limbs and implements of created beings, then indeed Allah is far above all such attributions, for none of His creatures resembles Him—in His Essence, His names, or His attributes.

He is not contained by the six directions as other originated things are.

The Miʿrāj is an established reality, and the Prophet—may Allah bless him and his family—was taken on the Night Journey.

In summary: the terms the author has employed are ambiguous, yet his words should be understood in the light of the truth, for—may Allah have mercy on him—he was one of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah and among the foremost scholars of hadith. It is inconceivable that he intended an unsound meaning; rather, he aimed at the sound meanings. Still, it would have been better had he elaborated and clarified instead of leaving the matter so general.

We therefore say: there is an element of ambiguity here. If by “directions” one means the created spatial directions, then Allah is exalted above them; nothing in creation can encompass Him. But if what is meant is the direction of exaltedness—that He is above all created things—then this is true and denying it is false. Most likely, the author intended by “the six directions” the created directions, not the direction of loftiness, for he affirms that Allah is above and that He is established upon the Throne.

As for the isrāʾ, the word itself denotes travelling by night. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was carried in a single night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque. Gabriel conveyed him by Allah’s command, as the Exalted says, “Glory be to Him who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque” (Q 17:1). This was one of his miracles, for the distance—