is specific to the Throne after the creation of the heavens and the earth, as He has stated in His Book. This indicates that there was a time when He was established over it and a time when He was not. Thus, according to the leading scholars who affirm the divine attributes, highness is among the attributes known through transmitted revelation, together with reason and religious law. Being established over the Throne, however, is among the attributes known through transmitted revelation alone, not through reason.

The point is that He, Exalted is He, has described Himself as being with His creation and as being near. His “being with” is of two kinds: general and particular. The first is expressed in His statement:

“He is with you wherever you are.”

The second is expressed in His statement:

“Indeed, Allah is with those who fear Him and those who do good.”

There are other verses to this effect. As for “nearness,” it is expressed in such statements as:

“Indeed, I am near.”

And:

“We are nearer to him than you.”

On this matter, people have divided into (four groups:

The “Jahmiyyah” who deny the divine attributes say that He is neither within the world nor outside it, neither above nor below. They affirm neither His highness nor His being above; rather, in their view, all of this is either reinterpreted or its meaning left to Allah. All the adherents of innovation may appeal to scriptural texts—the Khawārij, the Shīʿah, the Qadariyyah, the Murjiʾah, and others—except the Jahmiyyah, for they have not a single statement from the prophets that agrees with the negations they assert.

For this reason, Ibn al-Mubārak and Yūsuf ibn Asbāt said: The “Jahmiyyah” fall outside