Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
It is established in authentic hadiths that Allah Almighty descends to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night, in a manner befitting His majesty and greatness, without likening Him to His creation or asking how. It is not valid to compare His descent to the descent of created beings and then build objections upon the characteristics of created beings’ descent. The difference in the times of the last third of the night between countries does not require that Allah Almighty be descending continuously, because the manner of His descent is something we do not know, and He does not resemble His creation and nothing is beyond His power.
Authentic hadiths affirm that Allah Almighty descends to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night. This is a real descent befitting Allah, unlike the descent of created beings, and we do not know how it occurs.
Allah says:
“And they cannot encompass Him in knowledge.” [Ta-Ha: 110]
And He says:
“There is nothing whatsoever like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” [Ash-Shura: 11]
Therefore, what is required is to believe what the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, informed us of, while denying any resemblance between Allah’s Attributes and those of His creation, and without attempting to imagine how the descent occurs.
It may be said that the last third of the night is not at the same time for all people on Earth. When it is the last third in one country, it may be the beginning or middle of the night in another, or daylight may already have begun there. Does this therefore require that the descent be continuous?
This objection is based on conceiving Allah’s descent as the descent of a created being, and this is where the error lies.
It is not permissible to say: Since a human being’s descent from one place to another has certain implications, Allah’s descent must necessarily be the same. Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is unlike anything, and His actions and Attributes cannot be compared to the actions and attributes of created beings.
Imam Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, may Allah have mercy on him, gave an answer to a similar objection when he was asked: “Does He descend and leave His Throne?” He replied, in meaning, that Allah is capable of descending without the Throne being devoid of Him.
If Allah Almighty is capable of this, then His descent cannot validly be understood as the descent of a created being, which is governed by the characteristics of bodies and physical dimensions.
Among the indications of Allah’s عظيمة power is that He manages the affairs of His creation simultaneously: He provides for one person, answers another’s supplication, relieves another’s distress, gives to one and withholds from another, and one matter does not distract Him from another.
For this reason, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, explained in response to this objection that whoever imagines Allah’s descent as human descent and then concludes that He must therefore always be descending, or constantly ascending and descending, has fallen into anthropomorphic comparison without realizing it.
He also mentioned an example that brings the idea closer from what we observe: the sun is one, yet at the same time it can be rising over some people and setting for others; some people have night while others have day, even though all of this results from one movement.
If this is possible in one of Allah’s created things, then how could differences in times between countries be considered a limitation upon the power of the Creator?
It is incorrect to imagine the hadith in the form of a created being descending, such that when it descends from one place, that place becomes empty of it.
Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is above His creation and established over His Throne in a manner befitting His majesty. At the same time, we affirm for Him what He has affirmed for Himself of descent, nearness, and other Attributes, without knowing how this occurs.
Ishaq ibn Rahwayh was asked about Allah’s descent and answered in a way indicating that Allah is capable of descending without this requiring that the Throne be devoid of Him.
The obligation is therefore to adhere to the text and not investigate a manner that Allah has not informed us of.
If the last third of the night is occurring in one country, while dawn has already risen in another, and the last third has not yet begun in a third country, we cannot say that this requires continuous descent, because such a conclusion would only follow if the descent were similar to the descent of created beings.
As for Allah’s descent, it is a descent befitting Him. We do not know its manner, and we do not compare it to the actions of created beings.
For this reason, Shaykh Ibn Baz, may Allah have mercy on him, stated that the descent occurs in each country according to its own time, in a manner befitting Allah, and that no one knows how His descent occurs except Him.
The difference in the last third of the night between countries does not contradict the hadith concerning Allah’s descent to the lowest heaven. The hadith is authentic, and we believe in the descent as it was reported, in a manner befitting Allah’s majesty, without likening Him to His creation or asking how.
The difficulty arises from comparing Allah’s descent to the descent of created beings and then assuming implications that do not apply to Allah. Allah is not distracted by one matter from another, differences in times and countries do not exceed His power, and His Attributes and actions may not be compared to those of created beings.
And Allah knows best.