Allah, then it is a legislated form of tawassul (seeking nearness to Allah), supported by other proofs cited earlier, which render this fabricated report unnecessary. Ibn al-Athir said: “The phrase, ‘I ask You by the fastenings of majesty of Your Throne,’ means: by the qualities through which the Throne attained its majesty, or by the very points where that majesty is fixed to it. In essence, it means: by the majesty of Your Throne. The followers of Abu Hanifah regard this wording in supplication as disliked.”

According to the first interpretation—the qualities that endowed the Throne with majesty—the plea is tawassul through one of Allah’s attributes and is therefore permissible. According to the second interpretation—namely, the points where majesty is affixed to the Throne—it would be tawassul through a created entity and thus impermissible. In any case, the ḥadīth is not worthy of further analysis or strained interpretation, since it is not authentic; what has already been stated is sufficient.