As expected, Ibn Taymiyya was of the view that Allah descends in the plain sense. In line with his theological principle, he accepted the apparent meaning of nuzūl, just as he accepted the apparent meanings of other attributes.
Kalām Theologians reinterpreted the hadith to mean that Allah’s mercy, His command, or an angel descends.
They objected that since the earth is round and the last third of the night is always present somewhere, if the apparent meaning is affirmed Allah would always be descending and ascending. They concluded that Ibn Taymiyya’s position entails contradiction.
Contemporary Answers and Their Limits
Today, when questioned about how Allah descends, many Muslim scholars respond with the general principle Ibn Taymiyya taught: the meaning is known, but the kayfiyya is unknown. They affirm that we understand what descending means, and that it entails nearness, but we do not know how Allah does it.
For example, Shaykh Muhammad Salah explained that Allah descends to the lowest heaven in a manner befitting Him, without taʾwīl (reinterpretation) or taʿṭīl (negation). We believe it as it is, without questioning how.
Although correct, such answers can sometimes seem insufficient.
A person asking might mean that if Allah descends in the plain sense, He must leave His Throne, which seems problematic. Others might see it as similar to theological contradictions like the Trinity. Ibn Taymiyya and the kalām theologians alike agreed that doctrines entailing contradictions cannot be ascribed to Allah.
Ibn Taymiyya’s Response
Ibn Taymiyya held that Allah’s nuzūl is real, involving drawing closer to His creation, but not in a way that entails leaving the Throne. If Allah were to leave His Throne, contradictions would follow. He would be encompassed by the heavens, which is impossible.
He would always be under His Throne, and He cannot be both above and below at once. The Qur’an also indicates that Allah’s Throne has not been empty since He rose over it after creation.
To strengthen this view, Ibn Taymiyya cited Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, and Hammad ibn Zayd, who affirmed that Allah does not vacate the Throne when He descends.
He explained that Allah descends relative to people across the earth. For one region, Allah descends in their last third of the night, and then ascends at dawn.
For another region, He descends when their last third begins. In this way, Allah is continuously descending and ascending in relation to different people, while never leaving His Throne.
Translation: One day Ishaq ibn Rahawayh (d. 238 AH) was present and he was asked about the hadith of nuzul (the descent of Allah). Is it authentic? He said: Yes. Then one of the commanders of Abdullah said to him:
O Abu Yaqub, do you claim that Allah descends every night?
He said: Yes. The man said: How does He descend?
Ishaq replied: Establish Him above first, then I will describe the descent for you.
The man said: Establish Him above. So Ishaq said: Allah the Exalted said: وَجَاءَ رَبُّكَ وَالْمَلَكُ صَفًّا صَفًّا “And your Lord will come with the angels, rank upon rank” (al Fajr 22).
Then the commander Abdullah ibn Tahir said: O Abu Yaqub, this is on the Day of Resurrection.
Ishaq said: May Allah honour the commander, and who is there to prevent Him today from coming as He comes on the Day of Resurrection? (This narration was reported by al Sabuni in Aqidah al Salaf 29–30 through the route of Ibrahim ibn Abi Talib from Ahmad al Rabbati, and al Dhahabi mentioned it in al Uluw p. 132, and al Albani authenticated it in Mukhtasar al Uluw p. 193).
Then after this, the question arises: when He descends, does the Throne become empty of Him or not? This is another matter that the people of affirmation (ahl al ithbat) spoke about.
Some of them said: the Throne does not become empty of Him. This was narrated from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH) in his letter to Musaddad (Musaddad ibn Musarhad ibn Musaril al Asadi al Basri, Abu al Hasan. Al Dhahabi said: the Imam, the hafidh, the hujjah. He died in 228 AH. See Siyar A‘lam al Nubala 10/591, Tahdhib al Tahdhib 10/107, Shadharat al Dhahab 2/66),
and from Ishaq ibn Rahawayh (d. 238 AH), Hammad ibn Zayd (d. 179 AH), and Uthman ibn Sa‘id al Darimi (d. 280 AH),
and others (Hammad ibn Zayd ibn Dirham al Azdi, their client, al Basri. Al Dhahabi said: the Imam, the hafidh, the precise one, Shaykh of Iraq. He died in 179 AH. See Tadhkirat al Huffaz 1/228, Tahdhib al Tahdhib 3/9, Shadharat al Dhahab 1/292. Uthman ibn Sa‘id ibn Khalid al Darimi al Sijistani. Al Dhahabi said: the hafidh, the Imam, the hujjah. He died in 280 AH. See Tadhkirat al Huffaz 2/621, Tabaqat al Hanabilah 1/221, Shadharat al Dhahab 2/176).
And some denied this and criticised this letter, saying that its narrator from Ahmad ibn Hanbal is unknown, not recognised.
The first view is the one known among the Imams, like Hammad ibn Zayd, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, and others.
Al Khallal (Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Harun al Baghdadi al Hanbali, d. 311 AH. Al Dhahabi said: the jurist, the scholar, the hadith master, the compiler and organiser of the knowledge of Ahmad ibn Hanbal. See Tadhkirat al Huffaz 3/785, Tarikh Baghdad 5/112, Tabaqat al Hanabilah 2/12)
said in his book al Sunnah: Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al Firyabi (Abu Bakr Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al Firyabi al Turki, d. 301 AH. Al Dhahabi said: the scholar, the hafidh, the shaykh of the time, trustworthy and reliable. See Tadhkirat al Huffaz 2/692, Tabaqat al Huffaz p. 301)
narrated to us, he said: Ahmad ibn Muhammad al Muqaddami (Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ali ‘Ata ibn Muqaddam Abu Uthman al Muqaddami. Ibn Abi Hatim said: truthful. He died in 264 AH. See al Jarh wa al Ta‘dil 2/73, Tarikh Baghdad 4/398)
narrated to us, he said: Sulayman ibn Harb (Sulayman ibn Harb al Azdi al Washiji al Basri, the qadi of Makkah. Ibn Hajar said: trustworthy, an Imam, a hafidh from the ninth generation, he died in 224 AH. Reported by the authors of the six books. See Taqrib al Tahdhib 1/888, Tarikh Baghdad 9/33, Tadhkirat al Huffaz 1/393) narrated to us.
that Bishr ibn al Sari (Bishr ibn al Sari Abu Amr, the preacher. Al Bukhari said in al Mizaan: Bishr ibn al Sari Abu Amr, a man of admonitions and speech. Ibn Ma‘in said: trustworthy. Al Humaydi said: a Jahmi, not to be written from. Al Dhahabi said: as for Jahmiyyah, he repented from it, and his hadith is in the books of the Sunnah. He died in 195 AH. See Mizaan al I‘tidal 1/317, al Kamil fi al Du‘afa 2/449)
asked Hammad ibn Zayd, saying: O Abu Isma‘il, the hadith which came that our Lord descends to the lowest heaven, does He move from one place to another? Hammad ibn Zayd remained silent, then said: He is in His place, drawing near to His creation as He wills (This narration was reported by al ‘Uqayli in al Du‘afa 1/143 through Ja‘far al Firyabi, and by Ibn Battah in al Ibanah al Kubra in a similar wording as in Mukhtasar al Ibanah p. 197, through Abu Hatim from Sulayman ibn Harb. Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned it in Dar’ Ta‘arud al Aql wa al Naql 2/24 and in al Asfahaniyyah p. 25 and attributed it to al Khallal in al Sunnah ).
And Ibn Battah (Ubayd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Battah al Ukbari, Abu Abdullah, d. 387 AH. Ibn al Imad said: the great Imam, the hafidh, the faqih, the righteous servant. See Shadharat al Dhahab 3/122, Mizaan al I‘tidal 3/15)
narrated it in his book al Ibanah, saying: Abu al Qasim Hafs ibn Umar al Ardabili (Hafs ibn Umar al Ardabili, Abu al Qasim. Al Dhahabi said: the hafidh, the useful one, trustworthy and understanding. He died in 339 AH. See Tadhkirat al Huffaz 3/850, Shadharat al Dhahab 2/349)
narrated to us, he said: Abu Hatim al Razi (Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al Mundhir ibn Dawud al Hanẓali al Razi, d. 277 AH. Al Dhahabi said: the Imam, the great hafidh. See Tadhkirat al Huffaz 2/567, Tarikh Baghdad 3/73, Shadharat al Dhahab 2/171)
narrated to us, he said: Sulayman ibn Harb narrated to us, he said: Bishr ibn al Sari asked Hammad ibn Zayd, saying: O Abu Isma‘il, the hadith which came that Allah descends to the lowest heaven, does He move from one place to another? Hammad ibn Zayd remained silent, then said: He is in His place, drawing near to His creation as He wills (See Mukhtasar al Ibanah p. 197, its chain is authentic, its narrators are trustworthy, and they are huffaz as will be seen ).
Sharh Hadith An Nuzul Pages 149-151
Translation: The night differs, so that its third in the east comes before its third in the west. His nuzul (descent), which His Messenger informed of, is to the heaven of these people during their third of the night, and to the heaven of those people during their third of the night. One matter does not distract Him from another.
Likewise is His nearness to the supplicant who calls upon Him, and to the one who draws close to Him, and to the one who prostrates.
For each one, wherever he is, there is a nearness particular to him, which none shares with him. Two men may prostrate in one place, and for each one there is a nearness specific to him, not shared by the other.
Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (5/243)
Distinguishing Types of Motion
In reply to the kalām objection that descending requires leaving a place, Ibn Taymiyya argued that not all motion is the same. He gave the example of the human soul. Revelation teaches that the soul ascends and descends, leaves the body, and has spatial relations, yet in a way very different from the body.
The soul may ascend without the body vacating its place. If such motion is possible for created souls, then the Creator’s nuzūl cannot be denied on rational grounds.
Thus, Allah’s descending does not entail vacating place, nor likeness to creation. This is shown below from the two passages in the Shayk’s Majmu Fatawa.
Translation: When it is known that the sleeper is asleep, and yet his soul sits, stands, walks, goes, speaks, and does actions and affairs within his body along with his soul, and that by this his body and soul experience bliss and punishment, even though his body is lying down, his eyes are closed, and his mouth is shut, and his limbs are still, though his body may move because of the strength of the inner movement, and he may rise, walk, speak, and cry out because of the strength of what is occurring within him, then this becomes something by which the matter of the dead in their graves is considered.
For his soul sits, is made to sit, is questioned, enjoys bliss, suffers punishment, and cries out, all of which is connected to his body, while it is lying down in its grave. And the matter may become stronger until this appears upon his body, and he may be seen coming out of his grave, with punishment upon him and the angels of punishment appointed over him, so that his body moves, walks, and comes out of his grave.
And more than one has heard the voices of those punished in their graves, and some have been seen coming out of their graves while being punished, and some have been seen with their bodies sitting up also when the matter became strong.
Yet this is not necessary in the case of every dead person, just as the sitting of the body of a sleeper for what he sees is not necessary for every sleeper, but rather it depends upon the strength of the matter.
And it is known that many bodies are not consumed entirely by the earth, such as the bodies of the Prophets, and of others besides the Prophets such as the truthful ones, and the martyrs of Uhud, and others than the martyrs of Uhud.
The reports of this are mass transmitted. The intended meaning, however, is that what the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned of the dead being made to sit in an unrestricted sense includes the sitting of their inner selves, even if the outward body remains lying down.
And similar to this is his, peace and blessings be upon him, informing of what he saw on the night of the Mi’raj of the Prophets in the heavens, that he saw Adam, Isa, Yahya, Yusuf, Idris, Harun, Musa, and Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon them. And he also informed that he saw Musa standing and praying in his grave, and he also saw him in the heavens.
And it is known that the bodies of the Prophets are in the graves, except for Isa and Idris. And when Musa was standing praying in his grave, and then he was seen in the sixth heaven, while the time between the two was close, this is something that does not occur for the physical body. From this also is the descent of the angels, peace be upon them, such as Jibril and others.
So when it is known that what the angels and the souls of the children of Adam are described with of movement, ascending, descending, and other such matters, is not like the movement of the bodies of the children of Adam and other things that we witness with sight in this world, and that within them there can occur that which cannot occur in the bodies of the children of Adam, then what the Lord is described with in this regard is more worthy of being possible and further from resembling the descent of bodies. Rather His descent does not resemble the descent of the angels or the souls of the children of Adam, even though that is closer than the descent of bodies.
Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (5/525-527)
Translation: If it is not permissible to say that the attributes of the ruh (spirit) and its actions are like the attributes of the body which is the flesh, while they are joined together and both of them make up the human being, then if the spirit of the human is not similar to the body which is his flesh.
How can it then be permissible to make the Lord, blessed and exalted, His attributes and His actions, like a body, its attributes, and its actions?
Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (5/354)
Reason, Revelation, and the Unseen
Reason cannot grasp the full how of Allah’s acts, but it can grasp the meaning of nuzūl and recognise no contradiction in it. A truthful Prophet only speaks truth. Prophets do not teach contradictions such as multiple gods or the Incarnation. Believers accept the unseen on the word of the Messenger. If a matter entails contradiction, it is rejected. If its possibility is unknown, it is affirmed through Revelation.
