ibn Rāhawayh against some of the Jahmiyyah in the presence of the emir ‘Abd Allāh ibn Tāhir, the governor of Khurāsān.

Abū ‘Abd Allāh al-Ribātī said:

“One day I attended the gathering of the emir ‘Abd Allāh ibn Tāhir. Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh was also present and was asked whether the hadith concerning the descent was authentic. He replied, ‘Yes.’ One of ‘Abd Allāh’s commanders asked him, ‘Abū Ya‘qūb, do you maintain that Allah descends every night?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ The man asked, ‘How does He descend?’ Ishāq said, ‘Affirm that He is above, and then I will describe His descent to you.’ The man replied, ‘I affirm that He is above.’ Ishāq then said to him, ‘Allah Most High says: “And your Lord comes, with the angels, rank upon rank.”’

“The emir ‘Abd Allāh ibn Tāhir said, ‘Abū Ya‘qūb, that is on the Day of Resurrection.’ Ishāq replied, ‘May Allah honour the emir! Who can prevent the One who comes on the Day of Resurrection from coming today?’”

Then there is the further question: when He descends, is the Throne left without Him or not? “This is a separate issue.” Those who affirm the divine attributes have discussed it. Some said that the Throne is not left without Him. This position has been transmitted from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his letter to Musaddad, and from Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh, Hammād ibn Zayd, ‘Uthmān ibn Sa‘īd al-Dārimī and others.

Others rejected this and challenged the authenticity of the letter, saying, “The person who transmitted it from Ahmad ibn Hanbal is unknown and unrecognized.” The first position, however, is well known among such imams as Hammād ibn Zayd and Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh