Baghdad, that belief left my heart, and I wrote to our companions in Mecca that I had now embraced Islam anew.”’”

I say: These words related from Abū ‘Uthmān are indeterminate. Nothing in them indicates that he used to say that there is no Lord above the heavens and no God there, as do those who say that Allah is not above the Throne—a position some express by saying that He is not in any direction. Rather, his approval of his attendant’s answer to the question, “Where is the One you worship?” contradicts what Abū al-Qāsim stated in the introduction to his book: “He is exalted above being asked, ‘How is He?’ or ‘Where is He?’” Had he intended what Abū al-Qāsim stated, he would have said, “One must not ask, ‘Where is He?’” Instead, he said, “Where He has always been.”

This does not accord with the position of those who say that He is neither within the world nor outside it, neither above the Throne nor in any direction. For his statement, “Where He has always been,” affirms that He is where He has always been. The word haythu (“where”) is an adverb of place, used only with reference to direction and spatial location. According to the proponents of negation, one may neither say, “Where He has always been,” nor speak of Him as having been “where” in pre-eternity.

Likewise, his words, “And if someone said, ‘Where was He in pre-eternity?’” and the reply, “I would say: ‘Where He is now,’” are untenable for those who deny direction. For, according to them, one may neither ask, “Where was He in pre-eternity?” nor say, “Where He is now.” Rather, this question and answer