Tafseer of The Night Journey · Al-Israa · 17:79
And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَكَ عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا (17:79)
Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: "Keep vigil after a sleep of the night with the Qurʾān, O Muḥammad — as an extra gift for you alone and not for your community." Al-tahajjud means: to awaken and keep vigil after a sleep of the night. Al-hujūd itself is "sleeping," as the poet said:
أَلا طَرَقَتْنَا وَالرِّفَاقُ هُجُودُ فَبَاتَتْ بِعُلاَتِ النَّوَالِ تَجُودُ
(She came to us by night from the side while the companions slept — and she passed the night generous with shifting gifts.)
And al-Ḥuṭayʾa said:
أَلا طَرَقَتْ هِنْدُ الهُنُودِ وَصُحْبَتِي بِحَوْرَانَ حَوْرَانِ الجُنُودِ هُجُودُ
(Hind came by night to my side — while my companions in Ḥawrān, the Ḥawrān of the armies, slept.)
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me; he said: my father and Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth related to us, on the authority of al-Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid ibn Yazīd, on the authority of Abī Hilāl, on the authority of al-Aʿraj. He said: Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf informed me, on the authority of a man from the Anṣār, that he was on a journey with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: "I want to see how the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prays." He said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ slept, then he awoke, raised his head toward heaven, and recited four āyāt from the end of Āl ʿImrān: إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ — until he went through the four; then he reached for the leather water-skin, took a siwāk and cleaned his teeth; he performed ablution, prayed, and slept; then he awoke and did the same as the first time. They claimed that this is the tahajjud which Allah commanded him to perform."
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me; he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; they said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of ʿAlqama and al-Aswad — they both said: "Al-tahajjud is after a sleep."
Ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: Abū ʿĀmir related to us; he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Aswad. He said: "Al-tahajjud is after a sleep."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us; he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba. He said: Abū Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yazīd, on the authority of ʿAlqama and al-Aswad — the same.
Al-Ḥārith related to me; he said: al-Qāsim related to us; he said: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAlqama. He said: "Al-tahajjud is after the sleep."
Al-Ḥārith related to me; he said: al-Qāsim related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Hishām, on the authority of al-Ḥasan. He said: "Al-tahajjud is what takes place after the ʿIshāʾ prayer."
It has been transmitted to me, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of al-Layth, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Rabīʿa, on the authority of al-Aʿraj, on the authority of Kathīr ibn al-ʿAbbās, on the authority of al-Ḥajjāj ibn ʿAmr. He said: "Al-tahajjud is only after a slumber."
As for His word نَافِلَةً لَكَ : Allah says: "an extra gift for you in addition to the obligations I have imposed upon you."
There was disagreement about the reason why the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was singled out by this address, given that the prayer of everyone who prays after he has slept — when he had already performed the obligatory prayers before his sleep — is a nāfila, that is to say: a supererogatory prayer (ghayr wājib). Some said: what is special about him is that this was obligatory for him, while for others it is a voluntary prayer; he was told: "Perform it as a nāfila for you" — that is to say: as an extra gift in addition to the obligations I imposed upon you, over and above what I made obligatory upon others.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me; he said: my father related to me; he said: my uncle related to me; he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَكَ : "By 'nāfila' He means that it is special to the Prophet ﷺ: he was commanded to keep vigil in the night, and that was prescribed for him."
Others said: this was said to him ﷺ in this way because his action did not wipe away any evil for him, since Allah the Exalted had already forgiven him what preceded of his sin and what would follow; it was therefore for him an extra grace (nāfilat faḍl), while for others it is expiation (kaffāra) and not a nāfila.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr, on the authority of Mujāhid. He said: "The nāfila is special to the Prophet ﷺ, because he has been forgiven what preceded of his sin and what would follow; what he did therefore beyond the obligatory prayers was a nāfila, because he did not do it as expiation for sins — they are extra gifts and additions. People perform what falls outside the obligatory prayers as expiation for their sins; therefore for the people they are not nāfilas."
The more correct of the two views is, in my opinion, the position which we mentioned from Ibn ʿAbbās. The reason is that Allah the Exalted had singled out the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with the obligation of the night prayer — distinguished from the rest of his community. What Mujāhid mentioned is a position without basis, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ most of all — according to transmission — appealed for forgiveness of his sins after the words of Allah descended upon him: لِيَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ . This sūra had descended upon him after his return from al-Ḥudaybiyya; and there descended upon him إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ in the year of his death, and in it he was told: فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا . And it was counted for him ﷺ a hundred times asking forgiveness in a single sitting. It is established that Allah did not command him to ask forgiveness unless He also forgave him when he did so. By this the falsity of what Mujāhid said is clearly proven.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us; he said: my father related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Shimir, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Shahr, on the authority of Abī Umāma. He said: "The nāfila was special to the Prophet ﷺ."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning نَافِلَةً لَكَ : "A voluntary prayer (taṭawwuʿ) and a special merit for you."
As for His word عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا : the "ʿAsā" of Allah is a certainty (wājib). The reason why the scholars say: the "ʿAsā" of Allah is a certainty, is that the believers know that Allah will not deprive the believing people of the reward for their deeds and the recompense for their obedience to Him; it does not befit His attributes to deceive, and there is no doubt that He gave the one to whom He said this hope in its beneficial effect when he faithfully perseveres in it and observes it. If the one of whom this was said persevered faithfully in it, and it then did not please him, and there was no impediment that separated him from it despite the expectations which He had previously raised in him by His word which He said to him, then He would have deceived His companion by breaking His promise. Because it is beyond all possibility that Allah, exalted be His remembrance, should have the deception of His servants among His attributes — it is established and certain that everything in which He gave them hope, whether of obedience or action or command or prohibition that He imposed upon them or forbade them, He will fulfill for them; and that is from Him as a promise that is inevitably fulfilled. They therefore said: the "ʿAsā" and "laʿalla" of Allah are certainties.
The meaning of the text is: "Establish the obligatory prayers, O Muḥammad, at the times which I commanded you, and keep vigil in the night as an obligation which I imposed upon you — so that your Lord may place you on the Day of Resurrection in a position where you stand praised, are honored, and are envied."
Then the exegetes differed about the meaning of that "al-maqām al-maḥmūd" (the Praised Position). Most of the scholars said: this is the position which the Prophet ﷺ takes on the Day of Resurrection to intercede (shafāʿa) for the people, to procure for them from His Lord deliverance from the enormous burden which they bear amid the terror of that day.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of Ṣila ibn Zufar, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa. He said: "The people are gathered on a level plain; the caller makes his voice penetrate them, the gaze reaches through them — barefoot, naked, as they were created, standing; no soul speaks except by His permission. It is called out: 'O Muḥammad!' Whereupon he says: 'Here I am and I obey, the good is in Your hands, evil is not to be attributed to You; whoever is guided is guided by You; Your servant stands before You; by You and to You; there is no refuge and no deliverance from You except to You; blessed are You and exalted; praised are You, Lord of this House.' That is the Praised Position which Allah the Exalted has mentioned."
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us; he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of Ṣila ibn Zufar, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa. He said: "The people are gathered on a level plain, no soul speaks; the first who is called is the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, whereupon the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ stands and says: 'Here I am'" — then he mentioned the same.
Sulaymān ibn ʿAmr ibn Khālid al-Raqqī related to us; he said: ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus related to us, on the authority of Rushdīn ibn Kurayb, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا . He said: "The Praised Position is the position of intercession (maqām al-shafāʿa)."
Ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl. He said: Abū al-Zaʿrāʾ related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh — in a narrative which he mentioned — he said: "Then the command is given for the ṣirāṭ and it is laid over the middle of Hell; the people pass over it according to their deeds: the first like the lightning, like the wind, like birds, like the swiftest of beasts, then so on down to the man who trots, then walks, until the last drags himself on his belly and says: 'Lord, why have You made me so slow?'; He says: 'I did not make you slow; only your deeds made you slow.' He said: 'Then Allah permits intercession; the first intercessor on the Day of Resurrection is Jibrāʾīl ﷺ, the Holy Spirit; then Ibrāhīm, the friend of the All-Merciful; then Mūsā or ʿĪsā' — Abū al-Zaʿrāʾ said: I do not know which of the two; 'then your Prophet ﷺ stands up fourth, and no one intercedes after him in what he intercedes for; that is the Praised Position which Allah mentioned: عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا .'"
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning the words of Allah the Exalted: وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَكَ عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا . He said: "The Praised Position is the position of intercession on the Day of Resurrection."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us; he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; he said: ʿĪsā related to us. And al-Ḥārith related to me; he said: al-Ḥasan related to us; he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا . He said: "The intercession of Muḥammad on the Day of Resurrection."
Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim al-Aḥwal, on the authority of Abī ʿUthmān, on the authority of Salmān. He said: "It is the intercession; Allah makes him intercede for his community; that is the Praised Position."
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا : "It has been transmitted to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was given the choice: to be a servant-Prophet, or a king-Prophet; Jibrāʾīl ﷺ urged him: be humble; whereupon the Prophet of Allah made the choice to be a servant-Prophet; for this the Prophet of Allah was given two things: he is the first whose earth splits open, and the first intercessor. The scholars regarded that as the Praised Position which Allah, blessed and exalted, mentioned: عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا — the intercession on the Day of Resurrection."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا : "It is the intercession; Allah lets him intercede for his community."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; he said: Maʿmar and al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of Ṣila ibn Zufar. He said: "I heard Ḥudhayfa say concerning عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا : 'Allah gathers the people on a level plain where the caller penetrates them, the gaze reaches through them — barefoot, naked, as they were created, in silence; no soul speaks except by His permission.' He said: 'Then Muḥammad is called, whereupon he says: Here I am and I obey, the good is in Your hands, evil is not to be attributed to You; whoever is guided is guided by You; Your servant stands before You; for You and to You; there is no refuge and no deliverance from You except to You; blessed and exalted are You; praised are You, Lord of the House.' He said: 'That is the Praised Position which Allah mentioned: عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا .'"
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of Ṣila ibn Zufar. Ḥudhayfa said: "Allah gathers the people on a level plain, where the gaze reaches through them and the caller penetrates them — barefoot, naked, as they were created the first time; then the Prophet ﷺ stands up and says: 'Here I am and I obey'" — then he mentioned something similar, but said: "That is the Praised Position."
Others said: the Praised Position which Allah promised His Prophet is that He seats Muḥammad beside Himself upon His Throne.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
ʿAbbād ibn Yaʿqūb al-Asadī related to us; he said: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا . He said: "Allah seats him beside Himself upon His Throne."
The more correct of the two views is what is established by an authentic transmission from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
That is what Abū Kurayb related to us; he said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Yazīd, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abī Hurayra. He said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا . He said: "That is the intercession (al-shafāʿa)."
ʿAlī ibn Ḥarb related to us; he said: Makkī ibn Ibrāhīm related to us; he said: Dāwūd ibn Yazīd al-Awdī related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abī Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, concerning عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا . He said: "This is the position where I intercede for my community."
Abū ʿUtba al-Ḥimṣī Aḥmad ibn al-Faraj related to us; he said: Baqiyya ibn al-Walīd related to us, on the authority of al-Zubaydī, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik, on the authority of Kaʿb ibn Mālik, that the Prophet ﷺ said: "The people are brought together on the Day of Resurrection; I and my community stand on a hill above the people; my Lord then clothes me with a green mantle; thereafter I am granted permission and I say what Allah wills that I say — that is the Praised Position."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me; he said: Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth related to us; he said: al-Layth related to me, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar. He said: "I heard Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar say: I heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar say: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'The sun draws near until the sweat reaches halfway up the ear; while they are thus they seek refuge with Ādam ﷺ; he says: I am not authorized for that; then with Mūsā ﷺ; he says the same; then with Muḥammad; he intercedes among the creation until he grasps the ring of Paradise; on that day Allah places him in the Praised Position.'"
Abū Zayd ʿAmr ibn Shabba related to me; he said: Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl related to us; he said: Saʿīd ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥakam. He said: ʿUthmān related to me, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of al-Aswad and ʿAlqama, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd. He said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I take the Praised Position." A man asked: "O Messenger of Allah, what is that Praised Position?" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "That is when you are brought together barefoot, naked and uncircumcised; the first to be clothed is Ibrāhīm ﷺ — he is given two white garments and puts them on, then he sits down facing the Throne; then my clothing is brought to me and I put it on; I stand at his right hand in a position which no one else takes, whereupon the first and the last envy me; then a river of al-Kawthar is opened toward the watering-place."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, that the Prophet ﷺ said: "On the Day of Resurrection Allah spreads out the earth like the leather — until every man has only a foothold left; the Prophet ﷺ said: 'I am the first who is called; Jibrāʾīl stands at the right of the All-Merciful — by Allah, he had never seen him thus before; I then say: Lord, this is the one who informed me that You had sent him to me; Allah, Mighty and Exalted, says: he has spoken the truth; then I intercede' — he said: 'That is the Praised Position.'"
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn. He said: the Prophet ﷺ said: "On the Day of Resurrection" — and he mentioned something similar; but he added: "Then I intercede and say: Lord, Your servants served You at the far corners of the earth — that is the Praised Position."
Ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: Abū ʿĀmir related to us; he said: Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭahmān related to us, on the authority of Ādam, on the authority of ʿAlī. He said: "I heard Ibn ʿUmar say: the people are brought together on the Day of Resurrection; with every Prophet comes his community; then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ comes as the last of the communities — he and his community; he and his community ascend a hill above the people; he says: 'O so-and-so, intercede; O so-and-so, intercede; O so-and-so, intercede' — and they keep passing it on to one another until it returns to him; that is the Praised Position which Allah promised him."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAwf related to us; he said: Ḥaywa and Rabīʿ related to us; they said: Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb related to us, on the authority of al-Zubaydī, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik, on the authority of Kaʿb ibn Mālik, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The people are brought together on the Day of Resurrection; I and my community stand on a hill; my Lord, Mighty and Exalted, clothes me with a green mantle; then I am granted permission and I say what Allah wills that I say — that is the Praised Position."
Although this is the most correct position regarding the interpretation of عَسَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا — on the basis of what we have mentioned from the transmissions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his companions and the successors — what Mujāhid said, namely that Allah seats Muḥammad ﷺ upon His Throne, is a position that has not been refuted: neither from transmission, nor from reasoning. For there is no transmission from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, nor from any of his companions, nor from the successors that brands this as impossible.
As for reasoning: all who adhere to Islam differed about the meaning of this in three opinions. One group said: Allah, Mighty and Exalted, is separate from His creation — as He was before He created things; then He created things without touching them, and is as He always was. The things which He created, with which He is not in contact, are necessarily separate from Him (mubāyin), for the action upon things is only by contact (mumāss) or by separation. They said: if Allah is the Maker of things, and it is not permissible in their view to describe Him as in contact with things, then He is in their view necessarily separate from them. According to the position of these people it is equivalent whether Allah seats Muḥammad ﷺ upon His Throne or upon the earth, for in their view His separation from the Throne and His separation from the earth are in the same sense: separate from both, without contact with either.
Another group said: Allah the Exalted, before His creation of things, was not in contact with anything, nor was anything separate from Him; then He created things and raised them up by His power, and is as He always was before the creation of things — not in contact with anything, nor anything separate from Him. According to the position of these people too it is equivalent whether Allah seats Muḥammad ﷺ upon His Throne or upon the earth, for to them His Throne and His earth are equivalent: there is for this no contact and no separation, just as there is for that no contact and no separation.
A third group said: Allah, mighty be His remembrance, before His creation of things, was not in contact with anything, nor was anything separate from Him; then He brought things into being and created them; He created for Himself a Throne upon which He settled (istawā) — seated — and was in contact with it; just as before the creation of things He had no one whom He fed or deprived, and afterward He created things and fed these and deprived those. They said: thus Allah too, before the creation, was not in contact with anything and not separate from anything; then He created things and was in contact with the Throne by settling upon it — distinguished from the rest of His creation. He is therefore in contact with what He wills of His creation, and separate from what He wills of it. According to the position of these people too it is equivalent whether Allah seats Muḥammad upon His Throne or upon an elevated throne of light — for in their view the settling of the Lord upon His Throne is not a settling that fills the entire Throne, and in the seating of Muḥammad ﷺ there is no assignment of the attribute of Lordship to him, nor his exclusion from the attribute of servanthood to his Lord; just as Muḥammad's ﷺ separation from what is separate from him does not mean the assignment to him of the attribute of Lordship, nor his exclusion from the attribute of servanthood to his Lord — because he is described as being separate from it, just as Allah, according to the view of the one who takes this position, is described as being also separate from it; and he is separate from it. They said: since "separate" and "being separate from" do not entail for Muḥammad ﷺ exclusion from the attribute of servanthood and do not entail his entry into the meaning of Lordship, neither does his sitting upon the Throne of the All-Merciful entail that for him. Thus it has become clear through what we said that there is nothing impossible — in the view of any who adhere to Islam — in what Mujāhid said: that Allah, blessed and exalted, seats Muḥammad upon His Throne.
If someone says: "We do not deny that Allah seats Muḥammad upon His Throne; we only deny that Allah seats him beside Himself" — then ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm related to us; he said: Yaḥyā ibn Kathīr related to us, on the authority of al-Jurāyrī, on the authority of Sayf al-Sadūsī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām. He said: "Muḥammad ﷺ sits on the Day of Resurrection upon the seat of the Lord before the Lord, blessed and exalted" — and the denial concerns only His seating him beside Himself. Ask then: "Is it permissible in your view that Allah seats him upon it — not beside Himself?" If one permits this, one falls into the admission that Allah seats him upon it while Allah is separate from the Throne, or neither in contact with nor separate from him; and whichever of these two one says, one thereby falls back into a part of what one first denied. And if one says: "That is not permissible," then one departs from the view of all the groups whose view we have mentioned; and that is the abandonment of the view of all who adhere to Islam, for there is no position outside the three which we have mentioned, and in none of them is what Mujāhid said impossible.
