Shaykh al-Islām said:

Section: Reconciling the Lord’s Being on High—Mighty and Majestic Is He—with His Nearness to Those Who Call upon Him and Worship Him

We say:

Allah has described Himself in His Book and through His Messenger as being on high, established over the Throne, and above His creation. This appears in many verses of His Book, so much so that one of al-Shāfi‘ī’s leading followers said: “The Quran contains a thousand proofs, or more, indicating that Allah is high above creation and above His servants.”

Another said: “It contains three hundred proofs indicating this,” such as His words:

“Indeed, those who are with your Lord”

and:

“To Him belong all those in the heavens and the earth, and those who are with Him.”

If “with Him” meant “within His power,” as the Jahmiyyah say, then all creation would be within His power and subject to His will; there would be no distinction between those in the heavens, those on earth, and those with Him. Likewise, if being established over meant exercising dominion, He would be established over all created things, and He would always have been established over the Throne, even before He created it. Yet His establishment is specific to the Throne and took place after the creation of the heavens and the earth, as He has stated in