Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
There is no contradiction between affirming that Allah has risen over the Throne and affirming that He descends to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night. The attributes of Allah are affirmed as they have been conveyed, in a manner befitting His Majesty, without distortion, denial, asking how, or likening them to the attributes of creation.
Allah has informed us that He rose over the Throne. He says:
“Indeed, your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then rose over the Throne.” [Al-A‘raf: 54]
And He says:
“The Most Merciful rose over the Throne.” [Ta-Ha: 5]
The creed of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah is to affirm the names and attributes that Allah has affirmed for Himself, while denying any resemblance between Him and His creation, as He says:
“There is nothing whatsoever like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” [Ash-Shura: 11]
Thus, Allah’s rising over the Throne is established in a manner befitting His Majesty, and no one knows how this is except Allah.
It is authentically established in the Sunnah that Allah descends to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night.
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Our Lord, Blessed and Exalted, descends every night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, and He says: Who is calling upon Me that I may answer him? Who is asking Me that I may give him? Who is seeking My forgiveness that I may forgive him?”
Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
According to the way of Ahl as-Sunnah: we affirm the descent as it has been stated in the hadith, in a manner befitting Allah’s Majesty, without comparing it to the descent of created beings and without asking about its manner.
The Prophet ﷺ did not report that his Companions asked him about this matter. Therefore, a Muslim should not burden himself by investigating the manner of an attribute of Allah in a way for which there is no revealed evidence.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that such a question involves unnecessary speculation, and that the obligation is to believe what the Prophet ﷺ informed us of without entering into the manner of attributes whose nature Allah and His Messenger did not explain to us.
Thus, a Muslim says: Allah descends as the Prophet ﷺ informed us. We do not know how He descends, and we do not speculate about matters for which there is no evidence.
The last third of the night may be occurring in one country while another country is experiencing a different part of the night. This does not imply any contradiction in the hadith.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that nighttime differs from one place to another: the third of the night occurs earlier in the east than in the west. Thus, Allah’s descent to the heaven of these people occurs during their last third of the night, and to the heaven of others during their last third of the night, and one matter does not distract Him from another.
These are matters of the unseen that we believe as they have been conveyed, and we do not compare Allah’s actions to the actions of created beings.
The imagined contradiction between rising over the Throne and descending usually results from comparing Allah’s attributes to the attributes of created beings.
Allah says:
“There is nothing whatsoever like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” [Ash-Shura: 11]
We affirm what Allah has affirmed for Himself and what has been authentically reported from His Messenger ﷺ, without imagining how these attributes are or comparing them to the attributes of creation.
Thus, rising over the Throne and descent are among the attributes of action that occur according to Allah’s will, and we must believe in them while declaring Allah free from resemblance to His creation.
Everything that has come in the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ is true, and some of it cannot contradict other parts.
Allah says:
“Do they not contemplate the Qur’an? Had it been from anyone other than Allah, they would have found in it much contradiction.” [An-Nisa’: 82]
If a person believes that there is a contradiction between the texts of revelation, this may be due to lack of knowledge, limited understanding, or insufficient reflection.
The obligation then is to seek knowledge and contemplate the texts. If the matter still does not become clear, one should believe that all the revealed texts are true and say, as Allah says concerning those firmly grounded in knowledge:
“We believe in it; all of it is from our Lord.” [Al ‘Imran: 7]
There is no contradiction between Allah’s rising over the Throne and His descent to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night. Both are established in the Qur’an and Sunnah, and we believe in them in a manner befitting Allah, without asking how and without likening them to creation.
It is not valid to compare Allah’s actions and attributes to the actions and attributes of created beings, because Allah is not like anything, and no one knows the manner of His attributes except Him.
And Allah knows best.