Him and the creation, such that it is correct to say that matters ascend to Him, that they rise to Him, and that He comes, and that He does come, as will be explained in its proper place.

Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah by Ibn Taymiyyah (2/48)

https://shamela.ws/book/2864/1210#p1

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>Ibn Taymiyyah said: since the Jahmiyyah say something to the effect: that the Creator is not distinguished from the creation, so they deny His attributes by which He is distinguished, and they deny His power, Ibn al-Mubarak clarified that the Lord, glory be to Him, is on His Throne, distinct from His creation, separate from it. He mentioned the “limit” because the Jahmiyyah said: He has no limit, and what has no limit is not distinguished from the creations and is not above the world, because being above requires a limit. When they asked Ameer Al-Mu’minin, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak: “How do we recognize Him?” he said: “That He is above His heavens, on His Throne, separate from His creation.” They mentioned what is necessary, which the Jahmiyyah denied, and by their denial, they deny what is required, namely His existence above the Throne and His distinction from the creation. So they asked him: “By a limit?” He said: “By a limit.” and this is understood by anyone who knows the difference between the believers, the Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama‘ah, and the Jahmiyyah heretics among the groups.

Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah, Ibn Taymiyyah (3/42-44)

https://shamela.ws/book/2864/1204#p1

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>Al-Darimi said: Allah Almighty has a limit that no one knows except Him, and it is not permissible for anyone to imagine the extent of that limit in itself. Rather, one believes in the limit and entrusts knowledge of it to Allah. and His place also has a limit, for He is on His Throne above the heavens, so these are two distinct limits.

>Ibn al-Mubarak was asked: How do we know our Lord? He said: “By the fact that He is on the Throne, separate from His creation.” They asked: “By a limit?” He said: “By a limit.”

>al-Darimi said: Whoever claims that Allah has no limit has rejected the Quran and claimed that there is nothing, for Allah has set the limit of His place in many verses of His Book, such as: {The Most Merciful rose over the Throne} [Taha: 5], {Are you secure from the One in the heaven?} [Al-Mulk: 16], {They fear their Lord above them} [An-Nahl: 50], {I will take you and raise you to Me} [Al-Imran: 55], {To Him ascends the good word} [Fatir: 10]. All of these, and similar texts, are proofs and evidences of the limit. and whoever does not acknowledge it has disbelieved in the revelation of Allah and denied His signs.

Naqd al-Darimi 'ala al-Muraisi P.76-77

https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/18091/74#p4

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>Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Shabbuwaih Abu Abdur-Rahman told me, he said: I heard Ali ibn al-Hasan, meaning Ibn Shaqiq, say: I heard Abdullah say: "Faith is word and action, it increases and decreases, and I heard him say: We can narrate the speech of the Jews and the Christians but we cannot narrate the speech of the Jahmiyyah." He said: And I heard Abdullah say: "We know our Lord Almighty above seven heavens on the Throne, separate from His creation with a limit, and we do not say as the Jahmiyyah said here" and he pointed with his hand to the earth.

Kitab as-Sunnah by Abdullah ibn Ahmad (1/174)

https://shamela.ws/book/323/190#p1

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>I asked Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, I said: The saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted: {Not a secret conversation of three except that He is the fourth of them, nor of five except that He is the sixth of them}, how do you interpret it? He said: Wherever you are, He is closer to you than the jugular vein, and He is separate from His creation. I said to Ishaq: Is He on the Throne with a limit? He said: Yes, with a limit, and he mentioned from Ibn al-Mubarak that He is on His Throne, separate from His creation, with a limit.

Masa’il Harb Al-Karmani (3/1111)

https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/12527/933#p3

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>Abu Bakr Muhammad Yazid told us, he said: Ali ibn Al-Hasan informed us, he said: I asked Ibn Al-Mubarak: O Abu Abdur-Rahman, how do we know our Lord? He said: He is on the Throne above seven heavens, and His knowledge and command are in every place. I said: By a limit? He said: By a limit, and we do not say as the Jahmiyya say that He is here and there on the earth.

Masa’il Harb Al-Karmani (3/1112)

https://shamela.ws/book/12527/934#p3

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>{And He is with you wherever you are} and in His saying: {There is no secret counsel of three but He is the fourth of them} up to His saying: {But He is with them wherever they may be} and the like from the ambiguous verses of the Quran, so say: it only means knowledge, because Allah is on the Throne above the highest seventh heaven, He knows all of that, and He is separate from His creation, yet no place is devoid of His knowledge. and Allah has a Throne, and the Throne has bearers who carry it. and He has a limit, Allah knows best its limit.

>As'ad ibn Fathi al-Zaatri (the Muhaqiq of the book) commented: The term “al-Hadd” is one of the general terms that does not appear in the sacred texts, neither in affirmation nor in negation. The stance of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama‘ah regarding such general terms is that they neither affirm nor deny them until they know the intended meaning of the speaker, if it is correct, they accept it, and if it is false, they reject it.

Kitab Ijma' al-Salaf fi al-I'tiqad P.57

https://shamela.ws/book/121/47#p3

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>Abu Hafs Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Shihab narrated: Abu Ahmad ibn Abdullah told us, he said: Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hani’ al-Athram narrated to us, he said: Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Qaysi narrated to me, he said: I asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal: “It is narrated from Ibn al-Mubarak, it was said to him: How do we know our Lord?” He said: “In the seventh heaven, on His Throne, with a limit.” Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “This is how it is for us.”

Ithbat Sifat al-Uluw by Ibn Qudamah P.171

https://shamela.ws/book/7268/110#p2

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>Abu Hafs Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Rajaa narrated: Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Dawud al-Basrawi told us: Abu Bakr al-Marruzi said: I heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and it was said to him, narrated by Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Shaqiq from Ibn al-Mubarak, that he was asked: “How do we know Allah?” He said: “On the Throne, with a limit.” He said: “That reached me from him and amazed me.” Then Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: {Do they await except that Allah should come to them in covers of clouds while the angels are} [al-Baqarah: 210], then he said: {And your Lord came and the angels rank upon rank } [al-Fajr: 22].

Al-Ibana al-Kubra, Ibn Batta (7/158)

https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/8206/2830#p1

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>Al-Khallal said: Al-Hasan ibn Salih al-Attar informed us, Harun ibn Ya’qub al-Hashimi narrated to us, I heard Abu Ya’qub ibn al-Abbas say: We were with Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and we asked him about the statement of Ibn al-Mubarak. He was asked: “How do we know our Lord?” He said: “In the seventh heaven, on His Throne, with a limit.” Imam Ahmad said: “Thus on the Throne, He is established with a limit.”

>We asked him: “What is the meaning of Ibn al-Mubarak’s statement ‘with a limit’?”

>Imam Ahmad said: “I do not know it, but there are evidences for it in the Qur’an in five places: {To Him ascends the good word} [Fatir: 10], {Do you feel secure from Him who is in the heavens?} [Al-Mulk: 16], {The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him} [Al-Ma’arij: 4]. He is on the Throne, and His knowledge encompasses everything.”

Al-Jami' li-Uloom Imam Ahmad (3/312-313)

https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/20879/309#p11

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>Imam Ahmad clearly expressed this statement in the narration of al-Marwazi. The statement of Ibn al-Mubarak was mentioned to him: “We know Allah on the Throne with a limit” and Imam Ahmad said: “I have heard that, and it pleases me.”

>Al-Athram said: I asked Ahmad: “It is narrated from Ibn al-Mubarak: ‘We know our Lord in the seventh heaven, on His Throne with a limit.’” Imam Ahmad said: “Thus it is with us.”

>And I saw in the handwriting of Abu Ishaq, I, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Nasr al-Rifa, heard Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dawud heard Abu say: A man came to Ahmad ibn Hanbal and asked: “Does Allah have a limit?” He said: “Yes, no one knows it except Him.” Allah said: {And you see the angels surrounding the Throne} [Az-Zumar: 75] meaning: closely encircling. Thus Ahmad clearly affirmed the existence of a limit for Allah.

Ibtal al-Ta'wilat by Abu Ya'la P.598

https://shamela.ws/book/730/583#p2

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>I heard Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Ansari in Herat say: I asked Yahya ibn Ammar about Abu Hatim ibn Hibban al-Busti, I said: “I saw him.” He said: “How could I not have seen him? We brought him out from Sijistan. He had much knowledge and was not a major scholar of religion. He denied the limit of Allah, so we brought him out from Sijistan.”

>I heard Abu Ismail say: I heard Abd al-Samad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Salih say: I heard my father say: “They objected to Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban’s statement on prophethood, knowledge, and action, and they judged him as a heretic and excommunicated him. They wrote to the caliph to execute him, and I heard from others that he went to Samarkand.”

Tarikh Dimashq by Ibn Asakir (52/253)

https://shamela.ws/book/71/24180#p1

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>Abu Ismail al Ansari, Shaykh al Islam, said: I asked Yahya ibn Ammar about Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban. He said: I saw him, and we expelled him from Sijistan. He had much knowledge, but he did not have much religion. He came to us and denied the limit for Allah, so we expelled him.

>al-Dhahabi commented: Ibn Hibban’s denial of the limit and your affirmation of the limit are both a kind of unnecessary speech. Remaining silent about both is more appropriate, since no text has come affirming it or denying it. Allah is not like anything, so whoever affirms it, his opponent says to him: You have given Allah a limit by your own opinion, and you have no text for a limit, and anything that has a limit is created. Allah is exalted above that. and the affirming one says to the denier: You have equated your Lord with a nonexistent thing, for what does not exist has no limit. So whoever declares Allah transcendent and remains silent is safe and follows the Salaf.

Siyar A'lam al-Nubala by al-Dhahabi (3/507)

https://shamela.ws/book/1692/1858#p9

---

>Ibn Taymiyyah said: This is what is preserved from the Salaf and the Imams regarding affirming a limit for Allah in Himself, while at the same time they clarified that creation do not define Him nor encompass Him. Because of this, their statements are not contradictory, as some people imagine. Rather, they denied that anyone can define Allah, as Ahmad ibn Hanbal reported from him in the Kitab as-Sunnah Sunnah and the Mihnah.

>Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: We believe in Allah upon His Throne, however He wills and as He wills, without a limit and without an attribute that any describer can reach, nor can anyone define Him. The attributes of Allah are from Him and belong to Him, and He is as He described Himself. Vision does not encompass Him by any limit or end, and He is not encompassed, while He encompasses vision. He is the Knower of the unseen and the seen, the All-Knowing of the unseen. No describer can encompass Him with description. He is as He described Himself. Nothing of Allah is limited, and no one can reach His knowledge or His power. He has overcome all things by His knowledge, power, and authority. {There is nothing like Him, and He is the All Hearing, the All Seeing}》Allah was before there was anything. Allah is the First and the Last. No one can reach the limit of His attributes. So submission to the command of Allah and contentment with His decree.

>Ibn Taymiyyah commented: That is because the term limit, for everyone who spoke with it, is intended to mean two things. One meaning is the reality of the thing itself, and the other is the expression that indicates it and distinguishes it. In this way, both the descriptive limit and the quantitative limit refer to concrete existence and mental existence. So Ahmad stated that He is above the Throne without a limit set by anyone, nor an attribute that any describer can reach. He followed this by saying: {Vision does not encompass Him} [al Anam 103], meaning without a limit and without an end. This is the correct explanation of “encompassing” here, that vision does not encompass Him by a limit or an end. Then he said: {But He encompasses vision} [al Anam 103], and He is the Knower of the unseen and the seen, so it becomes clear that He knows Himself and knows everything.

Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah, Ibn Taymiyyah (3/706-708)

https://shamela.ws/book/2864/1864#p1

---

>Evidence for the Hadd:

>First: The Qur’an:

>Allah the Exalted said: {Do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you, and suddenly it would shake? Or do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven will not send against you a violent storm, and then you will know how My warning is} [al-Mulk 16–17].

>And He said: {The Most Merciful rose over the Throne} [Ta Ha 5].

>And He said: {He is the Subduer above His servants, and He is the Wise, the All-Aware} [al-An‘am 18].

>And He said: {To Him ascends the good word, and righteous work He raises} [Fatir 10].

>And He said: {The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a Day whose measure is fifty thousand years} [al-Ma‘arij 4].

>And He said: {They fear their Lord above them, and they do what they are commanded} [al-Nahl 50].

>The point of evidence from these verses:

>These verses indicate that Allah has a limit, and Allah knows best about His limit.

>Second: the Sunnah

>First evidence: From Mu‘awiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami, who said: I had a slave girl who used to graze my sheep near Uhud and al-Jawwaniyyah. One day I went out and found that a wolf had taken a sheep from her flock. I am a human being, I become angry as others become angry, but I struck her once. Then I came to the Messenger of Allah, and he regarded that as a serious matter for me. I said: O Messenger of Allah, should I not free her? He said: “Bring her to me.” So I brought her. He said to her: “Where is Allah?” She said: “In the heaven.” He said: “Who am I?” She said: “You are the Messenger of Allah.” He said: “Free her, for she is a believer.”

>Second evidence: From ‘Imran ibn Husayn, who said: The Prophet said to my father: “O Husayn, how many gods do you worship today?” My father said: Seven. Six on earth and one in the heaven. He said: “Which of them do you rely on for your hope and fear?” He said: The one in the heaven. He said: “O Husayn, if you were to accept Islam, I would teach you two words that would benefit you.” When Husayn accepted Islam, he said: O Messenger of Allah, teach me the two words you promised me. He said: “Say: O Allah, inspire me with right guidance and protect me from the evil of my soul.”

>The previous hadiths establish that Allah the Exalted has a limit, but none knows it except Him.

>Third evidence: Isma‘il al-Harawi said: Chapter on affirming the limit for Allah.

>Then he mentioned the hadith with its chain of transmission: When the Prophet wanted to sleep, he would say: “O Allah, Lord of the heavens, Lord of the earth, and Lord of the Mighty Throne, our Lord and the Lord of everything, Splitter of the grain and the date stone, Revealer of the Torah, the Gospel, and the Furqan, I seek refuge in You from the evil of everything whose forelock You hold. O Allah, You are the First, so there is nothing before You. You are the Last, so there is nothing after You. You are the Manifest, so there is nothing above You. You are the Hidden, so there is nothing beneath You. Settle our debt for us and enrich us from poverty.”

>The point of evidence from the hadith:

>Mahmud al-Dashti said: This is an imam from the imams of the Muslims who used this hadith as evidence that Allah has a limit which none knows except Him.

>Whoever says that this hadith contains no proof for affirming a limit for Allah is an ignorant man, with confusion in his heart, who has no knowledge of the speech of the Arabs nor of their languages.

>From the doctrine of Ahl al-Hadith, who are Ahl al-Sunnah, the imams of the Muslims and scholars of explanation, is that they believe and testify that whoever says “Allah has no limit,” meaning by that that Allah is in every place, or that He is not established over the Throne as settled in the hearts of the common people, or that He is not a “person” nor a “thing,” or that Allah has no direction and no place, then he has apostatized from the religion of Islam, joined the polytheists, and disbelieved in Allah, His verses, and what His Messenger brought. Exalted is Allah far above what our opponents say, in lofty exaltation.

>Allah said: {There is nothing like unto Him} [al-Shura 11], meaning there is no essence like His essence and no attributes like His attributes. Then He affirmed attributes for Himself without resemblance and negated resemblance without negation. Whoever affirms a limit says that it is among the attributes of Allah established by the Book and the Sunnah. He believes that Allah has an essence and attributes, that there is no essence like His essence and no attributes like His attributes, and that the limit is among the attributes of Allah by evidence from the Book and the Sunnah.

>Allah said: {And you will see the angels surrounding the Throne} [al-Zumar 75], and He said: {The Most Merciful rose over the Throne} [Ta Ha 5]. And the five verses which Imam Ahmad mentioned when he was asked about the statement of Ibn al-Mubarak: “Indeed Allah is established over the Throne with a limit.” He said: This has evidence in the Qur’an in five places: the statement of Allah {Do they wait except that Allah should come to them in canopies of clouds} [al-Baqarah 210], His statement {To Him ascends the good word} [Fatir 10] His statement {Do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven} [al-Mulk 17], His statement {The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him} [al-Ma‘arij 4] and His statement {And your Lord will come and the angels, rank upon rank} [al-Fajr 22]

>These proofs from the words of Allah indicate that Allah is over His Throne with a limit.

>The stronger view in this issue is that Allah has a limit which no one knows except Him. It is not permissible for anyone to imagine or conceive His limit in their mind. Rather, one believes in the limit and entrusts knowledge of it to Allah. He is upon His Throne, above His heavens. Thus there are two limits, for the following reasons:

>1- Affirming this term is a refutation of the Jahmiyyah in what they claimed.

>2- The meaning of the limit affirms that Allah is distinct from His creation, exalted above them, and established over His Throne.

Sifat Rabb al-'Alameen, Ibn al-Muhib al-Samit (2/83-88)

https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/132403/388#p7

---

>Ahl al-Sunnah unanimously agreed on using the term “limit” for Allah in the sense of affirming His exaltedness above all, His being distinct and separate from His creation, and His being established over the Throne.

Ithbat al-Hadd, al-Dashti - Verified by Adil Al Hamdan P.23

https://archive.org/details/serik-amanbaev_mail/page/n23/mode/1up

---

>It is established from some of Ahl al-Sunnah that they negated the term “limit” for Allah, and this carries two meanings:

>The first is that nothing from creation encompasses Him. As He said: {Vision does not grasp Him, but He grasps all vision, and He is the Subtle, the All-Aware} and His saying: {And they do not encompass Him in knowledge}.

>The second is negating the creation’s knowledge of His limit. The manner and reality of His limit are not known except to Him alone.

Ithbat al-Hadd, al-Dashti - Verified by Adel Al Hamdan P.24-25

https://archive.org/details/serik-amanbaev_mail/page/n23/mode/1up

---

>Whoever applies the term “limit” to Allah and intends by “limit” that by which a thing is distinguished from what is other than it, then this meaning is correct. The scholars who used the term “limit” for Allah intended to refute the Jahmiyyah, who claimed that Allah is mixed and intermingled with His servants. They said: no, Allah has a limit by which He is distinguished from His creation, separate and distinct from them, not mixed with them as the Jahmiyyah claim.

>As for one who intends by “limit” that something from His creation encompasses Him, then there is no doubt that negating the limit in this sense is correct. For this reason, Imam Ahmad negated the limit with this meaning, while affirming it with the other meaning, namely that Allah is distinct from His creation, separate from them, independent of them, and above them.

Al-Minha al-Ilahiyyah fi Sharh al-Fatwa al-Hamawiyyah, Muhammad ibn Khalifa al-Tamimi (1/565)

https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/30017/560#p1

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>Ali ibn al Hasan ibn Shaqiq reported that Ibn al Mubarak said: Whoever claims that Allah has no limit has rejected the Qur’an and claimed that He is nothing, because Allah has defined His place in many passages of His Book. He said {The Most Merciful rose over the Throne} [Ta Ha 5], {Do you feel secure from Him who is above the heaven} [al Mulk 16], {They fear their Lord above them} [al Nahl 50], {Indeed I will take you and raise you to Me} [Al Imran 55], and {To Him ascends the good word} [Fatir 10]. All of this and what is similar to it are evidences and proofs of a limit. And whoever does not affirm it has disbelieved in the revelation of Allah and denied the signs of Allah.

Naqd al-Darimi 'ala al-Muraisi P.76

• Grade: Sahih (Abu Asim Al-Shawami)

https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/18091/74#p7

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>Abdullah ibn Salih narrated to us, al-Layth narrated to me, ʿUqayl narrated to me, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Salim ibn ʿAbdullah informed me that Kaʿb said to ʿUmar: “Woe to the ruler of the earth from the Ruler of the heaven.” ʿUmar said: “Except for the one who holds himself accountable.” Kaʿb replied: “Except for the one who holds himself accountable.” So Umar said the takbir and fell down in prostration.

• Grade: Sahih (al-Shawami)

>Al-Darimi commented: This is a clear demonstration of the limit, and that Allah is in the heaven, not on the earth, for He is there upon the Throne, distinct from all other places.

Naqd al-Darimi 'ala al-Marisi P.199

https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/18091/197#p1

>Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: We believe in the hadiths about this, affirm them, and pass them on as they came, Bila Kayf and No Ma'na except what Allah described Himself with. We ask Allah for safety in this world and the next, and we seek refuge in Allah from error, doubt, and uncertainty. Indeed He is capable of all things.

Al-Ibana al-Kubra, Ibn Battah (7/58)

https://shamela.ws/book/8206/2763#p1

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>Hanbal said: I asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal about these hadiths which are narrated that Allah will be seen, that He descends to the lowest heaven, that He places His Foot, and things similar to that.

>Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: We believe in them, we affirm them as true, and we do not reject anything from them if they come with authentic chains. And we do not reject the statement of the Messenger. And we know that what the Messenger brought is true. Allah is not described with more than what He described Himself with, without limit and without end. {There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.} So we say as He said, and we describe Him as He described Himself. We do not go beyond that, and we do not remove from Him any attribute from His attributes because of some offensive claim made against them. We believe in these hadiths, we affirm them, and we pass them on as they came, without how and without a meaning except according to what He described Himself with. And He is as He described Himself: All-Hearing, All-Seeing, without limit and without measure. His attributes are from Him and belong to Him. We do not go beyond the Qur'an, the hadith, and the reports, and we do not know how that is except by affirming the Messenger and confirming the Qur'an.

Tahreem al-Nadhar fi Kutub al-Kalam P.39

https://shamela.ws/book/6467/10#p1

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>Ibn Taymiyyah said: Those who ascribe themselves to the Sunnah among the Hanbalis and others, who made the term "Ta'wil" include both types, hold on to what they find in the statements of the Imams concerning the ambiguous texts, such as the statement of Ahmad in the narration of Hanbal: “without how and without meaning.” They thought that what he meant was that we do not know its meaning.

>But the words of Ahmad are explicit in the opposite of this in other places. He clarified that he only rejected the interpretations of the Jahmiyyah and those like them, who interpret the Qur'an with interpretations other than its proper interpretation.

>He authored his book “The Refutation of the Zanadiqah and the Jahmiyyah” concerning what they denied from the ambiguous verses of the Qur'an and what they interpreted with interpretations other than their proper interpretation.

>So he condemned their interpretation of the Qur'an in a way other than what Allah and His Messenger intended. When they interpret it, they say: “The meaning of this verse is such and such.” And the ones who specify the how affirm a modality and say that they have known the how of what has been reported concerning the attributes of the Lord.

>So Ahmad rejected the statement of both groups: the statement of the Mukayyifah who claim that they know the how, and the statement of the distorters who distort the words from their places and say: its meaning is such and such.

Majmu' al-Fatawa, Ibn Taymiyyah (17/363)

https://shamela.ws/book/7289/8967#p2

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>Ibn Uthaymeen said: The Ma'na that Imam Ahmad denied in his statement is the meaning that the mu'attila from the Jahmiyyah and others invented, by which they distorted the texts of the Qur'an and the Sunnah from their apparent meaning to meanings that oppose it.

>What shows this is that he denied the meaning and he denied the how, so that his statement includes a refutation of both innovated groups: the group of the negators and the group of the anthropomorphists.

Majmu' Fatawa Ibn Uthaymeen (4/32)

https://shamela.ws/book/12293/984#p1

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>The author’s statement (We believe in them, affirm them, No Kayf and No Ma'na, and we do not reject anything of them) may give the impression that the intent is tafwidh, But the expressions reported from the imams about negating interpretation or negating meaning were intended to deny the interpretations and distortions of the Jahmiyyah.

>As for explaining them in a way that agrees with the apparent meaning, this is required. Allah addressed His servants {in a clear Arabic language} {بِلِسَانٍ عَرَبِيٍّ مُبِينٍ}.

>So the descent is known, while the how is unknown. The istiwa is known, while the how is unknown. Anger is known, while the how is unknown. And likewise with the rest.

Irshad al-'Ibad ila Ma'ani Lum'at al-I'tiqad P.25

https://shamela.ws/book/18604/23#p1

Imām ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jilānī who is Praised and Taken from by the Majority of the Ashʿarī School said:

>“Know that Ahl al-Bidaʿ (ie: the people of innovation) have ʿallamāt (ie: signs) by which they are recognised. The sign of Ahl Al Bidaʿ is their striving against Ahl al-Athar (ie: the people of narrations).

>The sign of al-Zanādiqah (ie: the heretics) is that they call Ahl al-Athar: al-Ḥashawiyyah, and they wish to invalidate al-āthār.

>The sign of al-Qadarīyyah is that they call Ahl al-Athar: Jabriyyah.

>The sign of the Jahmiyyah is that they call Ahl al-Sunnah: Mushabbihah.

>The sign of the al-Rāfīḍah (ie: Shiah) is that they call Ahl al-Athar: Nāṣibis.

>And all this is out of apprehensiveness and rage for Ahl al-Sunnah. And they (Ahl As Sunnah) have only one name, and that is Aṣḥāb (ie: the people of) al-Ḥadīth.”

ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jilānī, al-Ġunyah li Ṭālibī Ṭarīq al-Ḥaqq 1/166

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Imām ʿUthmān b. Saʿīd al-Dārimī responds to Bishr al-Marīsī who accused the Ahl al-Sunnah of being Mushabbihah:

>“Woe to you! We only describe Him with names, not with specifying the modality (takyīf) nor with likening (tashbīh), as it is said:

>He is a King, Generous, Knowing, Wise, Merciful, Kind, Believing, Mighty, Compelling, Proud. And it is permissible that people be called by some of these names, even if their attributes are different, for the names are in agreement, while the resemblance (tashbīh) and the modality (kayfīyyah) are distinct, as it is said:

>There is nothing in this world from what is in Paradise except the names, meaning in resemblance (shabah) and taste and savour, and appearance, and color. So if that is the case, then Allāh is more distant from resemblance (shabah) and more distant.

>For if we are ascribers of resemblance (mushabbihah) in your view, because we profess the One God with attributes that we have taken from Him and from His Book, so we described Him with what He described Himself in His Book, then Allāh in your claim is the first of the ascribers of resemblance (mushabbihīn) to Himself, then the Messenger of Allāh Muḥammad who informed us of that from Him.

>So do not wrong yourselves and do not deny knowledge, for you are ignorant of it, for indeed the naming is far removed from resemblance (tashbīh).”

ʿUthmān b. Saʿīd al-Dārimī, al-Naqḍ ʿalá al-Marīsī, 1/107

>Ibn Taymiyyah said: One point is his statement that if the earth is a sphere, the side that is above for the people of the East is below for the people of the West. So if Allah were limited to one side, He would be in the “below” direction relative to some people.

>It is said that, when arguing based on what I mentioned regarding astronomy, one should follow what people know and what is agreed upon. There is no dispute among people or any human that the earth is beneath the sky wherever it is, and the sky is above the earth wherever it is. This is agreed upon by the majority of people: the eastern sky and earth are not under the western sky and earth, and the western sky and earth are not under the eastern. Those who place one direction truly above another are ignorant. This is clarified by what was mentioned earlier:

>there are two types of directions,

>fixed directions that are necessary and do not change,

>and additional relative directions that can change with movement.

>The first, which is the true fixed necessary direction, is up and down. The sky is always in the high direction, which is fixed and unchanging. The higher the place, the broader it is; the lower, the narrower. That is why the highest is the widest, and the lowest is the narrowest.

>Allah distinguished between “Illiyyin” for the righteous and “Sijjin” for the wicked in His Book: {Nay! The record of the righteous is in Illiyyin” and “Nay! The record of the wicked is in Sijjin.} He did not say “in two lows” nor “in two widths” to illustrate the narrowness and tightness of the place for the wicked and the broadness for the righteous.

>As for the six directions, they are relative to the animal and its movement, and thus they change as its movement and limbs change. If a person moves east, the east is in front, west behind, south right, north left. The Ka‘bah was built according to this principle: its face toward the east wind between east and north, its four corners aligned with the four directions.

>The Black Stone faces east, the Yemeni corner to the right, the western corner to the west, and the northern corner to the north, aligned with the land of Arabia.

>Some scholars of the Qiblah, like Abi al-Abbas ibn al-Qas, said the qiblah in this land is the most balanced because its people face the north pole and do not need to turn toward the east as people in Sham do, or toward the west as people in Iraq do.

>A person’s directions change with movement, though the fixed directions themselves remain unchanged. The side facing one’s head is “up,” the side facing the feet is “down.” If two men are at the far east and far west of the earth, each will have the sky above and the earth below, as the sky faces their heads and the earth their feet. The sky is above the earth in itself, and neither is truly beneath the other.

>Sijjin, the lowest of the low, is beneath them. If two heavy objects fell, they would reach Sijjin, not meet each other.

>Even if the earth were pierced and they could meet, it would be like one person’s feet meeting the other’s feet.

>In this way, each might imagine the other is beneath him in relation to his feet, but the downward movement is toward the bottom of the earth and its core, and from there movement rises upward, like moving from the earth to the sky. A person moving from the bottom of the earth to its surface and height is in a position like someone hanging with feet toward the sky and head toward the earth, or like an ant moving under a ceiling with the ceiling facing its feet.

>In this consideration, the sky is aligned with its feet and the earth with its head. Hence, it may be said the sky is beneath and the earth above if someone is upside down, but this only represents an additional relative perception, not the true fixed directions.

>This relative perception is why, in the hadith reported from Abu Huraira and Abu Dharr about lowering a rope toward Allah, it is called “lowering” even though it is impossible to truly reach Him.

>If a person were turned upside down, it would appear as if he is on the sky.

>From this, it is known that Allah is never truly anything but high. This is further supported by the fact that all high matters, the Throne, the Chair, the seven heavens, the angels, the planets, the sun, the moon, and the winds, are round and truly above the earth.

>According to relative perception, these things may appear “below” some people while being above others. They can be described as below relative to some people (additional relative perception), yet they are truly high (true fixed direction). They are also high in a real existential sense beyond the relative perception.

>Thus, saying Allah is above the heavens is true in every consideration.

>The third proof is that this understanding cannot be refuted: as known by calculation and reason, it is confirmed by the Qur’an and Sunnah: “He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden.” Muslim narrated from Abu Huraira that the Prophet ﷺ said: “You are the First; nothing was before You. You are the Last; nothing is after You. You are the Manifest; nothing is above You. You are the Hidden; nothing is beneath You.”

>This confirms that Allah is Manifest, with nothing above Him, and Hidden, with nothing beneath Him. This negates any notion of something being beneath Him in reality.

>The word “Hidden” does not mean there is something under Him, it demonstrates His encompassing nature. He is never described as “low,” neither truly nor metaphorically. All creation is beneath Him, yet He remains truly high.

>This distinction shows that true directions (up and down) exist, relative directions may vary, and Allah is high above all in both absolute and relative perspectives.

Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah (4/29-38)

https://ftp.shamela.ws/book/2864/1997#p1

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>Questioner: The earth is spherical, so wherever a person faces, the sky is above them. This shows that all directions are relative in terms of the sky. Does this contradict affirming the “highness” of Allah?

>Al-Albani replied: On the contrary, it confirms the point. It shows that the earth is spherical and the sky surrounds it, and Allah also encompasses all of this, and He is fully encompassing of everything. There is no problem with this. The only confusion arises for those who imagine the earth as a perfectly flat surface, then they say there is “above” and “below.” But for a spherical earth, “above” includes the entire surface of the earth, while “below” is the center of the sphere. Therefore, the reality, as supported even scientifically today, that the earth is spherical, does not conflict with the text. The Shariah, through Qur’an and Sunnah, does not need such confirmation, but it can be said that it aligns with and confirms what is in the Book and Sunnah: that Allah has the attribute of being above all His creation.

Fatawa 'abr al-Hatif, Al-Albani - Tape 59

https://www.al-albany.com/audios/content/144817/