established Himself over the Throne, as the Exalted says: “The Most Merciful rose over the Throne” (20:5). We do not venture ahead of Allah and His Messenger in what we say; rather, we affirm that He rose without asking how. We affirm that He has a Face, as He says: “There remains the Face of your Lord, full of Majesty and Honor” (55:27); that He has two Hands, as He says: “I created him with My two Hands” (38:75); that He has two Eyes, as He says: “Sailing under Our Eyes” (54:14); that He will come on the Day of Resurrection—He and His angels—just as He says: “And your Lord will come with the angels, rank upon rank” (89:22); and that He descends to the lowest heaven, as is authentically reported in the hadith. They have said nothing except what they found in the Book and what has been conveyed in the reports from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.

The Muʿtazilah, however, claimed that Allah’s rising over the Throne means that He took possession of it, and they put forward other interpretations besides this.

[Al-Ashʿarī’s statement in al-Ibānah:]
Abu al-Hasan al-Ashʿarī also said, in his book which he entitled “al-Ibānah fī …”