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lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains and says: ‘Who will call upon Me so that I may answer him? Who will ask of Me so that I may give to him? Who will seek My forgiveness so that I may forgive him?’
He (1) said: “This ḥadith is firmly established by transmission, its chains of narration are sound, and the scholars of ḥadith do not differ over its authenticity. It is also related through other routes besides this one by trustworthy narrators from the Prophet ﷺ. In it is proof that Allah, exalted is He, is in heaven, upon the Throne, above His seven heavens, exactly as the majority of Muslims have affirmed. It is one of their arguments against the Muʿtazilah in their claim that Allah is in every place.” He said: “The evidence for the correctness of the position of Ahl al-Ḥaqq is the statement of Allah ﷿: ‘The Most Merciful rose over…’”
(1) Up to this point is all that appears in the original; the remainder of the text through the end of the book does not exist in the original except for the number (99), which appears later due to its placement in the collation of the three manuscripts I used.
(2) The hadith of descent (hadith al-nuzul) is narrated by Malik in al-Muwatta, Book of the Qur’an, Chapter “What Is Related Concerning Supplication” (hadith 30), vol. 1, p. 214; from him al-Bukhari records it in his Sahih, Book of Tahajjud, Chapter “Supplication and Prayer in the Last Part of the Night” (hadith 1145), vol. 3, p. 29, and in his Book of Tawhid, Chapter on the verse “They wish to change Allah’s words” (hadith 7494), vol. 13, p. 464; and Muslim includes it in his Sahih, Book of the Prayer of Travellers, Chapter “Encouragement to Remembrance and Supplication in the Last Part of the Night and the Response Therein” (hadith 758), vol. 1, p. 521. It is a frequently transmitted hadith, mutawātir in its transmission, as Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr notes in al-Tamhīd (7/128).
This hadith serves as one of the proofs cited by the Salaf for Allah’s exaltation (uluww), since “descent” presupposes a prior “height.” The early scholars unanimously affirmed this attribute for Allah in a manner befitting His majesty and greatness, insisting that His descent is nothing like the descent of created beings. He is established (istiwaʾ) on His Throne (al-ʿArsh), a created support as He Himself has informed us; He descends each night to the lowest heaven, descends on the eve of ʿArafah, and will descend on the Day of Resurrection to dispense judgment. There is no contradiction between His istiwaʾ and His descent, for He descends in a way befitting His majesty—whose reality and modality we neither know nor comprehend. As Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya explained, clarifying what must be believed regarding the hadith of descent: “The pious predecessors (salaf), their imams, and the scholars of the Sunnah and hadith agreed on affirming it and accepting it with wholehearted belief. Whoever utters what the Messenger ﷺ said, his words are true and sincere, even if he does not grasp the full reality of its meanings—just as one who recites the Qur’an without understanding its meanings. The truest speech is the speech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ said…”
سَمَاءِ الدُّنْيَا، حِينَ يَبْقَى ثُلُثُ اللَّيْلِ فَيَقُولُ: مَنْ يَدْعُونِي فَأَسْتَجِيبَ لَهُ، مَنْ يَسْأَلُنِي فَأُعْطِيَهُ، مَنْ يَسْتَغْفِرُنِي فَأَغْفِرَ لَهُ" وَقَالَ (١) : هَذَا حَدِيثٌ ثَابِتٌ مِنْ جِهَةِ النَّقْلِ، صَحِيحُ الأَسَانِيدِ، لَا يَخْتَلِفُ أَهْلُ الْحَدِيثِ فِي صِحَّتِهِ، وَهُوَ مَنْقُولٌ مِنْ طُرُقٍ سِوَى هَذِهِ مِنْ أَخْبَارِ الْعُدُولِ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ (٢) ، وَفِيهِ دَلِيلٌ عَلَى أَنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى فِي السَّمَاءِ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ، مِنْ فَوْقِ سَبْعِ سَمَاوَاتٍ، كَمَا قَالَتِ الْجَمَاعَةُ، وَهُوَ مِنْ حُجَّتِهِمْ عَلَى الْمُعْتَزِلَةِ فِي قَوْلِهِمْ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُلِّ مَكَانٍ، قَالَ: وَالدَّلِيلُ عَلَى صِحَّةِ قَوْلِ أَهْلِ الْحَقِّ قَوْلُ اللَّهِ ﷿: ﴿الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى
(١) إلى هنا فقط يوجد في الأصل، وبقية الكلام إلى نهاية الكتاب لا وجود له في الأصل سوى رقم: (٩٩) الآتي، وقد تأخر حسب وضعه في ترتيب النسخ الثلاث الذي اعتمدته.
(٢) حديث النزول رواه مالك في الموطأ، كتاب القرآن، باب ما جاء في الدعاء، ح (٣٠) ، ١/٢١٤، وعنه رواه البخاري في صحيحه كتاب التهجد، باب الدعاء والصلاة من آخر الليل، ح (١١٤٥) ، ٣/٢٩، وكتاب التوحيد، باب قوله الله تعالى: ﴿يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يُبَدِّلُوا كَلامَ اللَّه﴾ ، ح (٧٤٩٤) ، ١٣/٤٦٤، ومسلم في كتاب صلاة المسافرين، باب الترغيب والذكر في آخر الليل والإجابة فيه، ح (٧٥٨) ، ١/٥٢١, وهو حديث كثير الطرق، متواتر من جهة النقل، كما ذكر ابن عبد البر في التمهيد ٧/١٢٨.
وهذا الحديث من أدلة السلف على علو الله ﵎، لأن النزول يكون من أعلى. وقد اتفق السلف على إثبات هذه الصفة لله ﵎ على ما يليق بجلاله وعظمته، وأن نزوله لا يشبه نزول المخلوق، فهو مستو على عرشه، باب من خلقه كما أخبر، وينزل كل ليلة إلى سماء الدنيا، وينزل عشية عرفة، وينزل يوم القيام لفصل القضاء، ولا منافاة بين استوائه سبحانه وعلوه، وبين نزوله، لأنه ينزل نزولا يليق بجلاله بجلالته وعظمته لا نعلم كيفيته، ولا ندرك كنهه. كما قال شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية ﵀ مبينا ما يجب اعتقاده من حديث النزول: "اتفق سلف الأئمة وأئمتها، وأهل العلم بالسنة والحديث على تصديق ذلك، وتلقيه بالقبول، ومن قال ما قاله الرسول ﷺ فقوله حق وصدق، وإن كان لا يعرف حقيقة ما اشتمل عليه من المعاني، كمن قرأن القرآن ولم يفهم ما فيه من المعاني، فإن أصدق الكلام كلام الله، وخير الهدي هدي محمد ﷺ، والنبي ﷺ قال