she said: "In the sky." He said: "Who am I?" She said: "You are the Messenger of Allāh." He said: "Free her, for she is a believer." It was recorded by Muslim, Abū ʿAwānah, Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Ḥibbān, and Ibn al-Jārūd in their "Ṣaḥīḥ" collections and others. It is also found in "Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd" (862) and "al-Irwāʾ" (390). This; and the question "Where is Allāh?" is supported by a marfūʿ ḥadīth and a mawqūf narration. As for the ḥadīth; it is narrated by Wakīʿ ibn Ḥudus from his uncle Abū Razīn who said: I asked: "O Messenger of Allāh! Where was our Lord before He created His creation?" He said: "He was in a cloud, with no air beneath it, no air above it, and there was no creation. His Throne was on the water." It was recorded by al-Tirmidhī (2108), Ibn Mājah (182), Ibn Ḥibbān (39 - al-Mawārid), Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim (1/271/612), Aḥmad (4/11 and 12), and Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr in "al-Tamhīd" (7/137). Al-Tirmidhī said: "It is a ḥasan ḥadīth." Al-Dhahabī said in "Mukhtaṣar al-ʿUlūw" (186/193): "It was narrated by al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah, and its isnād is ḥasan." However, there is some scrutiny; because Wakīʿ is unknown, as I have clarified there. As for the narration; it is what was narrated by Zayd ibn Aslam who said: Ibn ʿUmar passed by a shepherd and said: "O shepherd! Is there a sheep for slaughter?" The shepherd replied: "Its owner is not here." Ibn ʿUmar said: "Say the wolf ate it!" The shepherd then raised his head to..