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Once the Lord’s absolute freedom from all attributes of deficiency is understood, it follows that He must not be described as being below anything, nor may anything be above Him in any respect. Rather, He is the Most High, the Highest, who can only be above all. He is the Manifest, above whom there is nothing, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, informed us. Nothing is like Him in the actions ascribed to Him, whether intransitive or transitive—neither in His descending, nor in His rising, nor in anything else.

Alongside this, it is obligatory to affirm whatever He has affirmed of Himself in His Book and through His Messenger. Sound rational proofs agree with this and do not contradict it. Rather, revelation and reason contradict innovations that oppose the Book and the Sunnah. The early generations—indeed, the Companions and those who followed them in righteousness—affirmed His actions, such as His rising and descending, as they are.

Abū Muhammad ibn Abī Hātim said in his Tafsīr:

‘Isām ibn al-Rawwād narrated to us: Ādam narrated to us: Abū Ja‘far narrated to us, from al-Rabī‘, from Abū al-‘Āliyah, who explained the words, “Then He rose toward heaven,” by saying: “He rose.”

He said: “The same was also reported from al-Hasan—meaning al-Basrī—and al-Rabī‘ ibn Anas.”

Al-Bukhārī also mentioned in his Sahīh, in the Book of Divine Oneness: Abū al-‘Āliyah said: