al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi

al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi (The Throne and What Has Been Narrated Regarding It) is a third-century AH theological and hadith treatise by the Kufan hadith scholar Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn Abi Shayba (d. 297 AH / 910 CE) al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi+1. The book compiles textual evidence concerning the reality of the divine Throne (al-Arsh), God's highness (uluww), and His ascent above His creation (istiwa'), specifically refuting early theological doctrines attributed to the Jahmiyya al-Uluw lil-Ali al-Ghaffa…+1.

Background and Purpose

Ibn Abi Shayba opens the work with a polemical statement outlining his motivation for composing it al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi+1. He identifies the work as a direct rebuttal of the Jahmiyya, whom he describes as denying that there is a veil (hijab) between God and His creation, rejecting the existence of the Throne and that God is above it and above the heavens, and asserting that God is in every place and intermingled with creation al-Uluw lil-Ali al-Ghaffa…+1. In contrast, he notes that scholars interpreted Quranic verses of divine accompaniment, such as وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ ("And He is with you"), as referring to God's knowledge, and that extensively transmitted (mutawatir) reports affirm that God created the Throne, ascended over it, and is above it, distinct (ba'in) from His creation al-Uluw lil-Ali al-Ghaffa….

Structure and Method

The work is organized according to the methodology of the traditionalist hadith scholars (muhaddithun) al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi. Beyond the author's opening introductory statement, the text consists of approximately ninety prophetic hadiths and non-prophetic reports (athar) transmitted with their complete chains of narration (isnad) al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi.

The narrations in the text cover several core creedal and cosmological topics:

• The affirmation of God's transcendence (uluww) and His ascent over the Throne (istiwa') al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi+1.
• The physical reality of the Throne as the greatest created entity, along with descriptions of its size and characteristics al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi+1.
• The description of the Footstool (al-Kursi) al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi.
• The angels who bear the Throne (hamalat al-Arsh), including their creation, numbers, descriptions, and functions al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi+1.
• Hadiths affirming the divine descent (al-nuzul), which conclude the book al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi.

Because the narrations relate directly to various Quranic passages concerning the creation of the heavens, the Throne, and divine attributes, the work also functions as a thematic source of early Quranic commentary (tafsir) al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi.

Transmission and Influence

The text represents one of the earliest standalone treatises authored by early traditionalists devoted exclusively to the subject of the Throne and divine transcendence Ijtima al-Juyush al-Islam…+1. It was transmitted through hadith transmission networks; surviving transmission records document its transmission from Ibn Abi Shayba via Abu Ali Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Sawwaf, and through later scholars such as Abu al-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Khalil al-Dimashqi (who transmitted it in the Great Mosque of Aleppo in 633 AH) and Fakhr al-Din Ali ibn Ahmad al-Maqdisi al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi+1.

Later scholars writing on the creed of the early generations drew directly upon Ibn Abi Shayba's collection, notably Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi, who utilized it as a source and quoted from it in works such as Kitab al-Arsh and Kitab al-Uluww al-Uluw lil-Ali al-Ghaffa…+1.

Printed Editions

The work has been published in single-volume scholarly editions, including:

• An edition edited and annotated by Muhammad Hamad al-Humud, published by Maktabat al-Ma'alla in Kuwait (1406 AH / 1986 CE) al-Mashyakha al-Baghdadiy…+1.
• An edition edited with an extensive introductory study by Muhammad ibn Khalifa al-Tamimi, published by Maktabat al-Rushd in Riyadh (1418 AH / 1998 CE) al-Arsh wa ma ruwiya fihi.