Al-Arsh () is the

throne of God The throne of God is the reigning centre of God in the Abrahamic religions: primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The throne is said by various holy books to reside beyond the Seventh Heaven which is called ''Araboth'' ( ''‘ărāḇōṯ ...

Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding creed. The main schools of Islamic theology include the extant Mu'tazili, Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari schools; the extinct ones ...

. It is believed to be the largest of all the creations of God. The Throne of God has figured in extensive theological debates across Islamic history with respect to the question of the anthropomorphism and corporealism of God.

Quran

The

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

mentions the throne some 25 times (33 times as ''Al-Arsh''), such as in verse and : The Quran depicts the angels as carrying the throne of God () and praising his glory (). The '' Ayat al-Kursi'' (often glossed as "Verse of the footstool"), is a verse from

Al-Baqara Al-Baqarah (, ; "The Heifer" or "The Cow"), also spelled as Al-Baqara, is the second and longest chapter (''surah'') of the Quran. It consists of 286 verses ('' āyāt'') which begin with the "'' muqatta'at''" letters ''alif'' ()'', lām'' ( ...

, the second ''

sura A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ( al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the ...

'' of the Quran. It references the Kursi (كرسي) which is different from the Throne (عرش), and also God's greatest name, ''Al-Hayy Al-Qayyoom'' ("The Living, the Eternal").

Hadith

Sunni

Sunni prophetic hadith say that The Throne is above the roof of ''Al-Firdaus Al-'Ala'', the highest level of Paradise where God's closest and most beloved servants in the hereafter shall dwell. Sunni scholars of

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

have stated that

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

said the reward for reciting Ayatul Kursi after every prayer is

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

, and that reciting it is a protection from the devil.

Characteristics

* Its breadth has been described as the

Seven Heavens In ancient Near Eastern cosmology, the seven heavens refer to seven firmaments or physical layers located above the open sky. The concept can be found in ancient Mesopotamian religion, Judaism, and Islam. Some traditions complement the seven ...

is like a ring in a desert in relation to the Kursi or the footstool of Allah, and likewise the Kursi is like a ring in a desert in relation to "the Throne",ما هو الفرق بين عرش الربّ وكرسيه
islamqa.info On the authority of

Abu Dharr al-Ghifari Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari Al-Kinani (, '), also spelled Abu Tharr or Abu Zar, born Jundab ibn Junādah (), was the fourth or fifth person converting to Islam, and a member of the Muhajirun. He belonged to the Banu Ghifar, the Kinanah tribe. His dat ...

, he said: * The Throne is the highest of all creatures, and it was primarily on the water.خلق العرش والكرسي
ـ موقع الكلم الطيب The Quran says: and on the authority of

Abdullah ibn Masud Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud (; ) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad whom Sunni Islamic tradition regards the greatest interpreter of the Quran of his time and the second ever. He was also known by the ''kuniya'' Abu Abd al-Rahman.Muhammad ...

he said:

Views

Sufi

Sufi Muslims believe God created the throne as a sign of his power and not as place of dwelling.

Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi Abū Manṣūr ʿAbd al-Qāhir ibn Ṭāhir bin Muḥammad bin ʿAbd Allāh al-Tamīmī al-Shāfiʿī al-Baghdādī (), more commonly known as Abd al-Qāhir al-Baghdādī () or simply Abū Manṣūr al-Baghdādī () was an Arab Sunni scholar fr ...

(d. 429/1037) in his ''

al-Farq bayn al-Firaq Al-Farq bayn al-Firaq is a book by the Shafi'i scholar Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi (d. 1037 CE) outlining the doctrinal positions of various sects and schisms in Islam. Written as an explanation of the hadith regarding the division of the Muslim umma ...

'' (The Difference between the Sects) reports that

'Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until Assassination of Ali, his assassination in 661, as well as the first imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muha ...

, said: "

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

created the Throne as an indication of His power, not for taking it as a place for Himself." The vast majority of Islamic scholars, including

Sunnis Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

(

Ash'aris Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

Maturidis Maturidism () is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. It is one of the three creeds of Sunni Islam alongside Ash'arism and Atharism, and prevails in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Al-Maturidi codified ...

and

Sufis Sufism ( or ) is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism, and asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are referred to as "Sufis" (from , ), and ...

Mu'tazilis Mu'tazilism (, singular ) is an Islamic theological school that appeared in early Islamic history and flourished in Basra and Baghdad. Its adherents, the Mu'tazilites, were known for their neutrality in the dispute between Ali and his opponents ...

, and

Shi'is Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

(

Twelvers Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the largest branch of Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as t ...

and

Isma'ilis Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept M ...

) believe the Throne ( ''al-'Arsh'') as a symbol of God's power and authority and not as a dwelling place for Himself, others describe it as an allegory, and many others said that the heart of the believer is the Throne of Allah (قلب المؤمن عرش الله), a quote criticized by Salafi Muslim scholars.

Salafi

Some Islamic sects, such as the Karramis and the Salafis believe that God has created it as a place of dwelling.

Bearers of the Throne

Bearers of the Throne Bearers of the Throne or also known as ḥamlat al-arsh (), are a group of angels in Islam. The Quran mentions them in and . They are mentioned in the al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, a book of prayers attributed to Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin. ...

'' or ''ḥamlat al-arsh'' (حملة العرش) are a group of

angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. The Quran mentions them in and . Other

s describes them with six wings and four faces. While according to a hadith transmitted from

At-Targhib wat-Tarhib ''At-Targhib wat-Tarhib'' () or ''Targhib wal Tarhib'', () is one of the Hadith book collections compiled and authored by Hafiz Zaki al-Din al-Mundhiri. Etymology The term ''"targhib"'' means "encouragement", "motivation", "stimulation" or " ...

authored by ʻAbd al-ʻAẓīm ibn ʻAbd al-Qawī al-Mundhirī, the bearers of the throne were angels who shaped like a

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

, with their feet on the earth and their nape supporting the

Throne of God The throne of God is the reigning centre of God in the Abrahamic religions: primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The throne is said by various holy books to reside beyond the Seventh Heaven which is called ''Araboth'' ( ''‘ărāḇōṯ ...

in the highest sky. a number modern Islamic scholars from Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University , and other institutes Yemen and Mauritania also agreed the soundness of this hadith by quoting the commentary from

Ibn Abi al-Izz Sadr ad-Dīn Abu'l Ḥasan ʿAlī Ibn Abī al-ʻIzz () was a 14th-century Arab Muslim scholar. He was a jurist of the Hanafi school and was nicknamed ''Qāḍī al-Quḍāh'' (the Judge of Judges). He served as a ''qadi'' in Damascus and Egypt. ...

who supported this narrative. These four angels are also held to be created from different elements: One from light, one from fire, one from water and one from mercy. It is also said they are so large that a journey from their earlobes to their shoulders would take seven hundred years. According to various Islamic tafsir scholars which compiled by

Islamic University of Madinah The Islamic University of Madinah () is a public Islamic university in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Established by King Saud bin Abdulaziz in 1961, Sayy’id Abul Ala Maududi had played a significant role of establishing and running of Islamic Univers ...

and Indonesian religious ministry, the number of these angels will be added from four into eight angels during the

Day of Resurrection In Islam, "the promise and threat" () of Judgement Day ( or ), is when "all bodies will be resurrected" from the dead, and "all people" are "called to account" for their deeds and their faith during their life on Earth. It has been called "the do ...

. This interpretation were based on Qur'an chapter . According to

Al-Suyuti Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (; 1445–1505), or al-Suyuti, was an Egyptians, Egyptian Sunni Muslims, Muslim polymath of Persians, Persian descent. Considered the mujtahid and mujaddid of the Islamic 10th century, he was a leading Hadith studies, muh ...

who quoted a Hadith which transmitted by

Ibn al-Mubarak Ibn Mubarak is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak (726–797), mystic and muhaddith * Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (14 January 1551 – 22 August 1602), also known as Abul Faz ...

, archangel

Israfil Israfil (, ''ʾIsrāfīl) o''r Israfel Lewis, James R., Evelyn Dorothy Oliver, and S. Sisung Kelle, eds. 1996. ''Angels A to Z''. Visible Ink Press. . p. 224. is the angel who will blow the trumpet to signal ''Qiyamah'' (the Day of Judgment) in ...

is one of the bearer of the throne.

Note

References

{{reflist Jannah Thrones