the Throne was upon the water, as He stated in the Quran. This necessarily means that the Throne was upon the water before the creation of the heavens and the earth, as he stated in the authentic hadith:
“Allah decreed the destinies of created beings fifty thousand years before creating the heavens and the earth, and His Throne was upon the water.”
He thus stated that this decree, which preceded the creation of the heavens and the earth by fifty thousand years, took place when His Throne was upon the water.
(Sixth point: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, either said, “He existed, and there was nothing before Him,” or said, “and nothing was with Him,” or “other than Him.” If he used only the first wording, it did not address His existence—exalted is He—before all things that come into being.
If he used the second or third wording, then his statement, “There was nothing with Him, and His Throne was upon the water, and He wrote in the Record,” must mean either that His Throne was upon the water when there was nothing with Him, or that His Throne was upon the water afterwards. If he intended the first, the meaning would be that nothing belonging to the subject of the question—namely, this world—was with Him. The intended meaning would thus be that Allah existed before this observable world, and His Throne was upon the water.
As for the third possibility—namely, that the intended meaning is that He existed with nothing alongside Him, and afterwards His Throne was upon the water and He wrote in the Record, then created the heavens