Explanation of the author's statement and his saying: "Among these is, for example, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him)..."

The Shaykh : Among these is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): It is agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Regarding this hadith, some scholars of knowledge said that it is among the mass-transmitted reports, and they agreed that it is among the famous, widespread, and well-known hadiths among the people of the Sunnah. His saying: The descent is a real descent. This is because, as we have passed through before, everything that comes with a pronoun referring back to Allah is attributed to Him in reality. He means that Allah descends, meaning Allah creates, meaning Allah does everything. Every pronoun that refers back to Allah is, in reality, to Himself. This is the principle. So his saying: He attributed the descent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). What is required of us? We must believe in it, affirm it, and say: "Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven." The lowest heaven is the closest of the heavens to the earth, and the heavens, as we all know...
The student: Seven heavens.

The Shaykh : Seven. And He (Exalted and Majestic is He) descends at this time of the night for the sake of nearness to His servants (Exalted and Majestic is He). Just as He draws near to those standing at 'Arafah on the evening of 'Arafah, drawing near to the standers at 'Arafah, and He boasts of them to the angels. And his saying: Is anything excluded from this?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : Even the nights of the festivals?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Even the nights of the festivals. Every night. Who is it that says?
The student: Allah, Mighty and Majestic.

The Shaykh : Allah (Mighty and Majestic). The question is for the purpose of arousing interest, like His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): And his saying: is in the accusative case because it is the answer to the question.
The student: The request.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is the answer to the request. The question, and so on, to the end. He says, "O my Lord." This is a supplication. He says, "Give me." If he has it, he says, "O my Lord, I ask You for Paradise." Like this. I did not intend to make a supplication, but may Allah reward you with good according to your intentions. He says, "O my Lord, I ask You for Paradise." O Allah, we ask You to make us among its people, all of us.
The student: Amen.

The Shaykh : Yes, O my Lord. What is this? A supplication. "I ask You for Paradise."
The student: A question

The Shaykh : A good question. Who seeks My forgiveness? He says, "O Allah, forgive me," or "I seek Your forgiveness, O Allah." This is the answer. Through this, it becomes clear to every person who reads this hadith that the intended meaning of the descent here is the descent of Allah Himself (Exalted and Majestic is He). Does the descent of Allah Himself require us to say "with His Essence"?
The student: No, it does not require it.

The Shaykh : In principle, it does not require us to say "with His Essence," as long as the action is attributed to Him, it belongs to Him. But some scholars said, "He descends with His Essence," because they were forced into that and compelled to it. How so? Because there are those who distorted the hadith and said, "Far be it from Allah that He descends. Rather, what descends is the command of Allah." This is one group. Others said, "Rather, what descends is the mercy of Allah." And others said, "Rather, what descends is an angel from the angels of Allah." I seek refuge in Allah. Now, does the command of Allah have its descent restricted to the last third of the night?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : No, always and forever. All matters are How do you say that it is the last third of the night? And what benefit is there? The limit of the descent is to the lowest heaven, meaning it does not descend to the earth, because the command, according to their opinion, has its limit of descent. And what is the limit of its descent?
The student: The lowest heaven.

The Shaykh : The lowest heaven. What is the benefit? Now, regarding mercy, they said, "Yes, the mercy of Allah descends to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains." Glory be to Allah, does mercy not descend except at this time? Yes. All blessings are from Allah, and they are from the effects of His mercy. How do you say, "But only the last third of the night?" Like this, Aliyan? Where did you drift off to?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Now, we say, what benefit is there for us in the descent of mercy to the lowest heaven? Where is the benefit? No benefit. Now, we say, to the one who said it is an angel from His angels: Is it conceivable that an angel from the angels of Allah would say, "Who will call upon Me so that I may respond to him?" I seek refuge in Allah. If he said this, he would become a Lord. Yes, and this is impossible. Now, if they said that what descends is the command and the mercy: Does the mercy say, "Who will call upon Me?"
The student: No.

The Shaykh : The mercy does not say, "Who will call upon Me," because if the intended meaning of mercy is the separate, created mercy, it is impossible for it to say this. And if the intended meaning of mercy is the mercy of Allah, which is His attribute, the attribute does not say this. It becomes clear that in the hadith there are stones that they cannot swallow, stone by stone. They cannot chew the lower jaw to the upper one, because they are hard stones and they cannot press them. We say this is a false statement, and the hadith refutes it. And by Allah, you are not more knowledgeable about Allah than the Messenger of Allah.
The student: May Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him.

The Shaykh : And you are not more sincere to the servants of Allah than the Messenger of Allah, and you are not more eloquent in your speech than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So leave the argumentation and say, "We believe in Allah." They say, "How do you say that Allah descends? If He descends, where is the elevation? If He descends, where is the rising above the Throne? If He descends, then the descent is movement and transfer. If He descends, then the descent is a created event, and created events do not subsist except in a created entity. What do we say to this?"
We say this is argumentation with falsehood, and it is not a barrier. Are you more knowledgeable about what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) deserves than the Companions of the Messenger? The Companions of the Messenger did not say these possibilities at all. They said, "We heard and we believed, and we accepted and we affirmed." And you, O you later generations who oppose, you come now and argue with falsehood and say, "How and how?" We say, "He descends," and we do not speak about His rising above the Throne. Does the Throne become empty of Him or not? We have no right to speak about this.
As for the elevation, we say He descends, but He is High (Mighty and Majestic) over His creation, because the meaning of descent is not that the sky carries Him and that the other heavens shade Him, since nothing of His creations encompasses Him. So we say He is descending, He descends in reality, with
The student: His Highness

The Shaykh : with His elevation, with His elevation. As for the rising above the Throne, it is an action, not one of the attributes of the Essence. And in my view, we have no right to speak about whether the Throne becomes empty of Him or not. And the scholars, the scholars of the people of the Sunnah, have three statements on this: one saying that it becomes empty, one saying that it does not become empty, and one saying to suspend judgment, that we do not speak about this. Yes. And the Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) in the 'Arshiyah treatise says that it does not become empty of the Throne, because he says the evidence for His rising above the Throne is decisive, and this hadith is decisive. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) does not measure His attributes by the attributes of creation. Yes, His attributes are not measured by the attributes of creation. So we must keep the texts of rising above the Throne in their decisiveness and the text of descent in its decisiveness, and take them as they are. We say He is rising above His Throne and descending to the lowest heaven, and Allah knows best the manner of that. And our minds are shorter, lower, and more humble than to encompass Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Yes.
The second statement is suspension of judgment: we do not say it becomes empty, nor do we say it does not become empty. And the third is that the Throne becomes empty of Him. And as for the elevation, by consensus, He has always been High. Now.
The later scholars came, those who knew that the earth is spherical and that the sun revolves around the earth, and that the earth is not devoid of the last third of the night. They said, "How does He descend in the last third of the night? How does He descend in the last third of the night?" And the last third of the night, when it moves from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, goes to Europe and the West. And how does He descend to the sky? It means... He is descending in the sky. What do we say to them? We say, "You have strayed far. You are now measuring the attributes of Allah by the attributes of people. Do you first believe that Allah descends at this specific time? I believe before that. And if you believe, there is nothing for you beyond that. There is nothing for you beyond that. Do not say 'how.' There is no 'how.' You believe and do not ask about what is beyond that. So say, if the last third of the night is in Saudi Arabia, then Allah is descending. If it goes to America, when it is the last third of the night for us, it is the beginning of the night for them, right or not? Is there a descent if we are in America?"
The student: There is no descent.

The Shaykh : There is no descent. No, there is no descent. There is no last third of the night. If the last third of the night leaves us and comes to America, the descent is there. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not measured by creation. When were you in the last third of the night? Yes, if that is the time of descent. If you are in another time, then that is not the time of descent. And if you are unable to comprehend yourself, who is between your two sides, how do you try to comprehend the essence of the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? Yes. So our position here is to say that we believe in what reached us through Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that Allah descends to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, and He says: And, if Allah wills, the rest of the speech on the attributes in the hadith will come.