Darʾ Taʿâroud al-ʿAql wa-n-Naql - Ibn Taimiya - (6/199)

the heavens.

Do you not see that Allah, mighty and majestic, mentioned the heavens and said:

“And made the moon a light within them” [Nūh: 16].

He did not mean that the moon fills them all or that it is in all of them.

We see that all Muslims raise their hands toward heaven when they supplicate, because Allah, mighty and majestic, is established over the Throne, which is above the heavens. Were Allah, mighty and majestic, not over the Throne, they would not raise their hands toward it, just as they do not lower them toward the earth when they supplicate.”

He said:

“Some among the Muʿtazila, the Jahmiyya, and the Harūriyya said that the meaning of Allah’s words, mighty and majestic:

‘The Most Merciful is established over the Throne’ [Tā Hā: 5],

is that He gained dominion, ruled, and subdued. They said that Allah, mighty and majestic, is everywhere, and denied that Allah is over His Throne, as the people of truth affirm. They interpreted His being established over the Throne as referring to power. If it were as they claimed, there would be no difference between the Throne and the seventh earth, for Allah has power over all things. As for the earth, Allah has power over it

السماوات. ألا ترى أن الله عز وجل ذكر السماوات فقال: {وجعل القمر فيهن نورا} [نوح: ١٦] ، ولم يرد أن القمر يملؤهن جميعاً، وأنه فيهن جميعاً. ورأينا المسلمين جميعاً يرفعون أيديهم إذا دعوا نحو السماء لأن الله عز وجل مستو على العرش الذي هو فوق السماوات، فلولا أن الله عز وجل على العرش لم يرفعوا أيديهم نحو العرش، كما لا يحطونها إذا دعوا نحو الأرض) . قال: (وقال قائلون من المعتزلة والجهمية والحرورية أن معنى قول الله عز وجل: {الرحمن على العرش استوى} [طه: ٥] ، أنه استولى وملك وقهر، وأن الله عز وجل في كل مكان، وجحدوا أن يكون الله على عرشه كما قال أهل الحق، وذهبوا في الاستواء إلى القدرة، ولو كان هذا كما ذكروه، كان لا فرق بين العرش والأرض السابعة، لأن الله قادر على كل شيء والأرض، فالله قادر عليها