He then cited verses and hadiths, until he said:

“The attribute of establishment over the Throne should be affirmed without reinterpretation; it is His Essence that is established over the Throne.”

He said: “His being over the Throne is mentioned in every Book revealed to every prophet sent, without specifying how.”

He discussed this at length, beyond what can be accommodated here, and made similar statements concerning the other attributes. Were I to mention everything the scholars have said on this subject, the book would become exceedingly long.

Abū ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said:

“We have transmitted from Mālik ibn Anas, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Sufyān ibn ‘Uyayna, al-Awzā‘ī, and Ma‘mar ibn Rāshid, concerning the hadiths on the divine attributes, that they all said: ‘Let them stand as they have been transmitted.’”

Abū ‘Umar said:

“Whatever has come from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through reliable transmitters, or from his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, is knowledge upon which religious practice is based. Whatever was introduced after them, without any foundation in what was transmitted from them, is innovation and misguidance.”

In his Commentary on al-Muwatta’, when discussing the hadith of the descent, he said:

“This hadith is firmly established in transmission and authentic in its chain of transmission. Hadith scholars do not differ concerning its authenticity. It has also been transmitted through routes other than this one, through reports of upright transmitters from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It provides evidence that Allah is above the heavens, established over the Throne, above the seven heavens, as the community has affirmed. It is among their proofs against the Mu‘tazila, who claim that Allah Most High is everywhere in His holy Essence.”

He said:

“The evidence supporting the correctness of what the people of truth have said is Allah’s saying”—and he cited some verses—