In the Sahīh (Authentic Collection), Anas ibn Mālik said:

“Zaynab used to boast to the other wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saying: ‘Your families married you to him, whereas Allah married me to him from above seven heavens.’”

This is akin to al-Shāfi‘ī’s statement. The account of Abū Yūsuf—a disciple of Abū Hanīfah—is well known: when Bishr al-Marīsī denied that Allah is above His Throne, Abū Yūsuf pressed him to repent until Bishr fled from him. Ibn Abī Hātim and others have related this account.

Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Abī Zamanīn, a renowned imam of the Mālikī school, said in his book Usūl al-Sunnah (The Foundations of the Sunnah), under the heading “Chapter on Belief in the Throne”:

“Among the beliefs of Ahl al-Sunnah (the people of the Sunnah) is that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created the Throne and distinguished it by its height and elevation above everything He created. Then He rose over it as He willed, as He declared concerning Himself in His words:

‘The Most Merciful rose over the Throne,’

and His words:

‘Then He rose over the Throne. He knows what enters the earth’—and the remainder of the verse.

Glory be to Him who is far, yet near through His knowledge, and thus hears confidential discourse.”

He also cited the hadith of Abū Razīn al-‘Uqaylī:

“I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, where was our Lord before He created the heavens and the earth?’ He replied: