Part 7

the Throne and the Kursi

A llah , Most High , says,

( O wner o f hi gh rank s and degrees, the Ow ner of the T hrone)

I-Ie , Most 1-1 igh, says,

( So Exa lted be All ah, the True Kin g, La ilaha ilia Hil wa

(non e ha s th e right to be worshipped but He), th e Lord o f th e

Supreme T hrone ! ) (5001'011 AI-Mil 'minooll 23: 11 6)

I-I e, Most Hi gh, says,

( A llah , La iloilO ilia H lIIl'a (none has the ri ght to be worshi pped

but I-I e), the Lord of the Supreme Throne! ) (Soorah All-Nand

I-I e, Most Hi gh, says,

( And He is Oft-Forg iving, full orl ove (towa rd th e pi ous who

arc real tme beli e"ers in Islamic Mon othe ism) , Owner o f the

Throne, th e G lorious) (Soorall AI-BII/vo) 85: 14, 15)

( The Most Benefi cent (A llah ) I S / lIl1'lI (rose over) the (M ight y)

Throne (in a manner that sui ts His Maj esty ) ) (Soorall To fla

He, Most Hi gh, says in a number of Verses of the Qur'an,

( And then He / S101l'0 (rose over) the Throne (rea ll y in a

manne r that suits I li s Maj esty) (SoOl'all AI-A '1'0/7 :54)

( Those (angels) who bea r the Throne (of All ah) and th ose

around it glorify the prai ses o f the ir Lord, and be li eve in I-li m,

A Descriplioll of lhe Crealioll oflh e Throlle, Ihe 41

an d ask fo rgiveness for those who be li eve (in th e O neness

of A ll a h) (saying). " Our Lord ! You com prehend all things in

me rcy a nd know ledge " ." ) (SoO/'ah Ghajir 40:7)

( And eight a nge ls wi l! , tha t day, bear the T hro ne of yo ur Lord

abo ve them ) (Soorah A/-/-/aqqah 69: 17)

f And you w il! sec th e angels surroun ding th e Thron e (of

A lla h) from a ll round, g lorify ing the prai ses of the ir Lord

(A llah) , And they (a ll the creatures) will be j udged w ith tru th,

and it will be said , "A ll prai ses and tha nks be to All ah, the Lord

o f the 'A/all/eel! (ma nkind , j inll and a llt hilt ex ists)," ) (Soorah

In th e suppl ication aga inst di stress narrated in an aut hentic

//(Ideelh, it was sa id: "None has th e ri ght to be wors hipped

except Allah , the Great, the Most Forbearing . None has the

ri gh t to be worsh ipped exce pt Allah, the Lord o f the Nob le

Thron e, None has the right to be worshipped except A ll ah , th e

Lord of the heave ns and th e Lord of th e Ea rth, the Lord of the

Nob le Th rone." ( 1)

It has bee n establi shed in an au the nti c hadee/II in Sallee" A/-

Bukhari from the Messenger of A llah 3i5 that he said: "When

you ask A llah for Paradi se, ask for AI-Firdalls, because it is th e

highest and best place in Paradise and above it is the Throne of

the Mos t Benefi cent. " \2)

(t) Narrated by AI-Bukhari in the Hook ()jllll'o('(llioll.l' (6346) and by Muslim

(2 ) This is an excerpt from a /wdeelll narrated by Al-Bukhari, on the authority

of Abu I lurair.th ~ , in/he Book ojii/wd lIlId ,\Iililm), Erpediliolls (2790),

A c-__ of lhe C n !{llioll ol

It has a lso becn rcported in one tradition that "The in habi tants

of AIFirdaws li ste n to the groa ning o f the Throne and it is its

glorifi ca tion and ex tollin g of A llah ." (1) And th at ca n only mea n

that they arc near 10 it.

It has a lso been authentically reported that thc Mcsse nger of

A ll ah :1'i sa id: "Th e Th rone of thc Most Bencficc l1l shook due

to the dcath ofSa' d Ibn MU'<1dh." m

A I-Hafiz Ibn A I· I-Iafiz Muhammad Ibn 'U th ma n Ibn Abi

Shai ba h wrote in hi s book "The Descriplioll o.(lhe Throne ' on

the autho rity of one o f the Sa/a! 01 "The Throne was c reated

from a red ruby and th e distan cc betwcen its two sides woul d

take fifly thousand years to traverse." We mentioned when

citing the Words o f A ll ah , Most Hi gh, ( The angels and th e

Rooh (J ibraeIlGabri c l) asce nd to llim in n day the measure

\\ hereof is fi fly thousand yea rs ) (Sooralllll-Ma 'arij 70:4) that

the di stance between the Throne and th e seventh Eart h woul d

take fifty thousand years to traverse and its breadth is also fifty

So me of th e rati onali sts ha ve cont ended lhat th e Throne is a

circu lar heaven lh at enco mpasses the world on al l sides and

thai is why th ey referred 10 it <1S the Nin th Heaven, the Starl css

Heaven and A/-Alhee,- (the Ether). But th is is not good, because

il has becn establ ished that it has legs whic h are borne by the

angels and the heaven does not have legs, nor is it he ld and in

(I) This was narrated oJl the authority of JubaiT Ibn Mul'im. on the authority

o f hi s father, who reported it on the authority of hi s grandfather.

(2) Narrated by AIBukhari in the Buuk of ViI'llles (JROJ) and by Muslim in

the Book of Ihe Vir/IIt'.\· vf the Compol/iulls (2466).

(3) Sala! The first three praised generations from the Companions *

those that fo llowed them (the Tabi'oon) and those that followed them

(A ifill' ...1/- Tabi ·eell).

A Descrip/ioll oj/he Cr(!(1/irm of/he Throlle. /he 43

add iti on, it is above Pa radi se and Parad ise is above the heavens

and there arc a hund red leve ls between each of its scven level s,

th e distance between each of whic h is eq uiva lent to the distance

betwee n the heavens a nd the Earth. And the di stance between

th e Throne and the Klirsi is nol Ih e same as that be tween one

heaven and anot he r, In additio n, th e word 'Arsh (Throne) in

Arabic refers to th e thro ne of a king, as Alla h says, ( And she

(i.e. the Quee n of Sheba) has a great throne ... ) (SoO/'lill AI1-

Nanli 27:23) . It docs not mean a heaven and none of the Arabs

understands it to mean th at; and the Q ur 'an was sent down in

the la nguage of the Arabs and so it is a scat, whi ch has legs that

arc borne by th e angels and it is like a dome over the world

and the ceiling of creation, Allah, Most High, says, ( Those

(angel s) who bear the Throne (of A ll ah) and those around it

glorify the praises of their Lord, and be lieve in Ili m, and ask

for forgiyeness for those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah)

(saying), "Ou r Lord! You comp rehend all things in mercy a nd

know ledge, . . ·' ) (Soomh Ghqfir 40:7)

And He, Most Hi gh, says, ( and eight ange ls wi ll , that day.

bear the Throne of your Lord above them ) (SoO/'oh AI-J-1aqqah

In the poetry of 'A bd ull ah Ibn Rawa hah ~ whi ch he recited to

his wife, when she acc used him of impropri ety wi th his slave-

gi rl (,A I-Bahr AI-Waftr'), he says:

"I bore witness that A/lah~' Promise is true

Alld that the Fire is the abode a/the disbelievers.

Alld that the Throlle is above the wateJ;j/oatillg,

A lid above the Throlle is the Lord a/the worlds.

And if is bome by liable allgels.

44 I /JeRril'lirm oj'he Crealitm oj ' he l1mllJe, 'he

The aI/gels (~l lh e (olle lme) Deily (Illho are) eUlI/mallded. ,.

Thi s was recorded by Ibn 'A bdu l-Barr and ot her scho lars.

Abu Da wood narrated on the authority o f Jabir Ibn 'A bdu llah

that the Prophet ts said: " 1 was permitted to speak about one

o f the ange ls o r A llah , the A lmi ght y, the A ll -Powe rful , who

is one or the bearers or the Thron e and (to te ll you) that the

di stancc be twce n hi s earlo be and hi s shoulder is a journ ey of

sevcn hundrcd ycn rs." II) It was a lso narrated by Ibn Abi 'Asill1

with this wordin g, "(The distance is) like th at of a b ird fl yi ng

for seven hundred yea rs." m

And it is reported on the authority of Ibn ' Abbas .& and Sa'ecd

Ibn Jubai r tha t th ey said rega rdi ng the Words of A ll ah, Most

Hi gh. ( Ili s Kurs; ex tends ove r the hea vens an d the Ea rth .

and Ilc fee ls no fat Igue in g ll ~lr(ling and preserving them. And

l ie is the Most Il igh, Ihe Most Grea t ) (Soorall AI-Baqara/t

2:255), " It means, Hi s Know ledge." But what is known from

Ibn ' Abba s 4 is tha t he sa id, as reported by AIHak im in ;1/-

MII~'/(Idrak - who sa id that it is authentic according to the

criteria for acceptance c ited by AI-Bukhari and Mu slim - "T he

KI//'si is the Foo tstool and no onc is able to prope rl y estim ate

the Th rone exce pt A llah , th e A lmi ghty, Ihe AilPowe rFul." OJ

Ibn Jareer Al-Tabari said: YOOllUS to ld me: I was told by

Ibn Wa hb that hc said: Ibn Zaid said: My falher to ld me tha t

( I) Thi s is an :Iluhcntic Iwdeet!, narrated by Abu Dawood. in The Book oJ'he