Mandah al-Asbahānī, the hadith scholar. The evidence for this is that the Throne is in a direction, without dispute, and the explicit text of the Quran establishes that He is established over it. This therefore entails that He is in a direction. Moreover, every rational person, whether Muslim or unbeliever, raises his hands and face toward heaven when supplicating. This is sufficient. Furthermore, those among the Muʿtazilah and Ashʿarīs who deny direction say, ‘He is neither in a direction nor outside it.’ Whoever says this is like someone who affirms the existence of one being alongside another, yet maintains that the existence of neither precedes nor follows that of the other. Ordinary people also make no distinction between saying, ‘I sought it but found it nowhere,’ and saying, ‘I sought it, only to find that it did not exist.’”

He said: “Ibn Mandah argued for affirming direction on the grounds that, since the Quran declares that Allah is upon the Throne and that He is in heaven, and the Sunnah states the same, as well as stating that Paradise is His dwelling and that He is therein, and these things are places in