The second is the view of the leading scholars of hadith and the Sunnah, and of many groups of speculative theologians, as discussed earlier. Thus, people have adopted six positions concerning what Allah mentions in the Quran about His establishment, coming, and similar matters.

One group says that these texts are to be understood according to their apparent meaning, and regards His coming as being of the same kind as the coming of created beings, and His descent as being of the same kind as theirs. These are those who liken Allah to His creation and equate Him with it. Some of them say: “When He descends, He leaves the Throne vacant and no longer remains above it.”

Another group says that, rather, the texts retain their apparent meaning in a manner befitting Him, as with all the other attributes with which He is described:

“There is nothing like Him”

—neither in His essence, nor in His attributes, nor in His acts. They say: “He descends in a manner befitting His majesty, and likewise comes in a manner befitting His majesty.” In their view, He descends and comes while remaining on high, above the Throne. As Hammād ibn Zayd said: “He is above the Throne and draws near to His creation however He wills.”

Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh said: “He descends without leaving the Throne vacant.” This was also transmitted from Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his letter to Musaddad. Explaining the descent as an act subsisting in His essence is the position of the scholars of hadith, and it is the position that Abū ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Barr reported from them. It is also the position of the great majority of the early followers of Ahmad, and Ibn Hāmid and others explicitly affirmed it.