besides these, through the reliable narrations transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ by trustworthy reporters. Within this ḥadīth lies clear evidence that Allah is in the heaven, over the Throne, above the seven heavens, exactly as the consensus of the Sunni community has affirmed; and it serves as a refutation of the Muʿtazila who claim that “Allah is in every place.”

He went on to say: “The proof for the soundness of the position held by the people of truth is the statement of Allah”—whereupon he quoted several verses—“until he concluded: ‘This matter is so well-known and so widely recognized among both laypeople and scholars that it needs no more than to be mentioned. It is a conviction to which they are compelled; no one had to teach it to them, and no Muslim has ever disavowed it.’”

Abū ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Barr also said: “The scholars from among the Companions and the Successors, those from whom the tafsīr (exegesis) was transmitted, were unanimously agreed concerning the interpretation of His words: ‘There is no secret counsel of three…’”