“And they accept and affirm the hadiths authentically reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concerning ‘the Throne and Allah’s rising over it,’ without specifying how or likening Him to His creation. Allah is distinct from His creation, and His creation is distinct from Him. He neither dwells within them nor intermingles with them. He is above His Throne, in His heaven, not on His earth.” He went on to mention the remaining beliefs of the early generations and their consensus on these matters.

Yahyā ibn ‘Uthmān said in his epistle: “We do not say, as the Jahmiyyah do, ‘He is within places and intermingled with everything, and we do not know where He is.’ Rather, we say that He, in His very Being, is above His Throne; His knowledge encompasses everything, and His hearing, sight, and power extend to everything. This is the meaning of His statement:

‘And He is with you wherever you are.’”

The spiritually learned shaykh Ma‘mar ibn Ahmad, the shaykh of the Sufis, said: “In this age, I wished to leave my companions a testament drawn from the Sunnah and to bring together the beliefs followed by the scholars of hadith and the people of spiritual knowledge and Sufism, both earlier and later.” He mentioned several points in this testament before saying:

“Allah rose over His Throne, without specifying how or reinterpreting it. His rising over the Throne is known, but how is unknown. He is above His Throne, distinct from His creation, and His creation is distinct from Him, without indwelling, intermingling, or contact. He, mighty and majestic, is All-Hearing, All-Seeing, All-Knowing, All-Aware. He speaks, is pleased, is displeased, laughs, and marvels. He will manifest Himself to His servants on the Day of Resurrection, laughing. Every night He descends to the lowest heaven as He wills, without specifying how or reinterpreting it. Whoever denies the descent or reinterprets it is a misguided innovator.”