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The question

Is God's description of Himself as being above the Throne in the Qur'an literal or metaphorical, and has any hadith or interpretation by Ibn Abbas been reported regarding this?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

Allah has affirmed for Himself the attribute of "istiwa' (ascending/establishing Himself) over the Throne" in the Quran. This is an actual attribute affirmed by the Ahl al- wal-Jama'ah without distortion or anthropomorphism. The istiwa' is real and befits His majesty, glory be to Him. Its modality is unknown to us; therefore, we relegate its modality to Allah. The pious predecessors of the Ummah unanimously agreed on affirming attributes for Allah Almighty as they truly are. The Kursi (Footstool) is the place of Allah's feet, and the 'Arsh (Throne) is of immeasurable grandeur. This interpretation by Ibn Abbas indicates that the istiwa' is real. The variations in Quranic translations are due to differences in its interpretations and the influence of translators' madhhabs (schools of thought).

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Where this answer came from
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Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
3069
Imported
Translation status
Source text, unreviewed
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