Rahman is Seated Upon the Throne (Part 2)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

اللهم صلى على محمد وعلى ال محمد

Last month I posted an article outlining the Islamic belief that Allah—Holy and Exalted is He—is seated upon His Throne. The Hadith to that effect is disputed because of the presence of the narrator al-Alaa bin Maslamah, who is considered a fabricator. However, it appears the actual narrator is al-Alaa bin Salim, as Ibn Kathir has illustrated (Tafsir Ibn Kathir; v.5, p.272):

حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ زُهَيْرٍ حَدَّثَنَا الْعَلَاءُ بْنُ سَالِمٍ حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ الطَّالَقَانِيُّ حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ عَنْ سُفْيَانَ عَنْ سِمَاكِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ عَنْ ثَعْلَبَةَ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وسلم يقول اللَّهُ تَعَالَى لِلْعُلَمَاءِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِذَا ‌قَعَدَ عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ لِقَضَاءِ عِبَادِهِ إِنِّي لَمْ أَجْعَلْ عِلْمِي وَحِكْمَتِي فِيكُمْ إِلَّا وَأَنَا أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَغْفِرَ لَكُمْ عَلَى مَا كَانَ مِنْكُمْ وَلَا أُبَالِي

Likewise, Abu Nuaim al-Isbahani has also named the narrator in question al-Alaa bin Salim and not al-Alaa bin Maslamah, however, in his report there is the wording:

إِذَا ‌قَضَى ‌عَلَى ‌كُرْسِيِّهِ بَيْنَ عِبَادِهِ

When He shall judge between His servants upon His Kursi (Ma’rifat us-Sahabah; v.487, #1386):

instead of “sitting upon His Kursi” the version here is “judging upon His Kursi”.

Imam Abi Dawud Sulaiman bin Ash’ath as-Sijistani said about al-Alaa bin Salim:

ما كان به بأس

There was no problem with him (Tarikh Baghdad; v.14, p.163, #6646):

In another Hadith reported by ad-Diya al-Maqdisi and others, the Prophet [sall Allahu alaihi wasallam] is narrated to have said:

إِنَّ كُرْسِيَّهُ وَسِعَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ‌وَإِنَّهُ ‌يَقْعُدُ ‌عَلَيْهِ فَمَا يَفْضُلُ مِنْهُ قِيدُ أَرْبَعِ أَصَابِعَ مَدَّ أَصَابِعَهُ الْأَرْبَعَ وَإِنَّ لَهُ أَطِيطًا كَأَطِيطِ الرَّحْلِ الْجَدِيدِ إِذَا رُكِبَ مِنْ ثِقَلِهِ

"Indeed, His Kursi extends over the heavens and earth and He sits on it. Not even the space of four fingers is left." He then displayed this by joining his fingers. "It screeches just as a new camel saddle screeches when someone weighty mounts it" (al-Ahadith al-Mukhtarah; v.1, p.265, #153):

The Hanbali scholar, Abu Muhammad Mahmud bin Abil-Qasim ad-Dashti, has also mentioned this Hadith and declared it authentic upon the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim (Ithbat al-Hadd Lillah; pp.147, 149, #33, 36):

The authenticity of this narration is likewise disputed, this time because of the narrator Abd Allah bin Khalifah al-Hamdani. However, Ibn Hibban mentioned him in his book listing trustworthy narrators (ath-Thiqat; v.5, p.28):