بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

al-Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi [d. 606] states:

As for the statement of Allah ta’ala:

“Then He established Himself on the Throne”,
«ثم استوى على العرش»,

“Thumma istiwā’ ‘alā al-‘Arsh”,

Know that it is impossible to mean by this that He is settled on the Throne in a literal sense. This interpretation is invalid for both rational (‘aqliyya) and scriptural (naqliyya) reasons.

Rational Arguments:

First: If He were settled on the Throne, He would either be limited (mutanahiyan) by the side adjacent to the Throne, or the Throne would be encompassed (dakhilan) within His essence (dhat), which is absurd.

Anything that is limited (mutanahiyan) is conceivable by the intellect (‘aql) to be capable of increasing or decreasing in size. This fact is self-evident. If Allah ta’ala were limited from any side (al-jawanib), His essence (dhat) would be subject to increase (al-ziyadah) or decrease (al-nuqsan), and anything that can increase or decrease must be specified (takhsis) by a specifier (mukhassis). That which is determined (al-taqdir) by a determiner (muqaddir) is created (muhdath). Therefore, if Allah ta’ala were on the Throne, He would be limited by the side adjacent to it, which would make Him created, and this is impossible. Thus, the idea of Him being on the Throne must be impossible.

Second: If He were in a place (makan) or direction (jiha), He would either be infinite (ghayr mutanah) in all directions, finite (mutanahiyan) in all directions, or finite in some directions but not others. All of these are invalid. Therefore, the claim that He occupies a place or space is definitively false.

[al-Tafsir al-Kabir, Volume 14, pg. 106-107]

جَزَاكَ اللهُ خَيْرًا