Our position regarding these ḥadiths is that we believe in whatever is authentically established among them and in whatever the early generations unanimously transmitted and accepted without questioning its modality. As for any report whose chain of transmission has been criticized and about which the scholars have differed concerning its acceptability or interpretation, we do not affirm it categorically; rather, we relate it in general terms and clarify its status. We have cited this hadith1 only because it forms part of the recurrent testimony that Allah is exalted above His Throne, a point that accords with the verses of the Book.

13- I say: It was recorded by the Two Shaykhs and by al-Tirmidhī in a similar but abridged wording, and it is listed in al-Ahādīth al-Ḍaʿīfah, 2207.

14- I say: It is a mawqūf report with a good chain.

21- Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“When Allah had completed the creation He wrote in His Book—which is with Him above the Throne—‘My mercy has outstripped My wrath.’”
In another wording:
“Allah wrote a book before creating the creation: ‘My mercy has outstripped My wrath,’ and it is with Him above the Throne.”
And yet another wording states:
“When Allah created the creation He wrote in a book that He prescribed for Himself, and it is raised above the Throne: ‘My mercy prevails over My wrath.’”

15- This is an authentic ḥadith; parts of its wording are in the Two Shaykhs, and the last version is al-Tirmidhī’s. I have traced it in al-Ṣaḥīḥah, 1629, and in Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim’s Takhrīj al-Sunnah, 810–811.

22- Ubayy ibn Kaʿb reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“O Abū al-Mundhir, which verse in the Book of Allah is the greatest?” I replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He repeated it several times until I answered, “Allah—there is no deity but He, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer.” He struck my chest and said, “Congratulations on your knowledge, Abū al-Mundhir! By Him in whose hand is my soul, this verse has a tongue and two lips with which it glorifies the Sovereign at the foot of the Throne.”