shakes (16)’ [al-Mulk: 16], and other such verses. If these are interpreted figuratively, the entire revealed Law must be interpreted in the same way. If they are said to be ambiguous, the entire revealed Law becomes ambiguous, for all revealed laws are founded on the premise that Allah is in heaven, that the angels descend from Him with revelation to the prophets, that the scriptures descended from heaven, and that it was to heaven that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was taken on his Night Journey, until he drew near to the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary. All the philosophers have agreed that Allah and the angels are in heaven, just as all revealed laws have agreed on this.

The misconception that led those who deny direction to deny it is their belief that affirming direction entails affirming place, and that affirming place entails affirming corporeality.

We say that none of these implications necessarily follows, for direction is distinct from place. Direction is either the body’s own bounding surfaces, which are six—and this is the position we maintain.”