disagreement between those who say that He descends and ascends and those who deny this. For no Muslim has disputed acts whose effects are separate from Him. It is therefore clear that these scholars intended to affirm voluntary acts subsisting in Him. Nevertheless, nothing in their statements indicates that they believed the Throne becomes vacant of Him and that He no longer remains above it, as ‘Abd al-Rahmān stated, claiming this to be the meaning of the hadith.

He also transmitted, through his chain of transmission, from Kitāb al-Sunnah (The Book of the Sunnah) by ‘Abd Allāh ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He said: Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan informed us: My father narrated to me: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-Lubnānī narrated to us: ‘Abd Allāh ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal narrated to us: My father narrated to us: Mūsā ibn Dāwūd Abū Ma‘mar narrated to us: ‘Abbād ibn al-‘Awwām narrated to us, saying:

“Sharīk came to us, and I asked him about the hadith, ‘Allah descends on the night of the middle of Sha‘bān.’ We said, ‘Some people reject these hadiths.’ He asked, ‘What do they say?’ We replied, ‘They impugn them.’ He said, ‘Those who brought us these hadiths are the very ones who brought us the Quran, prayer, Hajj, and fasting. Allah is known only through these hadiths.’”

He said: “As for the report of Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh, it was narrated by Ismā‘īl al-Tirmidhī.” He also mentioned, on the authority of Ibn Abī Hātim, that criticism had been voiced in this regard.

He said: “The report was transmitted by Ahmad ibn Mūsā ibn Buraydah, from Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muhammad ibn Bashīr, from al-Tirmidhī: