the All-Powerful through His power and the All-Knowing through knowledge that is eternal and not acquired. He is the All-Hearing through His hearing and the All-Seeing through His sight. He Himself knows their nature; none of His creation can fathom their true reality. He speaks with speech that proceeds from Him, not through a created instrument like those of created beings. He is described only as He has described Himself or as His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has described Him. Every attribute with which He has described Himself, or with which His Prophet has described Him, is a real attribute, not a metaphorical one.”

The jurist and hadith master Abū Umar ibn Abd al-Barr said in his book Al-Tamhīd, a commentary on al-Muwatta’, when discussing the hadith concerning the descent:

“This hadith is firmly established through transmission and has a sound chain of narration. Hadith scholars do not differ concerning its authenticity … It is also transmitted through routes other than this one, in reports conveyed by upright narrators from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace … It contains evidence that Allah is in heaven, upon the Throne, above the seven heavens, as the community has affirmed. It is among their proofs against the Mu‘tazilah’s claim that Allah is everywhere.” He said: