and he mentioned Ahmad ibn al-Hasan, Abū al-Hasan al-Tirmidhī, and Ahmad ibn Sa‘īd—also called Abū al-Ash‘abah al-Tirmidhī. Among those named Muhammad, he mentioned Muhammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Tirmidhī. He said: “Nor was this man listed among those who narrated from Musaddad.”
He said: “A number of the Companions narrated this hadith from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with the same wording. They include Abū Bakr al-Siddīq, ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān ibn Abī al-‘Ās, Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal, Abū Umāmah, ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir, Abū Tha‘labah al-Marwadhī, Rifā‘ah ibn ‘Arābah al-Juhanī, ‘Ubādah ibn al-Sāmit, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abasah, Abū Hurayrah, Abū al-Dardā’, Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī, Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh, Jubayr ibn Mut‘im, Anas ibn Mālik, ‘Ā’ishah, Umm Salamah, and others—may Allah be pleased with them all. None of them used this wording, nor did any of those who narrated it among the Companions, the Successors, or the imams after them.” He then presented the hadiths with their respective wordings and noted that none of them had used this wording.
He said: “This wording accords with the view of those who claim that no place is without Him, and with the view of those who claim that He has no place.”
He said: “Interpreting the descent as something other than descent contradicts the statement, ‘Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven every night,’ and the statement, ‘He remains thus until dawn.’”
I say: Those who hold this view have not claimed that this wording occurs in the hadith; nor is there in