he said: I was present when ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī was asked, “What is the creed of Ahl al-Jamāʿah (the mainstream community)?” He answered:

“They believe in the Beatific Vision, in the divine speech, and that Allah is above the heavens, risen over His Throne.”

He was then asked about the verse, “There is no private conversation of three except that He is their fourth” (Q 58:7). He replied, “Read what comes before it: ‘Have you not considered that Allah knows…’” (Q 58:7).

Al-Bukhārī cites ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī frequently in his Ṣaḥīḥ and said, “I never felt myself small except in the presence of Ibn al-Madīnī.” He died in Dhū al-Qaʿdah, 234 AH.

197 – I say: I do not know the two sons of al-Ḥārith nor Nāfiʿ; the compiler quoted this report through the chain of Shaykh al-Islām Abū Ismāʿīl al-Harawī.

66 – Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Shaykh al-Islām (d. 164–241 AH) — may Allah ennoble his memory, perfume his grave, and make Paradise his abode.

What is transmitted from this Imām on the subject at hand is wholesome, abundant, and blessed. He bore the banner of the sunnah, remained steadfast in the ordeal, and is widely acknowledged to be among the people of Paradise. Mutually corroborated reports from him declare as unbelievers those who said that the Majestic Qurʾān—sublime is its station—was created; they likewise affirm the Vision, the attributes, Allah’s exaltedness and His decree, the precedence of the two Shaykhs (Abū Bakr and ʿUmar), that faith increases and decreases, and many other articles of doctrine whose details would take long to enumerate.

226 – Yūsuf ibn Mūsā al-Qaṭṭān, the teacher of Abū Bakr al-Khallāl, said: It was asked of Abū ʿAbd-Allāh (Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal), “Is Allah above the seventh heaven, upon His Throne, distinct from His creation, while His power and knowledge are in every place?” He replied:

“Yes. He is upon His Throne, and nothing is outside His knowledge.” Reported by al-Khallāl.1