What is the meaning of "istawa" (rising above) in the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Then He rose above the Throne"?

The questioner : The questioner says that some scholars interpreted "istawa" to mean "settled." This is more appropriate to the righteous Salaf, even though some imams reject it, such as al-Dhahabi in his book *Al-'Ulu* for Ali al-Ghaffar. He said, in his biography of Abu Ahmad al-Qassar, "I wish he had omitted 'istawa,' meaning 'settled.'" Likewise, Imam al-Baghawi refuted this in *Al-'Ulu*, and then Shaykh al-Albani agreed with him. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani mentioned in his notes on *Sahih al-Bukhari*, in the thirteenth volume, the book of Tawhid, that he is quoting from Ibn Batan the anthropomorphic interpretation, stating that it is from the anthropomorphic signs. I will make this clear to you.

The Shaykh : The anthropomorphists.

The questioner : It is a passage from the interpretations, and whoever listens.

The Shaykh : Not from the interpretation of the anthropomorphists.

The questioner : It is from the interpretation of the anthropomorphists. May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : If I asked you now, what is the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ? Let us set aside the disagreements of people, and what do you understand by ? It means He rose above it and settled upon it. This is what every person understands if this is the concept from the language of the Arabs, even among the general people. If so, interpreting it as "istawla" (seized) is invalid, contrary to the text, and contrary to reason. If we said "istawa" means "istawla," then when the heavens and the earth were created, the Throne belonged to whom? To other than Allah. But Allah the Exalted fought this one who had the Throne and then seized it. Is this reasonable? It is not reasonable. If we said "istawa" is a synonym for "istawla," it would be correct to say that Allah rose above the mountain, rose above the camel, rose above the car, and rose above everything He owns. If we said "istawa" and "istawla" have the same meaning, it would be correct to apply "istawa" to everything Allah the Mighty and Majestic owns, and He is the Owner of all things. Then He would be "istawa" upon everything. Then, the saying of Allah the Exalted: , and what is its meaning? It means "so that you may seize their backs" , meaning "so that you may seize their backs."
Ha? This does not work, because He said "you do not ride" while you are already seated on its back before you ride and after you ride, or not? Your camel is seated upon before riding and after, and this clearly indicates that "istawa" means being upon a thing and settling upon it. But we must know that the attributes of Allah the Mighty and Majestic do not resemble the attributes of the created beings. So His rising above His Throne, Blessed and Exalted is He, is not like the rising of a man upon a ship, a bed, a mount, or the like. Rather, it is a rising befitting His Majesty and Greatness, and we do not know its modality. For this reason, when Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) was teaching in the circle, a man came to him and said, "O Abu 'Abdullah, , how did He rise above?" So Malik lowered his head and said, "Like this," until sweat covered him, meaning sweat from the greatness of this question and out of shame and modesty before Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Be careful, my brother, we say that attributes of Allah the Mighty and Majestic pass by us that are greater than this, and yet it is as if they did not pass through the heart, because our hearts are not like the heart of Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him). Then he raised his head and said his famous words, which are the standard for all attributes: "The rising is not unknown, the modality is not comprehensible, and belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is an innovation. I do not see you as anything but an innovator." Then he ordered that he be taken out of the place, from the mosque. The words "the rising is not unknown," what is their meaning?
It means it is known, known in the Arabic language in which the Qur'an was revealed. And "the modality is not comprehensible" means that we do not grasp it with our minds. If we do not grasp it with our minds, let us return to the auditory evidence. Did the auditory evidence come with the modality? Or not? Meaning, did Allah mention how He rose above? No. So if both the rational and auditory evidence are absent regarding it, it is obligatory to refrain from it, and belief in it, meaning in the rising, is obligatory, and asking about it, meaning about its modality, is an innovation. And here is a question: Does the meaning of Malik's words that there is no modality to the rising of Allah, or does it mean that we do not know the modality?

Another questioner : I, I.

The Shaykh : We do not know the modality, or rather they certainly have a modality, because every existent must have an attribute. But this modality is not known to us, because Allah informed us of the rising but did not inform us of the modality of the rising. As for what was reported from some of these scholars, if what was reported is correct from them, then we ask Allah to forgive them this slip, because they made a great error. Yes.