I heard Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh say:

‘One day, the Jahmiyyah gathered before ‘Abd Allāh ibn Tāhir and said to him, “O governor, you give Ishāq precedence, honour him, and hold him in high esteem, yet he is a disbeliever who claims that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, descends to the lowest heaven every night and that the Throne becomes vacant of Him.”’

He continued: ‘ ‘Abd Allāh became angry and sent for me. I entered his presence and greeted him, but in his anger he neither returned my greeting nor invited me to sit. Then he raised his head and said to me, “Woe to you, Ishāq! What are these people saying?”

‘I replied, “I do not know.”

‘He said, “Do you claim that Allah, glorified and exalted be He, descends to the lowest heaven every night and that the Throne becomes vacant of Him?”

‘I replied, “O governor, it was not I who said it; it was the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Abū Bakr ibn ‘Ayyāsh narrated to us, from Ishāq, from al-Agharr ibn Muslim, that he said: ‘I bear witness that Abū Hurayrah and Abū Sa‘īd testified that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

‘“Allah descends to the lowest heaven every night and says: ‘Who will call upon Me, that I may answer him? Who will ask of Me, that I may give him? Who will seek My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?’”’

‘“But order them to debate me.”

‘When I mentioned the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, his anger subsided. He told me to sit, and I sat down.

‘I said, “O governor, order them to debate me.”

‘He said, “Debate him.”

‘I asked them, “Is He able to descend without the Throne becoming vacant of Him, or is He not?”

‘They remained silent and bowed their heads.

‘I said, “O governor, order them to answer.” But they remained silent.

‘He said, “Come now, Ishāq, what did you ask them?”

‘I replied, “O governor, ask them: Is He able to descend without the Throne becoming vacant of Him, or not?”

‘He said, “What does that mean?”

‘I replied, “If they claim that He cannot descend unless the Throne becomes vacant of Him, then they have claimed that Allah is powerless, like me and like them, and they have disbelieved. But if they claim that He is able