He said: ‘Allah existed before everything, His Throne was upon the water, and He recorded everything in the Tablet.’”

It is also reported:

“Abū Razīn—whose questions pleased the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, where was our Lord before He created the heavens and the earth?’ He replied: ‘He was in a cloud; what was above it was air, and what was below it was air. Then He created the Throne upon the water.’”

He said: (The Jahmī then said: “Tell me how He rose over the Throne. Is it like saying, ‘So-and-so rose onto the couch,’ so that the couch encompasses that man alone when he is upon it? You must then say that the Throne encompasses Allah alone if He is upon it, for we cannot conceive of one thing being upon another except in this way.”

He said:

He should be told: “As for your question, ‘How did He rise over it?’—the question ‘how’ does not apply to Allah. He has informed us that He rose over the Throne, but He has not informed us how He rose over it. It therefore became obligatory