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Included in what we have mentioned concerning faith in Allah is belief in what Allah has stated in His Book, what has been conveyed from His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through mass-transmitted reports, and what the early generations of this community unanimously affirmed: that He, glorified is He, is above His heavens, upon His Throne, exalted above His creation; and that He, glorified is He, is with them wherever they may be, knowing what they do. He brings these matters together in His words:

“He is the One who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then established Himself above the Throne. He knows what enters the earth and what emerges from it, what descends from heaven and what ascends into it. And He is with you wherever you are. And Allah sees all that you do.”

His words, “And He is with you,” do not mean that He intermingles with creation. The language does not entail this, and it contradicts both the consensus of the early generations of this community and the innate disposition with which Allah created His creatures. Indeed, the moon—a sign among Allah’s signs and one of the smallest of His creatures—is situated in the sky, yet it is with the traveller and the non-traveller wherever either may be. He, glorified is He, is above the Throne, keeping watch over His creation, overseeing them and fully aware of them, along with the other meanings of His lordship.

All these statements that Allah, glorified is He, has made—that He is above the Throne and that He is with us—are true in their real sense and require no distortion, but must be safeguarded against suppositions