Belief in Istiwa’ without Likeness to Creation

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Imam Kamal ad-Din Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahid ibn al-Humam al-Hanafi (r.a.) wrote, in Musayarah fi ‘Ilm al-Kalam wa al-‘Aqa’id Tawhidiyyah, “It is obligatory to believe that Allah is Established on the Throne while negating any likeness to Creation.  As for saying that His Establishment is a conquering move, it is permissible but not obligatory since there is no evidence for it specifically.”  He continued, “However, if it is feared that the common people will not understand istiwa’ without conceiving of contact and other corporeal characteristics, and if they do not negate the latter, then there is no harm in directing their understanding to istila’, as its usage and meaning for istiwa’ is established in language from the poet’s saying, ‘Bishr has conquered Iraq,’ and ‘When we towered above them and conquered them’ ...”