How do you respond to those who have attributed to Abu Hanifa, in "Al-Wasiyya" (The Bequest), his saying: "We affirm that Allah, glory be to Him, rose over the Throne without there being any need for Him or establishment upon it..."?
The scholars mentioned that the words: ارتفاع (rising), علو (ascending), صعود (climbing), and استقرار (settling), are all synonymous with the meaning of استواء (establishing/being above). They also stated that negating استقرار (settling) from the meaning of استواء (establishing/being above) is a mistake, and if someone negates استقرار (settling) from Allah, then they must also negate the rest of the meanings. Sheikh al-Islam clarified that the deluded person imagines that Allah's attributes resemble the attributes of creation. So, when Allah is described with علو (highness) and استواء (establishing/being above) over the Throne, the deluded person imagines that His استواء (establishing/being above) is like a human's استواء (settling) on the deck of a ship. Then, they negate استقرار (settling) and قعود (sitting) from Allah, which is a mistake, because these terms all have the same meaning. Affirming some of them while negating others is arbitrary.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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