The Asha'irah interpret the descent of Allah to the lowest heaven, and their argument for this is purifying Allah from being encompassed by a place, unlike the people of Najd, who affirm this descent.

The questioner : Indeed, Allah descends to the lowest heaven in the last third of the night. The scholars, specifically the Asha'irah, interpret this by saying that Allah descends with His power to respond to supplication. Meanwhile, we know that the people of Najd in the Hijaz say that Allah descends with His Essence. Now, we know that a place does not encompass Allah. How do we reconcile this matter?

The Shaykh : First, I do not want you to attribute this creed to the people of Najd, because first, you are contradicting history, and second, you are lowering the value of this correct creed by associating it exclusively with the people of Najd.

The questioner : Do you mean the Saudis now?

The Shaykh : I mean what you are referring to now. The root of misguidance in the Islamic sects regarding this issue is likening the Creator to the created. If we were to say that Allah is in absolute elevation where there is no place and no limitation, do you understand this? Then the error begins from the very start. In Syria, they call it a slip, and what do we call it in Arabic? The first deviation is when the foot slips; the first error is the first slip, and everything after that is a series of slips. So the first slip in this matter is their assumption. The scholars of kalam, whom we mentioned, assume that affirming that Allah is above the Throne and has established Himself over it means that we have placed Him in a place and thereby confined Him. But logic and the Shari'ah, at the same time, when a person thinks with his intellect, logic affirms that above the Throne there is no place, because the Throne is the last place. So when they understand, or assume, that our belief that Allah is above the Throne and has established Himself over it means that we have placed Him in a place—meaning that Allah is purified, and I say with them that Allah is purified—but the issue is the opposite. Those who believe that Allah is above the Throne and has established Himself over it are accused by those who denied the elevation of Allah and placed Him in every place of having placed Him in a place. This is the calamity of the age, based on this first error, which is assuming things that are the very error itself, and its cause is likening the Creator to the created. If we remember this fact and remember that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) established for us a principle in believing in Him and His attributes, He said , . This is a purification and an affirmation of two attributes of perfection, which are the All-Hearing and the All-Seeing. So if we say that Allah is All-Hearing, we say the first part of the verse , meaning His hearing? ... His sight? ... His establishing Himself? We now come to to the end of the hadith. What is in this? You are constantly quoting from the scholars of kalam that Allah does not descend. This is equivalent to their saying that Allah is not above the Throne and has not established Himself over it. So why did they deny that Allah is above His Throne and has established Himself over it? Because they understood that if we say "above the Throne He has established Himself," we have placed Him in a place. Similarly, here, when they stand before the hadith, and this is a mass-transmitted hadith as I have traced it myself, they assume that the descent of the Lord of the Worlds to the lowest heaven is like the descent of an angel from his throne to his earth, or from the high part of his throne to the ground floor, and so on. So if we affirm what Allah has affirmed and purify Allah as He purified Himself, as in the previous verse, we affirmed for Him hearing and sight and said , we affirmed for Him descent and said . What is the problem with this?

The questioner : ... It is not limited by time or place. In the lowest heaven, we affirmed that it is a place. Is it the lingering? ... It appears to be ...?

The Shaykh : Do you know the athar that our brother Abu Hamid referred to? This athar is well-known and is repeated every Friday. A man came to Malik and said, "O Malik, How did He establish Himself?" He said, "The establishing is known, the how is unknown, and asking about it is an innovation. Take the man out, for he is an innovator." So the man was asking about the "how," and this is misguidance. Malik, who is from the people of guidance and the Sunnah, said, "The establishing is known," meaning the elevation in language. So Allah has the attribute of elevation, as we say, "Glory be to my Lord, the Most High." But how? This question is not permissible. And as they all say, "Whatever comes to your mind, Allah is other than that," because He is the Creator and we are the created. So when we hear this hadith, to the end of the hadith ... we turn it over in our minds ... because we are asking about a descent that we know for our created, weak, sick, and feeble selves. But how can we know the descent of the Creator (Glorified and Exalted is He)? Then some scholars gave a close example, which is that the sun is in the highest part of the sky, so it descends to the earth. But how does its descent occur? We observe this. The body that we know does not descend, but something of its things descends ... If someone asks what we observe? ... The sun has descended, or the sun has entered the room, and this is a known Arabic usage. This describes something that is approximately observed. And this is a sign of the signs of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So what about the Creator of the heavens and the earths, and the sun and the moon? We have no ability to ask, let alone to understand and to describe the manner of the descent of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). The motive for their interpretation, which you referred to and which is false as I will mention, is their conception that His descent is like the descent of humans, may He be far from that. As for the fact that this interpretation is false, He said that He descends alone in the last third of the night. Glory be to Allah, the saying of Allah the Exalted regarding others applies to them: They took the first part of the hadith and left its completion. The hadith says, Did the hadith end? It did not end. So, He descends, and He said, Is there not ... ? Is it the mercy of Allah that says?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : It is Allah who says, it is Allah who descends, my brothers. Believe in the words of Allah and the words of His Messenger, and submit in submission. The Messenger of Allah said, Certainly, Allah descends. How? We do not know. Does anyone know the Essence of Allah in which we believe? No one knows.