Muhammad on Allah’s Throne Revisited
The following hadiths are all taken from The Book of Refuting Interpretations - Elaf Edition [Judge Abu Ya'la Ibn al-Farra': https://shamela.ws/book/22921/416#p1]. All emphasis will be mine.
In the praiseworthy station of our Prophet
Another hadith
440 - Narrated by Abu al-Qasim: Abu al-Fath ibn Abi al-Qawarir told us: Muhammad ibn Ja'far Abu al-Tayyib al-Katib told us: Yazid ibn Muhammad al-Bada told us: Abu Uthman Sa'id, brother of Ibrahim al-Qari, told us: Isma'il ibn Abi Mas'ud told us, on the authority of Abdullah ibn Idris, on the authority of Ubayd Allah, on the authority of Nafi', on the authority of Ibn Umar, on the authority of the Prophet. Regarding the verse, “Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station,” the Prophet said: “He will seat him with Him on the throne.”
441 - And Abu al-Qasim narrated it, saying: Ali ibn Umar ibn Ali al-Tammar said: Abu Bakr Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Ma'mar narrated to us, saying: Yusuf ibn Ahmad ibn Harb ibn al-Hakam al-Ash'ari al-Basri narrated to us, saying: My father Ahmad ibn Harb narrated to me, on the authority of Hisham ibn Urwah, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Aisha who said: I asked the Messenger of God, on the authority of God, regarding the Praiseworthy Station, he said: “My Lord promised me to sit on the Throne.”
442 - And we are Abu al-Qasim, Ali ibn Umar, who was told by Umar ibn Ahmad, who was told by Yusuf ibn Ahmad ibn Harb.
Narrated by Musa bin Ismail Abu Salama Al-Minqari, narrated by Hammad bin Salama, on the authority of Thabit, on the authority of Anas, who said: I asked the Messenger of God about the Praiseworthy Station, and he said to me: “It is sitting on the Throne.”
443 - And Abu al-Qasim told us, Ali told us, Omar told us, Yusuf told us, Azhar bin Saad al-Samman told us, Ibn Awn said, on the authority of Nafi, on the authority of Ibn Omar, who said: Omar bin al-Khattab said: I asked the Prophet about what his Lord and he said: “He promised me the Praiseworthy Station, which is sitting on the Throne.”
444 - And Abu al-Qasim said: Ibrahim ibn Muhammad told us, Abu Dawud told us, Ibn Abi Safwan al-Thaqafi and Hajjaj ibn Abi Yaqub told us, Yahya ibn Abi Kathir told us, Salm ibn Ja'far told us, Sa'id al-Jurayri told us, Sayf al-Sadusi told us, on the authority of Abdullah ibn Salam, who said: "When the Day of Resurrection comes, your Prophet will be brought forth." He was seated before God Almighty on His throne. He said: I said: O Abu Masoud, if he is on His throne, is he not with Him? He said: “Woe to you! This is the most pleasing hadith in the world to my eyes.” Hajjaj said in his hadith: “When the Day of Resurrection comes, the Almighty will descend upon His Throne, with His feet upon the Chair, and He will bring your Prophet and he will sit before Him upon the Chair.” So they said to Al-Hasan: “When he is upon the Chair, is he with Him?” He said: “Yes, woe to you!” He is with him, he is with him.
Know that it is not impossible to take this news literally, and that He will seat him with Him on His throne and bed, meaning that He will bring him close to Himself and make him near to Himself.
445 - Abu Bakr al-Khallal said: Abdullah ibn Ahmad mentioned that he heard the hadith of Fudayl, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujahid: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station}. I discussed it with my father, and he said: It did not reach me through a high chain of transmission, and he seemed to be longing, meaning that it did not reach him through a high chain of transmission.
446 - Abu Bakr al-Marwazi mentioned in his abridged book, "Refutation of Those Who Reject the Hadith of Mujahid," that he asked Abu Abdullah about the hadiths rejected by the Jahmites concerning the attributes, the vision of God, the Night Journey, and the story of the Throne. Abu Abdullah confirmed their authenticity and said: "The nation has accepted them; the narrations are transmitted as they came."
447 - Abu Abdullah looked at the book of al-Tirmidhi, and he criticized the hadith of Mujahid regarding the verse: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a station of praise}. He said: Why is this only from Mujahid? This is from Ibn Abbas, and there are hadiths on this matter. He wrote them down in his own handwriting and read them.
448 - Ibn 'Umayr said: I heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal being asked about the hadith of Mujahid that Muhammad sits on the Throne, and he said: The scholars have accepted it. We accept the report as it came. The apparent meaning of this is that he took the hadith literally, since there is nothing in taking it literally that negates his attributes, because we do not say that he is in a limited direction. Rather, we use this attribute, just as it is permissible to describe him as being on the Throne, not in a limited direction. Likewise, it is permissible for him to draw near to himself, not in a limited direction. And what testifies to this is the statement of the Most High: {Then he drew near and came down, and was at a distance of two bow lengths.}
449 - Abu Abdullah Ibn Batta narrated with his chain of transmission, on the authority of Ikrimah, on the authority of Ibn Abbas, regarding His saying: {A distance of two bow lengths}, he said: There was a distance between him and him of the length of two bow lengths.
This is also evidenced by what was mentioned earlier in the hadith of Isra': "He placed his hand between his shoulders."
450 - Abu Bakr al-Najad narrated in his book "As-Sunnah" with his chain of transmission, on the authority of Anas, who said: When the Messenger of God was taken on the Night Journey, Gabriel ascended with me until he reached the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, and the Almighty, the Lord of Glory, drew near and descended, and he was at a distance of two bow lengths or nearer.
51 - And Abu al-Qasim told us: Ahmad told us: Hamza told us: Muhammad ibn Yunus told us: Abu Ya’la Muhammad ibn al-Salt al-Tawzi told us: Abdullah ibn Sa’id ibn Safwan told us, on the authority of Yunus ibn Yazid, on the authority of al-Zuhri, on the authority of Abu Bakr ibn Amr ibn Hazm, on the authority of Ibn Abbas and Abu Habba al-Badri, who said: The Messenger of God said And he said: “Gabriel took me up, and when the level appeared to me, he placed me in a place where I could hear the scratching of pens before the Most Merciful, may His name be glorified.”
452 - I examined an old part of the books of Abu al-Fadl al-Tamimi, translated as a summary of the refutation of those who rejected the hadith of Mujahid and others concerning the Praiseworthy Station, compiled by Abu Bakr al-Marwazi. He narrated with his chain of transmission from Ibn Mas'ud, who said: The Messenger of God said: "If I were to take a close friend, I would have taken Ibn Abi Quhafah as a close friend, but the friendship of Islam is better." Then he recited: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a Praiseworthy Station}. He said: He will seat him on the Throne.
453 - And with his chain of narration on the authority of Mujahid on the authority of Ibn Abbas regarding the words of the Almighty and Majestic: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a station of praise}, he said: He will seat him on the Throne.
454 - And with his chain of narration on the authority of Mujahid regarding His saying: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a station of praise}, he said: He will seat him on the Throne, and this is a virtue for the Prophet so whoever rejects it is an unbeliever.
455 - Saeed bin Abdul Rahman bin Abza said: I said to my father: If you saw a man insulting Abu Bakr, what would you do to him? He said: I would kill him. I said: What about Umar? He said: I would kill him.
This applies to Abu Bakr and Umar, so what about those who reject the virtue of the Prophet?
456 - And with his chain of narration from Ghalib ibn Ubayd Allah al-Uqayli, who said: The people of Mecca told me: that God will be angry on the Day of Resurrection with an anger the like of which He has never been angry before. He said: Then our Prophet will stand up and praise God as He deserves. He said: Then God will say to him: Bring him closer. He said: Then God, Blessed and Exalted is He, will be angry with an anger the like of which He has never been angry before, and our Prophet will stand up and praise God as He deserves. God will say to him: Bring him closer. He will keep saying to him: Bring him closer until He seats him with Him on the Throne. The Messenger of God said: “Then I will look at Gabriel standing and say: O Lord, this - Meaning Gabriel - he came to me with messages from you, so God Almighty says: He spoke the truth.
457 - Abu Abdullah Ibn Batta mentioned in the book Al-Ibanah that Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn Salman Al-Najad said: If someone swore by divorce three times that God Almighty would seat Muhammad with Him on the Throne, and he asked me for a ruling on his oath, I would say to him: You have spoken the truth in your statement and you have fulfilled your oath, and your wife remains as she is. This is our doctrine, our religion, and our belief, and on this we were raised, and we will remain on it until we die, God willing.
Therefore, we must condemn those who reject this virtue which scholars have stated and accepted. Whoever rejects it is among the doomed sects.
458 - Abu Bakr al-Khallal mentioned in his book, As-Sunnah, that he said: Al-Hasan ibn Salih al-Attar informed me, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Ali as-Siraj, who said: I saw the Prophet with Abu Bakr on his right and Umar on his left. I approached the Prophet and stood to the left of Umar. I said, “O Messenger of Allah, I want to say something.” He turned to me and said, “Speak.” I said, “At-Tirmidhi says that Allah will not seat you with Him on the Throne, while we say that He will seat you with Him on the Throne. What do you say, O Messenger of Allah?” He turned to me, seemingly angry, gesturing with his right hand, making a gesture with it indicating forty, and saying, “Yes, by Allah, yes, by Allah, yes, by Allah, He will seat me with Him.” Then I awoke.
459 - He said: And I heard Abu Bakr ibn Sadaqah say: Abu al-Qasim ibn al-Jabali told me, on the authority of Abdullah ibn Ismail, the companion of al-Narsi, who said: Then I met Abdullah ibn Ismail and he told me: I saw the Prophet in a dream and he said to me: This al-Tirmidhi denies my virtue.
460 - If it is said: It has been narrated that when the verse was revealed: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praiseworthy station}, they said: O Messenger of God, what is the praiseworthy station? He said: “It is intercession.”
It has been said that the well-known interpretation of this is that it refers to sitting on the Throne. This was narrated by Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, and Aisha. The chains of transmission for these hadiths have already been mentioned. The well-known narration is preferable to the less common ones. However, it is not impossible that the Praiseworthy Station refers to intercession and sitting on the Throne, because the intention behind this is to attain a high rank.
If it is said: The interpretation of the Prophet is preferable to the statement of Mujahid.
It was said: We did not rely on the statement of Mujahid alone in this matter, and we have narrated it explained on the authority of the Prophet in the hadith of Ibn Umar, Aisha, Ibn Masoud, and Ibn Abbas, and the statement of Mujahid in this matter is more likely.
If it is said: God has said: {If there were gods with Him as they say, then they would have sought a way to the Lord of the Throne}, then He has informed us that no one can reach the Throne with the body, but rather one reaches it through deeds.
It was said: Ibn Salam mentioned on the authority of Qatadah that its meaning is: when they recognize His favor upon them and seek to draw near to Him what brings them closer to Him. Others said its meaning is: they seek to draw near to Him through means and closeness. This indicates that the intended meaning of the verse is other than what they intended, that no one can reach Him, but rather what is intended by it is another meaning, which is drawing near to Him through acts of obedience.
If it is said: “His statement, ‘He will seat him upon the throne,’ how do you know that it is the throne of the Most Merciful? God Almighty has already mentioned the throne of Bilqis.”
It was said: This is not correct, because in the hadith of Ibn Umar: “He sits him with him on the bed,” and in the hadith of Ibn Masoud: “He sits him on his chair.” So it was said to him: If he is on his chair, is he not with him? He said: “Woe to you! This is the most pleasing hadith to my eyes.”
Although the Throne is mentioned with the definite article "al-", and there is a known Throne, which is the Throne of the Most Merciful, as stated in the verse: {And eight [angels] will bear the Throne of your Lord above them on that Day} and the verse: {The Most Merciful is established on the Throne}, and the definite article "al-" refers to something already known, this interpretation is incorrect.
If it is said: His saying, “He will seat him,” means that He will raise him to the highest seats with Him, and He is with him with support, assistance, and the seats close to God Almighty, as He said: {Do not grieve, for God is with us} and as He said: {Indeed, God loves the righteous}, meaning: support and assistance.
It was said: This is wrong for several reasons:
One of them: The report indicated that he was raised in a manner that is sitting on the throne and the chair.
The second: He said: “He sits him with him,” and the word “with” in the language is for proximity.
Third: He has always been a supporter, helper, and exalter for him, so this virtue must be interpreted as a renewed benefit specific to that day. Fourth: This negates the benefit of singling out the Prophet because He supported and exalted Moses and other prophets. As for His saying, “Do not grieve; indeed, God is with us,” and His saying, “Indeed, God loves the righteous,” the intended meaning is support, because there is contextual evidence, which is the request of the polytheists and their fear of them, so He clarified that He is a supporter for you against them, and this is absent here.
If it is said: Did not Abu Muhammad ibn Bashar narrate, on the authority of Abdullah ibn Ahmad, on the authority of his father, that he would present a hadith to him and say about it: “This was narrated by so many men,” naming them, and if a weak hadith was presented to him, he would say to him: “Strike it out.” So he presented to him the hadith of Mujahid.
He weakened it, so he said: O my father, should I strike him? He said: No, this is a hadith in which there is a virtue, so reward him for what happened and do not strike him. And the apparent meaning of this is that he weakened it.
It was said: This is a story that does not contradict what was stated in other places.
461 - If it is said: Abu Bakr al-Najad mentioned in what Abu al-Hasan ibn Jada' al-'Akbari wrote to me in a section containing hadiths: Among the doomed sects are those who deny that God promised - meaning His Prophet - to seat him in the closest position to Him on the Throne, which is the Praiseworthy Station. He mentioned the hadith of Ibn Abbas: "He will seat him on the Throne," and the hadith of Abdullah ibn Salam and the hadith of Mujahid. Then Abu Bakr said: I asked Abu Muhammad ibn Sa'id, on the authority of Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Umar, on the authority of Nafi', on the authority of Ibn Umar, on the authority of the Prophet regarding His saying: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a Praiseworthy Station}. He said: "He will seat me.” Regarding the verse about God being on the Throne, he said: “This is a fabricated hadith with no basis.” As for the hadith of Yazid ibn Harun, on the authority of the Prophet concerning the verse: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a station of praise}, in which he said: “He will seat me with Him on the Throne,” this is also a fabricated hadith with no basis. And as for the hadith of Asim, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of Ibn Mas’ud, who said: “God Almighty took Abraham as His intimate friend, and your companion is the intimate friend of God Almighty, and Muhammad is the master of the children of Adam on the Day of Resurrection,” then he recited: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a station of praise}. Whoever adds anything other than this has invalidated it.
462 - Abu Bakr al-Najad said: I asked Abu Bakr al-Baghundi, and he said: All these hadiths are false and not authentic, except for the hadith of Mujahid. I also asked Abu Ishaq ibn Jabir, Abu al-Abbas ibn Surayj, and Abu Ali ibn Khayran, Abu Ja`far ibn al-Wakil, and Abu al-Tayyib ibn Salama, each wrote with his own hand: These hadiths have no basis except what Ibn Fudayl narrated, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujahid.
463 - Abu Bakr al-Najad said: I heard Ibn Sa'id say: The Sultan wrote to me asking about those who narrated these hadiths so that he could have them flogged.
464 - Abu Bakr al-Najad said: Abu Muhammad ibn Abdan wrote to me, and to Abu Ya'la, and to Abu Zakariya ibn Yahya al-Saji, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Makram, Sahl ibn Nuh al-Basri, Abu Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Marwazi, Abu al-Abbas ibn al-Siraj, and Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah, and their writings are all in the same wording, all of them the same, that whoever narrates these hadiths should seek forgiveness from God for they are false and have no basis, except for what Muhammad ibn Fudayl narrated, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujahid. However, Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah said: Whoever narrates on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud, and on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar, has narrated on the authority of the Prophet lies and falsehoods, and whoever deliberately narrates lies on the authority of the Prophet. And he was included in the Prophet's warning: "Whoever deliberately lies about us, let him take his seat in Hellfire." And a just ruler cannot allow someone who explicitly narrates such a lie about the Prophet to reside in a Muslim land.
465 - Abu Bakr al-Najad said: Everyone who wrote to me from among the hadith scholars about this explanation said: What I say about the one who narrated these hadiths is: If he did not know their source, he should have asked the people of knowledge. If they knew him and made him aware of what he should say about them, he was obligated to deny them. Whoever narrated them after the scholars denied them falls under the saying of the Prophet: “Whoever lies about me intentionally, let him take his seat in Hellfire.”
It has been said: Whoever criticizes and denies these hadiths is not obligated to accept his statement until he clarifies the basis of his criticism. We have already narrated their chains of transmission and their isnads. Ahmad said: This was not narrated solely from Mujahid on the authority of Ibn Abbas. He compiled hadiths on this matter and recited them to his companions, and he was more knowledgeable about the authenticity of hadiths than those previously mentioned who denied them. Furthermore, we have already explained that their meaning is closeness to God Almighty, and the Qur'an and Sunnah bear witness to this, as in the Almighty's statement: {Then he drew near and came down, and was at a distance of two bow-lengths or nearer} (Quran 52:5), and the hadith of the Isra' (Night Journey) in which he said, "He placed his hand between his palms," and his statement: "He ascended with me, and when the level appeared to me, He placed me in a place where I could hear the scratching of the pens in the hands of the Most Merciful." Therefore, there is nothing in their narration that contradicts this. Assets.
Abu al-Hasan al-Daraqutni recited a poem indicating the authenticity of these hadiths in his view, and he was the memorizer of his time, so he said:
The Hadith of Intercession through Ahmad… we attribute it to Ahmad al-Mustafa.
As for the hadith about him being seated on the throne, we do not deny it.
Present the hadith as it is… and do not introduce anything that would corrupt it.
Do not deny that he is sitting… and do not deny that he is sitting.
Abu Talib ibn al-Ashari recited these verses on the authority of al-Daraqutni.
466 - Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abd al-Wahid, may God have mercy on him, wrote to me, saying: Our sheikh, Abu Ali ibn Abi Shihab, said: Abu Hafs Umar ibn Ibrahim told me, saying: Abu al-Qasim Habib al-Qazzaz recited to us, saying: Ibn al-Allaf al-Darir recited to us his own poem at the time when al-Tirmidhi rejected the sitting and the Prophet sitting with him on the Throne:
The Hadith of Intercession through Ahmad… we attribute it to Ahmad al-Mustafa.
As for the hadith about his being seated on the throne, we do not deny it.
God will bring him closer to Him if He wills… so woe and damnation to whoever distances him.
And people meant in this hadith… everything that we do not mean
So, a people on the throne have sworn… that the Prophet will ascend it tomorrow.
And some people say, "If that were the case… he would be a partner to the One we worship."
But we will point out what we have… and God may bless whoever guides him.
The hadith should be transmitted as it came… and nothing should be added to it that would corrupt it.
Do not swear that he is sitting… nor deny that he is making him sit.
467 - And I saw in an old book, translated as "The Book of the Sunnah" by Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Shirji, which he narrated from al-Marwazi, and which al-Daskari brought to me, and he mentioned in it a chapter.
The Prophet said: Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hajjaj said: I asked Abu Abdullah on the authority of Ibn al-Fudayl, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Mujahid, who said: I wrote it down on the authority of a man on the authority of al-Fudayl.
468 - Abu Ishaq said: Ali ibn Abd al-Samad, Ali ibn al-Hasan, and Muhammad ibn al-Khadir, the freed slave of Umar ibn al-Khattab, narrated to me, on the authority of Ali ibn Abd al-Samad, who said: Ali ibn Muhammad al-Farisi narrated to us, who said: Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us, who said: Yahya ibn Saeed narrated to us, on the authority of Saeed ibn al-Musayyib, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of God was asked regarding God’s saying: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station}, he said: “Yes, when the Day of Resurrection comes, a caller will call out: Where is the beloved of God? So I will step over the rows of angels until I reach the side of the Throne, then He will extend His hand and take me by the hand and seat me on the Throne.”
469 - He said: Abu Bakr told me: Muhammad ibn Bishr ibn Suwaid told us: Muhammad ibn Uqbah al-Shaybani and Ahmad ibn al-Faraj al-Ta’i told us: Abbad ibn Abi Rawq told us: I heard my father narrating, on the authority of al-Dahhak, on the authority of Ibn Abbas, regarding His saying: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station}: He said: “He will seat him on the Throne.”
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