Abū Nu'aym al-Asbahānī, author of al-Hilya (The Adornment), said at the beginning of a creed he wrote:

“Our way is that of those who follow the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the Muslim community.” He continued: “Among their beliefs is that they accept and affirm the hadiths authentically transmitted from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concerning the Throne and Allah’s establishment over it, without specifying how, positing an equivalent, or likening Him to creation. Allah is distinct from His creation, and creation is distinct from Him: He neither dwells within them nor mingles with them. He is established over His Throne, in His heaven, not in His earth or His creation.”

The hadith master Abū Nu'aym also said in his own work, Mahajjat al-Wāthiqīn wa-Madrajat al-Wāmiqīn (The Path of the Confident and the Ascent of the Loving):

“They unanimously agreed that Allah is above His heavens, high above His Throne, established over it—not ‘having gained mastery over it,’ as the Jahmiyyah say, asserting that He is everywhere, contrary to what He revealed in His Book:

‘Do you feel secure from Him who is above heaven?’

‘To Him ascends good speech.’

‘The Most Merciful is established over the Throne.’

To Him belongs the Throne over which He is established, and the Kursī, which encompasses the heavens and the earth. This is His statement:

‘His Kursī encompasses the heavens and the earth.’

His Kursī is a physical body. The seven earths and the seven heavens, compared with the Kursī, are like a ring in an open desert. His Kursī is not His knowledge, as the Jahmiyyah have claimed. Rather, His Kursī will be set in place on the Day of Resurrection for judgment to be rendered between His creatures, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said. He—exalted and holy is He—will come on the Day of Resurrection to render judgment between His servants, with the angels in rows, as He, Most High, said:

‘And your Lord comes, with the angels in rows.’

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, further stated that He—exalted and holy is He—will come on the Day of Resurrection to render judgment between His servants, and will forgive whomever He wills among