The Problematic Verse: Istawa’
The Quran says God istawa’ (established himself / ascended) onto the Throne (7:54, 10:3, 13:2, 25:59, 32:4, 57:4). This verse generated the most intense theological debate in Islamic history:
- Hanbali: Accept the statement literally, but say “without asking how” (bila kayf)
- Ash’ari: Interpret istawa’ as istawla (took dominion/control) — God’s dominion is absolute, not His physical location
- Mu’tazili: Full allegorization — God has no spatial relationship to anything
- Ismaili: Radical tanzih — God transcends even the categories of “on” and “above”; the Throne is not where God is, it is the symbol of divine sovereignty as mediated through the created hierarchy
The Batin Reading
In Ismaili ta’wil, the ‘arsh is the point at which divine governance enters the created world. God does not “sit” on it — God is beyond location. Rather, the Throne is the cosmic archetype of the Imam’s position: the Imam is the ‘arsh of divine governance in history, the point at which the absolute (and absolutely inaccessible) divine authority becomes incarnate as guidance.
The hamalat al-‘arsh (the carriers of the Throne, 69:17) correspond in ta’wil to the senior figures of the dawat — the hujja, the da’i, the mu’min — who bear and sustain the Imam’s governance in the world.
Connection to the Kursi Verse
The Kursi (Footstool, 2:255) is distinct from the ‘Arsh (Throne) in classical theology: the Kursi is God’s footstool, smaller than the Throne. In ta’wil: the Kursi corresponds to the Da’i’s position — the “footstool” of the Imam’s sovereignty at the level that reaches ordinary believers.
See also: Ismaili Al Hudud Al Khamsa, Ismaili Tartib Al Dawat, Ilm Al Asma Wa Al Sifat, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Nur