The station of praise and glory (al-maqaam al-mahmood) is intercession; it does not refer to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sitting on the Throne

The issue of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) being seated on the
Throne was and still is a cause of debate and argument. Before discussing
whether these words are sound or not, we should point out a number of
things: 

Firstly: 

With regard to
affirmation of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) being
seated on the Throne, there is no acceptable hadeeth with a sound isnaad
from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). The foundation
on which the belief of Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa‘ah is based is that whatever
matters of the unseen the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said nothing about remain matters belonging to the unseen and it is not
permissible to indulge in discussion of them by way of certainty and
faith.                                              

Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

The hadeeth about
the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sitting on the
Throne was narrated by a number of people via many marfoo‘ isnaads (i.e.,
attributed to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)), but
all of them are mawdoo‘ (fabricated).

End quote from
Dar’ Ta‘aarud al-‘Aql wa’n-Naql, 3/19 

Adh-Dhahabi (may
Allah have mercy on him) said: 

No text concerning
the issue of our Prophet sitting on the Throne is proven; there is a waahin
(worthless) report concerning this matter.

End quote from
al-‘Uluw, 2/1081, no. 422 

Secondly: 

Interpreting the
Holy Qur’an on the basis of what is narrated in the saheeh Sunnah is more
appropriate than adopting the interpretation of any of the Taabi‘een – even
if he was as knowledgeable as Mujaahid (may Allah have mercy on him) –
especially when we know that there is a report from Mujaahid himself that
explains this verse in a manner that is in accordance with the saheeh
hadeeths and texts, as we shall see below. 

It was narrated
from Ka‘b ibn Maalik that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: “The people will be resurrected on the Day of
Resurrection, and my ummah and I will be on a hill. My Lord, may He be
blessed and exalted, will give me a green suit to wear, then permission will
be given to me and I shall say whatever Allah wills I should say, and that
is the station of praise and glory (al-maqaam al-mahmood).” Narrated
by Ahmad in al-Musnad, 25/60, Mu’sasat ar-Risaalah edn. 

The editors of
this edition (of Musnad Ahmad) said: Its isnaad is saheeh according
to the conditions of Muslim; its men are thiqaat (trustworthy), the men of
the two shaykhs (al-Bukhaari and Muslim), apart from Yazeed ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi
– who is az-Zubaydi al-Homsi – who was one of the men of Muslim; and ‘Abd
ar-Rahmaan ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Ka‘b ibn Maalik – they differed as to whether
he heard from his grandfather, but the correct view is that he did hear from
him. End quote. 

Another of the
saheeh mawqoof reports is that narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased
with him): “On the Day of Resurrection, the people will be divided into
groups. Each group will follow their Prophet, saying: O So and so, intercede
(for us), until the matter of intercession will come to the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). That is the day on which Allah
will raise him to the station of praise and glory (al-maqaam al-mahmood).
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4718. He included it in a chapter entitled “It
may be that your Lord will raise you to Maqaman Mahmooda (a station of
praise and glory)” [al-Isra’ 17:79]. Al-Bukhaari favoured this
interpretation of the verse. The interpretation of this verse as referring
to the greater intercession is the only view referred to by al-Haafiz Ibn
Katheer in Tafseer al-Qur’an al-‘Azeem, 5/103. He narrated it from
many of the Sahaabah and Taabi‘een. Ibn Jareer at-Tabari said concerning
that: It is the view of most of the commentators. 

This is the most
appropriate interpretation of this verse. 

Thirdly: 

The fact that some
of the scholars quoted Mujaahid’s words without objection does not mean that
they are of the same view; rather that comes under the heading of being too
lenient when quoting reports that speak of the virtues (of the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)). 

Abu Muhammad
narrated from Bashshaar, that ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad said, concerning his
father: 

He would be asked
about a particular hadeeth and he would say: This was narrated by So and so
– a man whom he would name. But if he was asked about a da‘eef hadeeth, he
would say: Cross it out. He was asked about the hadeeth of Mujaahid and he
classed it as da‘eef. He said: O my father, Should I cross it out? He said:
No; this is a hadeeth that speaks of some virtue (of the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him)), so take it as it is, and do not cross it
out. End quote. 

Narrated in
Ibtaal at-Ta’weelaat, p. 489 

This report
indicates the reason why the report of Mujaahid became well-known, which is
that some of the leading scholars of hadeeth, such as Imam Ahmad, did not
say anything about this report. So some of the scholars thought that this
meant that they accepted its content and believed it. So it was said that it
is one of the reports that were accepted. 

In fact that is
not the case. Many of the scholars clearly stated that these words that were
spoken by Mujaahid were not sound. 

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

This is the view
of the people of knowledge regarding the interpretation of the verse in
which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “It
may be that your Lord will raise you to Maqaman Mahmooda (a station of
praise and glory)” [al-Isra’ 17:79] as referring to intercession. 

It was narrated
from Mujaahid that the station of praise and glory (al-maqaam al-mahmood)
means that He will seat him with Him on the Throne on the Day of
Resurrection; in their view this is a wrong interpretation of this verse. 

The view of the
majority of scholars among the Sahaabah, Taabi‘een and those who came after
them is that the station of praise and glory is the station at which he will
intercede for his ummah. There is a report from Mujaahid that says something
similar to the view of the majority, so it becomes consensus on the
interpretation of this verse among those who have knowledge of the Qur’an
and Sunnah. 

Ibn Abi Shaybah
narrated from Warqa’, from Ibn Abi Nujayh, from Mujaahid, that he said
concerning the verse, “It may be that your Lord will raise you to Maqaman
Mahmooda (a station of praise and glory)” [al-Isra’ 17:79]: (This refers
to) the intercession of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

End quote from
at-Tamheed, 19/63-64 

Imam adh-Dhahabi
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

One of the oddest
and most objectionable ideas is that which was narrated from Mujaahid
concerning the interpretation of the verse in which Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning): “It may be that your Lord will raise you
to Maqaman Mahmooda (a station of praise and glory)” [al-Isra’ 17:79],
that he said: He will seat him with Him on the Throne. End quote from
Mizaan al-I‘tidaal, 3/439 

He also said (may
Allah have mercy on him): 

The interpretation
that Mujaahid gave of this verse, as we have quoted above, was rejected by
some of the scholars. Al-Mirwadhi put a great deal of effort into supporting
this view (of Mujaahid), and he compiled a book concerning the matter, and
he narrated the view of Mujaahid via Layth ibn Abi Sulaym, ‘Ata ibn
as-Saa’ib, Abu Yahya Qattaat and Jaabir ibn Yazeed. … So see, may Allah
protect you from following whims and desires, how this scholar of hadeeth
went to extremes in his support for Mujaahid, which caused him to accept
this odd and objectionable report.  

End quote from
al-‘Uluw, 2/1081-1090, no. 422-426 

Shaykh al-Albaani
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

One of the things
that indicate that is the fact that it is proven in as-Sihaah that
the station of praise and glory is intercession that will be granted only to
our Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). 

It is astounding
that some of the earlier scholars supported this report from Mujaahid, as
was narrated by adh-Dhahabi from more than one of them. Indeed, one of the
hadeeth scholars went to extremes and said: If someone swore an oath of
threefold divorce to say that Allah will seat Muhammad (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) on the Throne, and he were to consult me, I would say
to him: You are right and have spoken the truth! 

It is such extreme
views (on the part of those who affirmed the divine attributes) that led
those who deny the divine attributes to persist in their way and to cast
aspersions upon Ahl as-Sunnah who affirm the divine attributes, and accuse
them of likening Allah to His creation and describing Him in physical terms.
But in fact, the path of truth lay between these two extremes. 

May Allah have
mercy on a man who believed what was narrated in saheeh reports from the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) concerning the
divine attributes and other matters in a true sense and in a manner that is
befitting to Allah, may He be exalted, and they did not accept concerning
that matter anything that was not narrated from him (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) in a saheeh report, such as this hadeeth [i.e., the
hadeeth, “… and He will seat me on the Throne…”], let alone any report such
as this one.

End quote from
as-Silsilah ad-Da‘eefah, 865 

Shaykh al-Albaani
(may Allah have mercy on him) also said: 

The narration of
da‘eef hadeeths from some hadeeth scholars is something for which their
opponents criticise them, even though they (their opponents) may say things
even worse than that, as was explained by Shaykh al-Islam. 

One of the most
famous of those who criticised them (Ahl as-Sunnah) for that in the modern
era, and took it as proof of their (alleged) foolishness and misguidance, is
Shaykh al-Kawthari who is known for his extreme hostility towards Ahl
as-Sunnah and the scholars of hadeeth, and for his accusing them of likening
Allah to His creation and thinking of Him in physical terms. By doing that
he has wronged them and fabricated lies against them. 

But – as a matter
of fact – he sometimes found in some of the hadeeths and reports that they
narrated material on which he could base his false accusations, such as the
hadeeth that is narrated in the commentaries on the verse in which Allah,
may He be exalted, “It may be that your Lord will raise you to Maqaman
Mahmooda (a station of praise and glory)” [al-Isra’ 17:79], according to
which he said “… and He will seat me on the Throne…” 

In fact the true
interpretation of the station of praise and glory, beyond any shadow of a
doubt, is intercession. This is what was classed as saheeh by Imam Ibn
Jareer in his Tafseer, then by al-Qurtubi; this is the only view
mentioned by al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer who did not mention any other view, and
he quoted hadeeths to support that. 

In fact this is
what is proven from Mujaahid himself via two isnaads from him, as quoted by
Ibn Jareer. 

That report from
him does not have any reliable isnaad. Adh-Dhahabi stated that it was
narrated from Layth ibn Abi Sulaym, ‘Ata’ ibn as-Saa’ib, Abu Yahya
al-Qattaat and Jaabir ibn Yazeed. The first two were confused and the last
two were da‘eef; in fact the last one (Jaabir ibn Yazeed) is matrook (i.e.,
his hadeeths are not accepted) and he was accused (of dishonesty). … To sum
up, these words of Mujaahid, even if they are narrated soundly from him,
cannot be adopted as part of our religion and belief, so long as there is no
corroborating evidence for it from the Qur’an and Sunnah.

End quote from
Mukhtasar al-‘Uluw, 14-20 

Thus it is clear
that the correct interpretation of the station of praise and glory is that
it is the station of intercession, and it is not as mentioned in this report
from Mujaahid (may Allah have mercy on him). 

And Allah knows
best.