Clarification of the Affirmation of the Exaltation of Allah and Discussion of the Statement: "Allah is above His Throne with His Essence, distinct from His creation, and He is with them with His Knowledge."

It has come from one of the Imams of the Salaf, and specifically from Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, one of the great Shaykhs of the Imam of the Sunnah, Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), a phrase that gathered and encompassed [the matter]. He said: "Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, is above His Throne with His Essence, He is distinct from His creation, and He is with them with His Knowledge". In the last phrase: "He is with them with His Knowledge", the previous discussion: But now, at the beginning of the speech, he speaks about the Divine Essence, saying: "Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, is above His Throne with His Essence". This was taken from many, and very many, verses in the Noble Qur'an: and the famous hadith: This hadith is as if it is a quotation from the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: So Imam Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, the Shaykh of Imam Ahmad, expresses these verses and others that Hafiz of Damascus, al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi, gathered in a special treatise, which is printed, titled: "Al-'Ulu li-l-'Ali al-Ghafar" (The Exaltation of the Exalted, the Forgiving). In this treatise, he gathered the verses that revolve around this attribute of the Divine Essence, which is the attribute of absolute Exaltation, along with the hadiths, the sayings of the Companions, and the reports of the Salaf, including the sayings of the four Imams; all of them revolve around what Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak gathered in this word.
"Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, is above His Throne with His Essence, He is distinct from His creation". This refutes the doctrine of indwelling (hulul), for He is Self-Sufficient, and He is the One who is free of need of the worlds. But that Exaltation which the human mind cannot comprehend, that is, cannot visualize, does not mean that He is unaware of any hidden thing. He said: No, "He is with them with His Knowledge". So this concise phrase gathered in it dozens of verses, hadiths, and sayings of the Salaf, so that the belief of the Muslim is a correct belief, far from the claim of the Unity of Existence, and far from the claim of indwelling (hulul) held by some of the misguided sects.
"Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, is above His Throne with His Essence, He is distinct from His creation, and He is with them with His Knowledge". So this led us to this research, and perhaps we have lengthened it to a degree that may have caused some boredom, but knowledge is of this nature; it requires some patience until the Muslim person advances in knowledge. What led us to this is that it is not permissible to name riba (usury or interest) as "profit"; rather, we name it as Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, named it, so that this word continues to work its effect in the hearts of the believers. Unlike the word "profit," which remains permissible. Therefore, today, most of those who deal in riba do not feel its prohibition, except those whom Allah protects, and they are few. Oh Allah! Please.

The questioner : Can you explain it to us?

The Shaykh : The issue does not need an explanation beyond what is clear, because this is among the matters of the Unseen (ghayb) in which it is not permissible for Muslims to expand [their discussion] or to bring in the mind, which is incapable of comprehending the Unseen and visualizing it within the limits of what is observed. So the fact that our Lord says:
It is a creation of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. The Throne was and remains upon the water. But this undoubtedly does not mean that the water is ancient and eternal with no beginning, and that the Throne is also ancient and eternal with no beginning, because everything other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is a created thing preceded by non-existence. So when our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, speaks in the Noble Qur'an to people about this hidden creative reality, He informs us that the Throne is not upon the celestial bodies, but upon the water, and this is all that is in the verse. Many people today interpret the Qur'anic texts with some scientific discoveries, and this is a form of speculation, or rather, we might say it is fabrication. Because if we were asked about the science today, known as experimental science and astronomy, what are the seven heavens mentioned in the Qur'an? Of course, they would stand before it perplexed, even the atheists among them. We are not speaking about what is beyond nature; we are speaking about what our knowledge encompasses. So we do not know except this void that is at a distance of two hundred to three hundred kilometers, as they say, which is filled with air, and then after that, an absolute void, containing these celestial bodies and these planets which are counted in millions of millions.
So they do not speak except about what they have witnessed, and therefore they cannot speak about the seven heavens with anything. Consequently, they cannot speak about the water upon which is the Throne of the Most Merciful, Blessed and Exalted is He. This is what can be answered regarding this question. Excuse me, yes.