This is a singular hadith, and Mujālid is a weak transmitter.

Among the words of ʿUthmān—may Allah have mercy on him—in his book al-Naqd are these: “The Muslims are unanimously agreed that Allah, exalted is He, is above His Throne, above His heavens.”

I say: The clearest text on this subject is His statement, “The All-Merciful rose over the Throne” (Q 20:5). It is to be accepted as it has come, in the manner well known among the early generations, while one is forbidden to indulge in speculative probing, disputation, and the Muʿtazilī reinterpretations*—“Our Lord, we have believed in what You revealed and we have followed the Messenger” (Q 3:53).

Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq said, “I heard ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd say: ‘No one of any repute ever delved into this topic without being ruined. He mentioned al-Karābīsī, and he fell until he is no longer spoken of. We also had with us a man who was a keen, discerning ḥāfiẓ; Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb and the elders of Basra used to honor him. He was my companion and close friend—yet when he spoke about it, he too was ruined.’ ”

Al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāḥib⦗1⦘ al-Shāshī said, “I asked Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī about ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd.” He replied, “From him we learned hadith.”

Abū Isḥāq Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Yūnus said, “ʿUthmān ad-Dārimī died in Dhū al-Ḥijjah, in the year 280 AH.”

This is the same date recorded by Isḥāq al-Qarrāb and others, whereas what Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Dabbī transmitted from—