in our book, though it must be permitted in the sense we have explained.”

This middle position among al-Qādī’s three views accords with the statements of Ahmad and the other imams. He said: “He Most High is in a specific direction. He does not extend in all directions; rather, He is outside the world, distinct from His creation and separate from them, not within every direction. This is the meaning of Ahmad’s statement: ‘A limit known only to Him.’”

Had Ahmad—may Allah have mercy on him—meant a limit only on the side of the Throne, that would have been known to His servants, for they already know that His limit on that side is the Throne. It is thus clear that the limit unknown to them is unqualified, not confined to the side of the Throne.

Shaykh al-Islām also related, in Condemnation of