Response Concerning the Meaning of Allah’s Descent

A benefit: Regarding what some people say about Allah’s descent during the last third of the night — that it is a real or literal descent, as stated in Mukhtaṣar al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah — we respond as follows:

First: A real or literal descent can only occur in bodies, and Allah, Exalted is He, is not a body.

Second: It has been firmly established and is well-known among astronomers — and has been accepted by nations — that the sun is in constant rotation, and that the earth is spherical and revolves around the sun. Thus, night and day rotate around the earth: daytime is continuous on one part of the earth while nighttime is continuous on another part. Likewise, the last third of the night is in constant rotation over the earth; it does not end in one region except that it begins in another. This has been the case ever since Allah created the universe in its present form.

Anyone can confirm the truth of what we say through a telephone call (i.e., by communicating with people in other time zones). Based on this, the Exalted Creator would be continuously “descending,” following the last third of the night around the globe — which would mean that the Throne would be left without His “establishment upon it,” and the Footstool would be left without His “feet.”

From this, it becomes clear to us that the interpretation of the Zaydī scholars — that Allah’s “descent” refers to the descent of His mercy — is correct. Thus, there can be no reliance on the knowledge of the author of al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah and his followers. The truth lies with the Zaydiyyah in this and similar matters — such as the interpretation of “coming,” “going,” “ascending,” and “descending.”

By the same reasoning, it also becomes clear that the claim of the author of al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah — that the divine attribute of loftiness (ʿulū) is literal and real for Allah — is invalid. He uses as evidence the verse:

“To Him ascends the good word” (Qur’an, Fāṭir 35:10),

and similar verses.

However, directional height (ʿulū) is a relative matter. Since the earth is spherical, the “upper” part for some people is “lower” for others. For example, the sun is above the illuminated half of the earth while, at the same time, it is beneath the dark half. So, where is the “height” that is attributed to Allah, when beneath us there is a heaven, above us there is a heaven, and to our right, in front of us, and behind us there are also heavens — each one being “above” relative to the portion of the earth it faces?