The ninth argument is as follows: It has been established by the innate disposition acknowledged by all those of sound innate disposition, by reports transmitted from the messengers through numerous independent channels, by what Allah Most High’s Books declare, and by the agreement of those who believed in the messengers before religious innovations arose, that Allah Most High, Almighty and Majestic, is above the world. It has also been established through the Book, the Sunnah, and consensus that He rose over the Throne. His being above the world is thus known through innate disposition and reason, as well as through revelation and transmitted evidence. His rising over the Throne, however, is known only through transmitted revelation.

Most practitioners of speculative theology and philosophy, whether they deny or affirm the attributes, say that this is possible only if He is a body occupying space. Occupying space would therefore be a necessary consequence of His being above the Throne. Those of sound innate disposition may likewise say this when the meaning of these expressions is explained to them. This entails that both rational and transmitted evidence necessarily imply that conclusion.

The founder and his later followers have established this second premise in several places. The first has been established by people generally: those who affirm the attributes, the followers of the various religious traditions, and all those of sound innate disposition—even the leading authorities among his own followers. If this is established concerning the Necessary Existent, it is impossible for anything other than Him, whether the soul or anything else, to be described in these terms, for no one among