What Is the Relationship Between the Sky of This World, the Kursi, and the Arsh?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
What is the relationship between the sky of this world, the Kursi, and Allah’s Arsh? What does the phrase “Innā Zayyannā al-Samā’a al-Dunyā Bizīnatin al-Kawākib” [37:6] mean? Does everything we see in the universe refer to al-Sama’ al-Dunya, and what is the exact explanation of this verse?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
The Throne (al-Arsh) and the Footstool (al-Kursi) are creations of Allah (Most High), and the reality of these is known to Allah alone.
The Throne (al-‘Arsh) and the Footstool (al-Kursi)
Abu Dhar Ghifari (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “By Him in whose hand is my soul, the seven heavens and seven earths in comparison to the Kursi is nothing but like a ring thrown in a desert, and certainly the hugeness of the Arsh over the Kursi is like the desert over that ring.” [Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir]
The great exegete Suddi stated, “The Kursi is in front of the Arsh.’ Scholars have stated that the Kursi is Allah’s Footstool.”
Commentary of Verse 37:6
Verily have We decked out fair the sky of this world with splendid ornament; The stars! [Quran, 37:6]
Here, the expression السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا : (al-sama’ al-dunya: the nearest sky) means the closest sky. The sense is that Allah (Most High) has made this sky closest to the world look good through the glittering presence of stars, planets, etc. These stars don’t need to be located precisely within the sky. Even if they are detached from it, should they be looked at from the earth, they appear to be on the sky – and keep imparting a glow to it. What is being said here is no more but that this star-spangled sky is proof that it did not exist on its own; instead, it was created by its creator. And why would a Being that can bring such enormous things into existence need any partner and sharer in His creation?
[Shafi‘, Ma‘arif al-Quran]
Al-Kursi – The Footstool
Allah says, “His very footstool (al-kursi) compasses the heavens and all the earth” [Quran, 2:255]
Waki‘ narrated in his Tafsir that Ibn ‘Abbas said, “Kursi is the footstool, and no one is able to give due consideration to Allah’s Throne.” Hakim recorded this Hadith in his Mustadrak from Ibn ‘Abbas, who did not relate it to the Prophet. Hakim said, “It is authentic (sahih) according to the criteria of the Two Authentic books of Bukhari and Muslim. However, they did not mention it.”
In addition, Dahhak said that Ibn ‘Abbas said, “If the seven heavens and the seven earths were flattened and laid side by side, they would add up to the size of a ring in a desert, compared to the Kursi.”
Al-‘Arsh – The Throne
Allah (Most High) says, “Verily your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth in six primal days, then reigned Him supreme on the Throne…”
In the present verse 54, after mentioning the creation of the heavens and the earth, it was said: ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ ‘then reigned Him supreme on the Throne’ The word: اِسْتَوَىٰ (Istawa), as followed by ‘ala (on) here, literally means to take reign on, or to settle, or be established. The word عَرْشِ (‘Arsh) means throne. Now, the question is, what is this throne, the throne of the great al-Rahman, and how is it shaped or constituted, or is it as it is – and what would the phenomena of ‘reigning’ on it mean?
Regarding this, the safest belief to hold, that which is clear and correct and fairly doubt-free too, is no other but that of the most righteous elders, the companions, and followers – and later, that of many Sufis as well. The creed is that human reason cannot comprehend the reality of the Being and Attributes of Allah (Most High). Pursuing the knowledge of its exact reality is an exercise in futility, even harmful. As a matter of general principle, one should believe that the meaning intended by Allah (Most High) – whatever it may be – is correct and true. In this process, one should not try to determine or worry about fixing a meaning on one’s own.
Someone asked the famous Imam Malik (Allah have mercy on him) the same question about the meaning of اسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ (Istawa ‘ala al-‘arsh). He paused for a while, then said: “Everyone knows the meaning of Istawa, and its particular nature and reality is such that human reason cannot comprehend it, and having faith in it is obligatory, and asking a question about its nature and reality is innovation” – because the noble companions (Allah be pleased with them all) never asked such questions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
The greats of the Salaf, Sufyan Thawri, Imam Awza‘i, Layth Ibn Sa‘d, Sufyan Ibn ‘Uyayna, and ‘Abdullah Ibn Mubarak (Allah have mercy on them all) have said that the verses which have appeared in the Quran as related to the Being and Attributes of Allah (Most High) should be believed in as they have come and exactly as they are, without any explanation, explication and interpretation. [Panipati, Tafsir al-Mazhari]
[Shafi‘, Ma‘arif al-Quran]
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. In sha Allah, you will receive guidance and direction.
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
