He is independent of the Throne and of everything beneath it.

“…Allah for Paradise, then ask Him for the Highest Firdaus, for it is the middle of Paradise and its loftiest level, and above it is the Throne of the Most Merciful.” (1) Al-Firdaus, therefore, is the highest of all the Gardens, and above it rises the Throne of the Most Merciful.

His Throne is a created thing, and it has bearers—a company of angels: “And on that Day eight will carry the Throne of your Lord above them” (Al-Ḥāqqah 69:17). Before the Day of Resurrection four angels bear it; when that Day comes, they will be doubled to eight. The form, majesty, and strength of each of those angels are beyond human imagination.

Now, if someone claims that the Throne is nothing more than divine dominion, would that dominion be something the angels could physically carry?

Do not suppose that the meaning of His words, “Then He rose over the Throne” (Al-Aʿrāf 7:54), is that He needs the Throne in the way a created being depends on what it mounts. Rather, Allah is established over the Throne while remaining utterly independent of the Throne and of everything beneath it.

All created things are in need of Allah: “Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth lest they fall apart; and were they to fall apart, none could hold them in place after Him” (Fāṭir 35:41). It is He who upholds the Throne, the heavens, and the earth.