for Him, and coming into existence entails prior nonexistence; because whatever comes into existence requires someone to bring it into existence; and because His existence is necessary in and of Himself—glory be to Him, the Most High.

The way of the early Muslim generations lies between denying Allah’s attributes and likening them to those of His creation. They do not liken His attributes to those of His creation, just as they do not liken His essence to the essence of His creation. Nor do they deny what He has described Himself with or what His Messenger has described Him with, which would entail negating His most beautiful names and sublime attributes, distorting words from their proper meanings, and deviating concerning Allah’s names and signs.

Each of the two groups—those who deny His attributes and those who liken them to those of His creation—combines both errors. Those who deny His attributes understand His names and attributes only in a manner appropriate to created beings, then proceed to deny the meanings they have understood. Thus, they combine denial with likening: first they liken, then they deny. In doing so, they liken and equate what is understood from His names and attributes with what is understood from the names and attributes of His creation, while denying the names and attributes that rightfully belong to Him and befit Allah—glory be to Him, the Most High.

For example, someone might say:

“If Allah were above the Throne, He would necessarily be either larger than the Throne, smaller than it, or equal to it, and all of these are impossible.”

Someone who says this, or something similar, has understood Allah’s being over the Throne only in terms of what holds true of any body over any other body. The supposed necessary consequence follows from that understanding.

As for His being established over the Throne in a manner befitting the majesty of Allah Most High and unique to Him, this entails none of the false implications that must be rejected, such as those that follow in the case of bodies generally. This is akin to the following claim made by way of comparison:

“If the world has a Maker, then He must either