Lesson — Learn Arabic & Islamic Studies

Lesson Content

وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ"His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth."al-Baqarah 2:255, sentence 8

The Kursi is not the 'Arsh. They are two different creations.

The hadith of the ring

Abu Dharr said: I entered al-Masjid al-Haram and saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ alone, so I sat with him and said: "O Messenger of Allah, which ayah revealed to you is the best?" He said: "Ayat al-Kursi. The heavens and the earth compared to the Kursi are only like a ring thrown in an open desert, and the superiority of the Throne over the Kursi is like the superiority of that desert over that ring."Abu Nu'aym, Abu al-Shaykh, al-Bayhaqi; al-Albani, al-Silsilah al-Sahihah 109

Al-Albani stated that there is no authentic hadith from the Prophet ﷺ about the Kursi except this one (cited by Ibn 'Uthaymeen's translator).

What the Kursi is

"The Kursi is the place of the two feet, and no one can measure the Throne."Ibn 'Abbas; sahih as his statement

The Kursi is a creation below the 'Arsh. This is the view of the majority of Ahl al-Sunnah, affirmed by Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim and the verifying scholars.

Some said the Kursi is the 'Arsh itself; this is not correct, because the 'Arsh is greater and more vast. It is also narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that the Kursi is His knowledge, but this narration is not authentic, and "knowledge" is not the meaning of kursi in the Arabic language.

The scale of creation

1The ground we stand on, then the mountains

2The earth

3The Milky Way, inside the lowest heaven

4The seven heavens

5The Kursi

6The 'Arsh

Each step is a ring in a desert compared to the one after it. A mountain is huge to us, yet the whole earth is a speck in the Milky Way; all seven heavens are a ring in a desert next to the Kursi; and the Kursi is a ring next to the 'Arsh.

Reflect on what you can see

Have they not looked at the heaven above them, how We built it and adorned it, and it has no rifts?Qaf 50:6

Ibn 'Uthaymeen notes that Allah said "look at the heaven", not "look at the Kursi", because the Kursi and the 'Arsh are from the unseen. Had Allah not told us of them, we would not know of them. We reflect on the creation we can see, and believe in what He told us of what we cannot see.

Why mention the Kursi here

The vastness of the Kursi prepares the heart for the end of the ayah: if this creation is so vast, how great is the One who created it, and is above it? The Kursi sentence leads to "the Most High, the Most Great".

They have not estimated Allah as He deserves, while the whole earth will be in His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right hand.az-Zumar 39:67

Whoever knows how vast the Kursi is cannot make a creature, however great, equal to its Creator, nor turn to it in worship.

Key points

The Kursi is not the 'Arsh; it is the place of the two feet (Ibn 'Abbas).
The heavens and earth next to the Kursi are a ring in a desert, and so is the Kursi next to the 'Arsh (Silsilah 109).
Scale: ground, earth, Milky Way, seven heavens, Kursi, 'Arsh.
The Kursi and 'Arsh are from the unseen; we reflect on the heavens we see.
The vastness of the Kursi leads to the greatness of its Creator (39:67).

Video Lesson

His Kursi Extends Over the Heavens and the Earth