But taking the Hadith regarding that Allah descends to the lowest
heaven in the latter part of the night.
If someone asks where isAllah and they state it is the latter 3rd of
the night now. What reply should you give. Anotherpoint is that some
people say it is the latter part of the night all the time (somewhere
on theearth at a paticular pointin time) From this they conclude that
Allah is notabove His Arsh.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly, we have to know the 'aqeedah (belief) of Ahl al-Sunnah
wa'l-Jamaa'ah concerning the names and attributes of Allaah. The
belief of Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ahis to affirm the names and
attributes which Allaah has affirmed for Himself, without distorting
or denying them, discussing how they are or likening them to anything
else. They believe that which Allaah has commanded them to believe,
for Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"There is nothing like Him, and He is the All Hearer, the All Seer"
[al-Shooraa 42:11]
Allaah has told us about Himself. He says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Indeed, your Lord is Allaah, Who created the heavens and the earth
inSix Days, and then He rose over (Istawaa) the Throne (really in a
manner that suits His Majesty).
[al-A'raaf 7:54]
"The Most Gracious (Allaah) rose over (Istawaa) the (Mighty) Throne
(in a manner that suits His Majesty).
[Ta-Ha 20:5]
and there are other aayahs which mention that Allaah rose over His Throne.
The rising of Allaah over His Throne, which meansthat He Himself is
High and above the Throne, isof a special nature which befits His
Majesty and Might. No one knows how it is except Him.
This was proven in the saheeh Sunnah, where itis narrated from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) that Allaah
descends during the last third of the night. It was narrated from Abu
Hurayrah that the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "Our Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven when
the last third of the night remains, and He says, 'Who will call Me
that I might answer him, who will ask of Me that I might give him, who
willask My forgiveness, that Imight forgive him?'" (narrated by
al-Bukhaari, Kitaab al-Tawheed, 6940; Muslim, Salaat al-Musaafireen,
1262)
According to Ahl al-Sunnah, the meaning of this descent is that Allaah
Himself comes down to the lowest heaven in a real sense, as befits His
Majesty, andno one knows how that is except Him.
But does the fact that Allaah comes down mean that He vacates
theThrone or not? Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said concerning a similar
question: we say that this question is based onunnecessary and
excessive questioning, and that the one who asked this is not to be
thanked for his question. We ask, are you more keen than the Sahaabah
to understandthe attributes of Allaah? If he says yes, we tell him,
you are lying. And ifhe says no, we tell him, then be content with
what they were content with. They did not ask the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), 'O Messenger of Allaah,
when He comes down, does He vacate the Throne?' Why do you need to ask
this question? Just say, He comes down. Whether or not the Throne is
vacated is not your business. You are commanded to believe the
reports, especially concerning the essence of Allaah and His
attributes, for this matter is above rational thought.
Majmoo' Fataawa Shaykh Muhammad al-'Uthaymeen, 1/204-205
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said
concerning this matter:
"The correct view is that He descends and that He does not vacate the
Throne. A person's soul remains attached to his body night and day
untilhe dies, but when he is asleep it ascends… It wassaid, night
varies, and the last third of the night comes sooner in the east than
in the west, so the descent of Allaah to the lowest heaven, of which
His Messenger spoke, happens in the east first and then in the
west..."
See Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn Taymiyah, 5/132
Rising over (istiwaa') and descending are two of the practical
attributes which have to do with the will of Allaah. Ahl al-Sunnah
wa'l-Jamaa'ah believe inthat, but in this belief they avoid likening
Allaah to any of His creation or discussing how He is. It cannot occur
to them that Allaah's descending is like the descending of any of His
creatures or that His rising over the Throne is like the rising over
of any of His creatures, because they believe that there is nothing
like unto Allaah and He is the All-Hearer, All-Seer. They know on
rational grounds that there is a great difference between the Creator
and His creatures, in their essence, attributes and actions. It cannot
occur to them to ask how He descends, or how He rose over His Throne.
The point is that they do not ask how His attributes are; they believe
that there is a 'how', but it is unknown,so we can never imaginehow it
is.
We know for certain that what is narrated in the Book of Allaah or
theSunnah of His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
is true and is not self-contradictory, because Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"Do they not then consider the Qur'aan carefully? Had it been from
other than Allaah, they would surely, have found therein many a
contradiction"
[al-Nisaa' 4:82]
because contradictions in the reports would mean that some of them
were showing others to be false, and this is impossible in the case of
that which Allaah and His Messenger tell us.
Whoever imagines that there are any contradictions in the Book of
Allaah or the Sunnah of His Messenger(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), or between the two, it is either because of his lack of
knowledge or because he has failed to understand properly or to ponder
the matter correctly, so let him seek further knowledge and strive to
think harder until the truth becomes clear to him. Then if the matter
is still not clear tohim, let him leave it to the One Who is
All-Knowing and let him put a stop to his illusionsand say, as those
who are firmly grounded in knowledge say, "We believe in it; the whole
of it (clear and unclear Verses) are from our Lord" [Aal 'Imraan 3:7 –
interpretation of the meaning]. Let him know that there is no
contradiction in the Qur'aan and Sunnah andno conflict between them.
And Allaah knows best.
See Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 3/237-238
Imagining that there is aconflict between Allaah'sdescending to the
lowest heaven and His having risen over the Throne and His being high
above the heavens stems from making a comparison between theCreator
and the created being. For man cannot imagine the unseen things of His
creation, such as the delights of Paradise, so how can he imagine the
Creator, may He be glorified and exalted, the Knower of the Unseen. So
we believe in what has beennarrated of His rising over (the Throne),
His descending and His being High and Exalted. We affirm that (and
statethat it is) in a manner that befits His Majesty and Might.
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