al-Dūrī said, “I heard Abū ʿUbayd mention the chapter in which the reports concerning the Beatific Vision, the Kursī, the place of the two Feet, the laughter of our Lord, and the ḥadith ‘Where was our Lord?’ are narrated. He then added, ‘But when we are asked, “How did He place His Foot and how does He laugh?” we reply, “We do not explain that, nor have we heard anyone explain it.”’
Abū ʿUbayd was one of the foremost mujtahid imams and a towering authority in Arabic. It is enough to recall that Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh said, ‘Allah loves fairness; Abū ʿUbayd is more knowledgeable than I, than al-Shāfiʿī, and than Aḥmad.’
Abū ʿUbayd died in 224 AH. He authored the book Gharīb al-Ḥadīth, yet he never ventured to interpret the reports on the divine attributes, holding that they admit of no explanation beyond the bounds of Arabic discourse. Allah, Exalted is He, knows best.
193 – I say: The ḥadith of the Vision has already been cited under biography 10.
The ḥadith concerning the place of the two Feet is a mawqūf report and has appeared earlier under numbers 45 and 85.
The ḥadith about the Divine laughter was given at the end of biography 10, but Ibn Mundah’s version clarifies that the intent is: ‘Our Lord laughs at the despair of His servants …’—the report has been produced in full.
As for the ḥadith ‘Where was our Lord?’, its authenticity is debatable, for it hinges on Wakīʿ ibn Ḥadas—some say ‘ʿAdas’—who is unknown; no one narrated from him except Yaʿlā ibn ʿAṭāʾ. Hence the author of al-Mīzān remarked, ‘He is not known.’ Nevertheless, the compiler inserted it in the original work just before the report numbered 4, stating: ‘It was related by al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah, and its chain is sound!’ Such a claim is rejected for the reasons just mentioned; be alert to this.
This report is also transmitted by the compiler with his own chain from al-Dāraqutnī, and the chain is authentic, as he affirmed in his abridgement. Ibn Mundah related it as well in al-Tawḥīd (q 96/2) through another route from al-Dūrī. Ibn Taymiyyah said in al-Ḥamawiyyah, ‘It was transmitted by al-Bayhaqī and others with sound chains.’
60 – Aḥmad ibn Naṣr al-Khuzāʿī, the martyr (…–231 AH)
220 – Ibrāhīm al-Harbī, in a reliably transmitted statement, said: ‘Aḥmad ibn Naṣr—when asked about …’