Shaykh al-Islām, the pillar of the Sharia, Abū al-‘Abbās Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halīm ibn ‘Abd al-Salām ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah sanctify his soul and illuminate his grave—was asked about the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:

“The Most Merciful rose over the Throne,”

and the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Our Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven.”

Are the rising over the Throne and the descent to be understood literally or not? What does it mean to understand them literally? Does literal usage mean using a word in the sense for which it was originally assigned, as scholars of legal theory say, or not? What follows from understanding the verses concerning the divine attributes literally?

He answered:

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds. What is said concerning the rising over the Throne and the descent is like what is said concerning all the other attributes with which Allah has described Himself in His Book and through His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah Most High “has given Himself names and described Himself with attributes.” He has named Himself the Ever-Living, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, the All-Powerful, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful, along with His other most beautiful names.

Allah Most High says:

“And if you speak aloud, He surely knows the secret and what is even more hidden.”

And He says:

“They encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills. His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth.”