His being above His Throne. ‘Abd Allāh ibn Tāhir—one of the finest men to govern Khurāsān—knew that Allah is above the Throne, but found His descent difficult to understand because he imagined that it required the Throne to be left without Him. Imam Ishāq affirmed his understanding that Allah is above the Throne and asked him, “Can He descend without the Throne being left without Him?”

The emir replied, “Yes.” Ishāq then asked him, “Why, then, do you raise this question?”

His point was that, if Allah is able to do this, His descent does not necessarily leave the Throne without Him. It is therefore impermissible to object to His descent on the grounds that it necessarily leaves the Throne without Him. This objection was less serious than that of someone who says, “There is nothing above the Throne,” thereby denying both His being above it and His descent.

A similar account was narrated by Abū Bakr al-Athram in al-Sunnah (The Sunnah). He said:

Ibrāhīm ibn al-Hārith—meaning al-‘Abbādī—narrated to us: Al-Layth ibn Yahyā narrated to me, saying: I heard Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ash‘ath say: I heard al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyād say, “If a Jahmī says, ‘I disbelieve in a Lord who moves from His place,’ say, ‘I believe in a Lord who does whatever He wills.’”

Al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyād, may Allah have mercy on him, intended to oppose the Jahmī who says that no acts performed by choice subsist in Allah, so that no approach, coming, descent, rising, or any other acts performed by choice and subsisting in Him can be conceived of Him.

Al-Fudayl therefore said, “If a Jahmī says to you, ‘I disbelieve in a Lord who moves from His place,’ say, ‘I believe in a Lord who does whatever He wills.’” He thus instructed him to believe in the Lord who performs whatever acts He wills that subsist in His own Being. He did not mean the things He brings into being that are separate from Him. Similar statements are reported from al-Awzā‘ī and others among the early generations: concerning the hadith of descent, they said, “Allah does whatever He wills.”

Al-Lālakā’ī said:

Al-Musayyar ibn ‘Uthmān narrated to us: We were told by