Abu Dawud, in his Sunan (Book of Prayer), hadith no. 930, vol. 1 p. 570; Ibn Abī ‘Āṣim in Kitāb al-Sunnah, ed. al-Albānī, hadith no. 489, vol. 1 p. 215; al-Nasā’ī, Kitāb al-Sahw, vol. 3 p. 13; and Mālik in al-Muwatta’, Book of Manumission and Clientage, chapter “What Is Permitted Regarding the Manumission of Those Whose Manumission Is Obligatory,” vol. 2 p. 776. However, Mālik transmitted it from ‘Umar ibn al-Ḥakam—correctly Mu‘āwiya—an attribution upon which Mālik erred, as noted by al-Ḥāfiẓ; see at-Taqrīb 2 : 53. al-Zurqānī mentions it in his Sharḥ al-Muwatta’ (4 : 84). It is also narrated by Ibn Abī Zamanayn al-Malikī in Usūl as-Sunnah (hadith no. 47, vol. 1 p. 353, ed. Muḥammad Hārūn), who likewise follows Mālik’s error. al-Bayhaqī records it in Al-Asmā’ wa-s-Ṣifāt (p. 422), though he too misunderstood, stating that al-Muslimah transmitted the report without the story of the slave-girl. Ahmad records it in his Musnad (5 : 447); Abū Dāwūd al-Tayālisī as hadith no. 1105; and Ibn Khuzaymah in Kitāb at-Tawḥīd (p. 121). Commentary: Thus we observe that the slave-girl responded to the Prophet (peace be upon him), by pure fiṭrah (innate disposition), with the declaration that Allāh is in the heaven when he asked her, “Where is Allāh?” Any person of sound fiṭrah could only answer as she did. As Imām al-Dhahabī explains, the report raises two issues: first, the permissibility of a Muslim asking “Where is Allāh?”; second, the correct answer: “In the heaven.” Whoever denies either point, in effect denies the Messenger (peace be upon him). (Al-‘Ulūw, p. 26) Uthmān ibn Sa‘īd ad-Dārimī comments: This hadith demonstrates that if a man does not know that Allāh is in the heaven above the earth, he is not a believer. Even if he is a slave who is then freed, he may not be legitimately manumitted as a believer if he denies that Allāh is in the heaven—do you not see that the Messenger (peace be upon him) set her knowledge that Allāh is in the heaven as a sign of her faith? And in his question “Where is Allāh?” he refutes those who claim that He is everywhere without being “in” any place, since one does not ask “Where?” of something that fills all places—it is only asked of what occupies one location to the exclusion of another. Had things been as these false claimants assert, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would have rejected her reply; but she knew the truth, so he affirmed her faith. Were He on earth as He is in the heaven, her faith would not have been complete until she recognized Him on earth as she did in the heaven. Verily, Allāh is above His Throne, above the heavens, distinct from His creation. Whoever fails to recognize Him thus does not know the deity he worships. And His knowledge extends from above the Throne to the utmost …