and those who believe in Him proof against those who oppose them and dispute with them about Him through falsehood, as He says:

“Yet they dispute about Allah, while He is mighty in power.” {13} [al-Raʿd 13]

This man and his like never advance an argument without its counting against them rather than in their favour. Yet those whom Allah has supported with a spirit from Him, inscribed faith in their hearts, and granted light in their hearts by which they understand its subtleties further strengthen the case against them. As for its obvious aspects, most people understand them. This argument is one of those obvious cases, for there is no disagreement among Muslims and the People of the Book that the Throne was created before the heavens and the earth.

The first response: This disputant’s statement, “If He were settled upon the Throne, it would have been more fitting to begin by creating the Throne rather than the heavens,” does not harm their position; rather, it supports it, for the order of events