Ibn Taymiyyahs general rule in understanding yad
Ibn Taymiyyah says that when the Messenger ﷺ and the Salaf speak about Allah with clear words, they intend the apparent meaning, and that it is only left when there is a clear, open proof from revelation or sound reason.
It is not allowed that Allah and His Messenger address the whole ummah, repeat the wording many times, order them to ponder and believe it, then make it forbidden to believe its apparent sense based on a hidden doubtful argument that only a few clever people might find, because this would be deception and the opposite of guidance and clarification.
He then says that he will take one attribute as an example and be consistent with this understanding for the rest (key point of our creed), and he chooses the attribute of the hand. (Majmu al Fatawa)
Quran verses that speak about Allahs hand
Ibn Taymiyyah gathers the verses in which Allah mentions His hand or hands. Allah says:
وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ يَدُ اللَّهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ غُلَّتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَلُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ يُنْفِقُ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ
“The Jews said, The hand of Allah is chained. Chained are their hands, and they are cursed for what they said. Rather, both His hands are open, He spends as He wills.” (Quran 5:64)
And Allah says to Iblis:
مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ
“What prevented you from prostrating to what I created with My two hands.” (Quran 38:75)
And He says:
وَالْأَرْضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالسَّمَاوَاتُ مَطْوِيَّاتٌ بِيَمِينِهِ
“While the earth, all of it, will be in His grasp on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand.” (Quran 39:67)
And He says:
تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ
“Blessed is the One in whose hand is the dominion.” (Quran 67:1)
And He says:
بِيَدِكَ الْخَيْرُ إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
“In Your hand is all good. Indeed, You are over all things capable.” (Quran 3:26)
And He says:
أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا خَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِمَّا عَمِلَتْ أَيْدِينَا أَنْعَامًا فَهُمْ لَهَا مَالِكُونَ
“Have they not seen that We created for them, from what Our hands have done, cattle, so they are their owners.” (Quran 36:71)
From the repeated wording of “hand” and “two hands” in these verses, Ibn Taymiyyah concludes that Allah has two hands that belong to Him, tied to His essence, in a way that befits His majesty, that He created Adam with His hand, will grasp the earth and roll up the heavens with His right hand, and that His two hands are outstretched in giving and generosity. (Majmu al Fatawa)
Hadith that speak about Allahs two hands
Ibn Taymiyyah says that the word “hand” appears in the sunnah in many places with chains that are mass transmitted in meaning. He quotes the hadith: “The just ones will be with Allah on pulpits of light at the right of the Most Merciful, and both of His hands are right, those who are just in their judgement and with their families and in what they are given authority over.” (It was narrated by Muslim (1827) and by al Nasai (5379) and this is his wording)
He then quotes the hadith: “The right hand of Allah is full, spending does not decrease it, it flows night and day. Have you seen what He has spent since He created the heavens and the earth. That has not decreased what is in His right hand. And the balance is in His other hand, He raises and lowers it until the Day of Resurrection.” (It was narrated by Ibn Majah (4275) with this wording, and it was narrated by al Bukhari (7412) and Muslim (2788) in a shortened form with similar wording)
He mentions the hadith that “the earth will be on the Day of Resurrection like a single loaf of bread which the Compeller turns over in His hand, just as one of you turns over his loaf while on a journey.” (It was narrated by al Bukhari (6520) and Muslim (2792))
And the hadith that “the Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, will take His heavens and His earth in His two hands,” and that the Prophet ﷺ tightened his two hands and opened them while saying this, and recited the verse of al Zumar, and said that Allah will say, “I am Allah, I am the Compeller.” (It was narrated by Ibn Majah (4275) with this wording, and by al Bukhari (7412) and Muslim (2788)
And the hadith that “Allah will grasp the earth and roll up the heaven in His right hand, then He will say, I am the King, where are the kings of the earth.” (It was narrated by al Bukhari (7382) and Muslim (2787)
He reports that Allah said to Adam while His two hands were closed, “Choose whichever of them you wish,” so he chose the right hand of his Lord, “and both of the hands of my Lord are right and blessed,” then He opened it and in it was Adam and his offspring. (Kitab al Tawhid by Ibn Khuzaymah 1/160; it was narrated by al Tirmidhi (3368), al Bazzar (8478), and Ibn Khuzaymah in al Tawhid (1/160) and this is his wording)
He mentions the hadith that “Allah wrote with His hand upon Himself, when He created the creation, that My mercy prevails over My anger.” (It was narrated by al Bukhari (3194) with this wording, and by Muslim)
And the hadith of Adam and Musa where Musa says, “You are Adam whom Allah created with His hand and breathed into you from His spirit,” and Adam says, “Allah chose you by His speech and He wrote the Torah for you with His hand.” (Sahih al Bukhari (4736)
And the hadith, “By My might and My majesty, I will not make the righteous offspring of one whom I created with My two hands like one to whom I said, Be, and he was.” (Reported in some Sunan collections)
And the hadith in the Sunan that when Allah created Adam, He wiped his back with His right hand and brought forth from him offspring and said, “I created these for the Garden,” then He wiped his back with His other hand and said, “I created these for the Fire.” (It was narrated by Abu Dawud (4703), al Tirmidhi (3075), and Ahmad (311))
He says these reports are clear, cannot be twisted away, and have been received by the ummah with acceptance and belief. (Majmu al Fatawa)
Accepting Arabic uses of “hand” but affirming the real hand
Ibn Taymiyyah accepts that in Arabic the word “hand” can sometimes be used for favour, as when people say, “So and so has hands over him,” meaning favours, and as in the verse of poetry of Abu Talib asking for “a hand” to be established for him, meaning a favour.
He accepts that “hand” can be used for power, because power often appears through the movement of the hand, as in, “In his hand is the knot of marriage.” (Quran 2:237)
He also accepts that actions are sometimes added to the hands to stress that the person did the action himself, as in, “because of what your hands have put forward,” in more than one verse, even when the action was only words. (Quran 3:181; 8:51)
He then says that the people of taawil took these known Arabic uses and interpreted Allahs saying, “Rather, both His hands are open,” (Quran 5:64) and His saying, “to what I created with My two hands,” (Quran 38:75) as only favour, or only power, or only the fact that the action is added to Him, and some claimed that “hand” has become a real word for generosity with no real hand behind it. He says these readings are not correct and are forced. (Majmu al Fatawa)
Linguistic proof from the dual form and from “bi yadayya”
Ibn Taymiyyah argues that the wording “two hands” in the dual form is never used in Arabic for favour or power, and that words which show number are clear and are not usually used as figurative speech of this type.
He says Arabs might use the singular for the plural, or the plural for the two, but they do not use the dual for one thing or the singular for two things. So the statement “to what I created with My two hands” cannot mean one power or uncountable favours. (Quran 38:75)
He explains the difference between “to what I created with My two hands” (Quran 38:75) and “from what Our hands have done, cattle.” (Quran 36:71) In the first, Allah adds the act to Himself and then connects the hand by the letter “bi”, which is an explicit way of saying that He did the action with His two hands. In the second, He adds the action directly to the hands in a broader way.
Ibn Taymiyyah says you never hear someone in clear speech, Arab or non Arab, say, “I did this with my two hands,” except when he really did it with his hands, and you do not say this if there is no hand or if the action was not done by the hands. (Majmu al Fatawa)
No text and no sound reason that negates a real hand
Ibn Taymiyyah says that if someone claims, “Allah does not have a hand like the hands of creation and it is not a limb,” this is true. But if he claims that Allah has no hand as an extra attribute beyond the seven attributes they accept, this is false.
He states that there is nothing in revelation and nothing in sound reason that prevents Allah from having a real hand that befits His essence and His perfection.
He asks whether there is any verse, any hadith, or any clear word from the imams of the Muslims that says the hand is not meant in its apparent sense or that its apparent sense is not intended. He says the verses people use as a proof, such as, “Say, He is Allah, One,” (Quran 112:1) and, “There is nothing like Him,” (Quran 42:11) and, “Do you know of anyone named like Him,” (Quran 19:65) only negate likeness and resemblance, not the attribute itself. They do not negate a hand that befits His majesty.
He also says that there is no rational proof that the Creator cannot have a hand at all, neither a hand unique to Him nor a hand resembling created beings. At most, sound reason only denies a hand that is like creation, and everyone agrees that Allah is free from that. (Majmu al Fatawa)
Refuting late taawil and honouring Adam with both hands
Ibn Taymiyyah points out that if there was a real proof that the apparent meaning of “hand” is not wanted, it would not be allowed that the Quran and sunnah be filled with mention of the hand, that Allah created with His hand, that His two hands are outstretched, that the dominion is in His hand, and that many hadith speak about His two hands, while the Messenger ﷺ and the leaders of knowledge never explain that the apparent sense is not intended.
He says it is impossible that this is left hidden until people like Jahm ibn Safwan and Bishr ibn Ghiyath come later and claim to explain to the ummah what the Prophet ﷺ and the companions did not explain. (Majmu al Fatawa)
He reminds that the Prophet ﷺ taught the ummah even how to relieve themselves and said that he left them on a clear whiteness, its night like its day, and that no one deviates from it except one who is destroyed.
So it is not allowed that the apparent sense of the verses and hadith about the hand is misguidance and anthropomorphism, yet the Prophet ﷺ gives no warning and the Salaf simply say, “Let these texts pass as they have come.” (Majmu al Fatawa)
He then brings a clear proof from honouring Adam. Allah created Adam with His two hands and commanded the angels to prostrate to him:
مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ
“What prevented you from prostrating to what I created with My two hands.” (Quran 38:75)
If “with My two hands” only meant power, or general favour, or just “I created him,” then Iblis and all other creatures would share this and there would be no special honour.
He answers the claim that this is only adding by honour, like, “the she camel of Allah,” (Quran 7:73) and “the House of Allah,” (Quran 2:125) by saying that such an addition is only correct when there is a special feature in that thing which sets it apart from others, and creating Adam with both hands is a real action that distinguishes him. (Majmu al Fatawa)
If the Messenger ﷺ speaks with some words and intends by them something other than their apparent meaning and opposite to their real sense, then he must make clear to the ummah that he did not intend the real sense and that he meant a figurative sense.
Whether he then specifies that figurative meaning or does not specify it, this has to be clarified, especially in a universal address that is meant to make people hold a belief.
This is in what concerns knowledge, even before the actions of the limbs, because Allah the Exalted made the Quran a light, a guidance, a clarification for people, and a healing for what is in the hearts, and He sent the messengers so that they explain to people what was sent down to them, and so that they judge between people in what they differ about, and so that people would have no proof against Allah after the messengers are sent.
Then this Messenger, the unlettered Arab, was sent with the most eloquent language and the clearest tongue and expressions. Then the ummah that took knowledge from him were the deepest of people in knowledge, the most sincere in advice for the ummah, and the clearest in explaining the sunnah.
So it is not allowed that he and they speak with speech while intending by it something other than its apparent sense, unless a proof has been set up that prevents carrying it upon its apparent meaning. That proof may be a clear rational proof, like His saying:
وَأُوتِيَتْ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ
“She has been given of everything.”
(al Naml: 23)
for every person knows by his mind that what is meant is that she was given of the kinds of things that one like her is given. And likewise His saying:
خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ
“He is the Creator of everything.”
(al Zumar: 62)
for the listener knows that the Creator Himself does not enter into this general wording. Or the proof may be a clear textual one, like the signs in the Book and the sunnah that divert some apparent expressions from their first outward sense.
It is not allowed that he refer them to a hidden proof that only individuals among the people can infer, whether that hidden proof is textual or rational.
This is because if he speaks with speech from which a meaning is understood, and he repeats it many times, and addresses with it all of creation, and among them are the very intelligent and the dull, the jurist and the one who is not a jurist, and he has made it obligatory upon them to ponder this address, to understand it, to think about it, and to believe what it requires, then after all of that he makes it obligatory that they must not believe anything of its apparent sense because there is some hidden proof that only individuals can infer which shows that he did not intend its apparent sense, this would be deception and confusion.
It would be the opposite of clarification and the opposite of guidance, and it would be closer to riddles and puzzles than to guidance and clear explanation.
So how would it be if the indication of that address towards its apparent sense is many levels stronger than the indication of that hidden proof which is said to show that the apparent sense is not intended. And how is it if that hidden thing is only a doubtful argument with no reality.
So that man accepted these positions from me.
I said: Now we speak about one attribute from among the attributes and we make the discussion about it a pattern that is followed. We will express this through the attribute of the hand. Allah the Exalted said:
وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ يَدُ اللَّهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ غُلَّتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَلُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ يُنْفِقُ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ
“The Jews said: The hand of Allah is chained. Chained are their hands, and they are cursed for what they said. Rather, both His hands are open, He spends as He wills.”
(al Maida: 64)
And He the Exalted said to Iblis:
مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ
“What prevented you from prostrating to what I created with My two hands.”
(Sad: 75)
And He said:
وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ وَالْأَرْضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالسَّمَاوَاتُ مَطْوِيَّاتٌ بِيَمِينِهِ
“They did not value Allah with His true valuation, while the earth, all of it, will be in His grasp on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand.”
(al Zumar: 67)
And He said:
تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ
“Blessed is the One in whose hand is the dominion.”
(al Mulk: 1)
And He said:
بِيَدِكَ الْخَيْرُ إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
“In Your hand is all good. Indeed, You are over all things capable.”
(Aal Imran: 26)
And He said:
أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا خَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِمَّا عَمِلَتْ أَيْدِينَا أَنْعَامًا فَهُمْ لَهَا مَالِكُونَ
“Have they not seen that We created for them, from what Our hands have done, cattle, so they are their owners.”
(Yasin: 71)
And the word “hand” has come in the sunnah in many places in the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ with chains that are mass transmitted in meaning.
The understanding that comes from all of this is that Allah the Exalted has two hands that are specific to Him, that belong to His essence, in a way that befits His majesty. That He the Exalted created Adam with His hand, and did not create the angels or Iblis with His hand. That He will grasp the earth and roll up the heavens with His right hand.
And that His two hands are outstretched, and the meaning of their being outstretched is the showing of generosity and the wideness of giving, because giving and generosity in most cases are done by stretching and extending the hand, while withholding is done by drawing the hand back to the neck.
So it has become from the known uses of language that when it is said, “He is open handed,” both a real hand is understood and its apparent meaning is generosity and not being miserly, just as Allah the Exalted said:
وَلَا تَجْعَلْ يَدَكَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلَى عُنُقِكَ وَلَا تَبْسُطْهَا كُلَّ الْبَسْطِ
“Do not make your hand chained to your neck, and do not extend it completely.”
(al Isra: 29)
And they say in Arabic: “So and so has curled fingers” and “so and so has loose fingers” with meanings of miserliness and generosity.
I said to him: If the one who speaks says, “I claim that Allah does not have a hand that is of the same kind as the hands of creation, and that His hand is not a limb,” then this is true.
But if he claims that He does not have a hand that is an extra attribute beyond the seven attributes which they affirm, then he is false, and he needs those four positions that we mentioned.
As for the first, he might say: The hand can be used with the meaning of favour and gift, by naming something with the name of what is associated with it, just as rain and plants are called “sky”. From this is their saying: “So and so has hands over him,” meaning favours. And the saying of Abu Talib when he lost the Prophet ﷺ:
يا رب رب راكبي محمدا
ردا علي واصطنع عندي يدا
“O Lord, return to me my rider Muhammad,
Return him to me and establish for me a favour with him.”
And the saying of Urwah ibn Masud to Abu Bakr on the day of Hudaybiyyah: “If it was not for a favour you have over me that I have not yet repaid, I would have answered you,” meaning he recognised for him a favour that he still owed.
And the hand can be used with the meaning of power, by naming a thing with the name of what comes from it, because power is the movement of the hand.
They say: “So and so has a hand in such and such,” and from this is the saying of Ziyad to Muawiyah: “I have taken hold of Iraq with one of my hands, and my other hand is free,” meaning that half of his power is occupied by controlling the affair of Iraq. And from this is His saying:
بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ
“In his hand is the knot of marriage.”
(al Baqara: 237)
while marriage is words that are spoken, but the meaning is that he has power and control over it.
And sometimes they make the adding of an action to the hand as if they are adding it to the person himself, because most actions are done by the hand, so mentioning the hand points to the fact that the person did it himself. Allah the Exalted said:
لَقَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ قَوْلَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ فَقِيرٌ وَنَحْنُ أَغْنِيَاءُ … ذَلِكَ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ
“Allah has certainly heard the saying of those who said, Allah is poor and we are rich. That is because of what your hands have put forward.”
(Aal Imran: 181)
meaning because of what you have put forward, for some of what they put forward is just words that they spoke. And likewise His saying:
وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ يَتَوَفَّى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَضْرِبُونَ وُجُوهَهُمْ وَأَدْبَارَهُمْ … ذَلِكَ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ
“If you could but see when the angels take the being of those who disbelieved, striking their faces and their backs … That is because of what your hands have put forward.”
(al Anfal: 50 to 51)
And the Arabs say: “Your two hands tied the camel and your mouth blew air into it,” as a way of scolding the one who has brought harm upon himself, because the first time this was said was to someone who really did something with his two hands and his mouth, then it became a known expression used as a rebuke for every person who brings harm upon himself.
I said to him: We do not deny the Arabic language in all of this. Those who interpret the attributes in a way that is not correct and who change the words from their places and deviate with regard to His names and verses, they interpreted His saying:
بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ
“Rather, both His hands are open.”
(al Maida: 64)
and His saying:
لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ
“to what I created with My two hands”
(Sad: 75)
with all of this. They said: The meaning is His favour, that is, the favour of this life and the favour of the next life. And they said: His power. And they said: The wording is a figurative expression that only means generosity itself, without there being any real hand at all. Rather, they said this word has become a real expression for giving and generosity. And regarding His saying:
لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ
they said: It means “I created him,” so the hand is nothing more than a way of adding the action to Him, even if there is no real hand.
I said to him: Look into what we have already mentioned. These are their interpretations. He said yes.
The first station is that the wording “the two hands” in the dual form has never been used in Arabic for favour nor for power. It is true that in their language they sometimes use the singular for the plural, as in His saying:
إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ
“Indeed, the human is in loss.”
(al Asr: 2)
and they use the plural for the singular, as in His saying:
الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ
“Those to whom the people said, Indeed the people have gathered against you.”
(Aal Imran: 173)
and they use the plural for the two, as in His saying:
صَغَتْ قُلُوبُكُمَا
“The two of your hearts have inclined.”
(al Tahrim: 4)
As for using the singular form for two things, or using the dual form for one thing, that has no basis at all. These words that point to number are clear in meaning and they are explicit in what they mean. One does not speak about them using figurative speech.
You are not allowed to say, “I have a man with me,” while you mean two men, nor to say, “I have two men,” while you only mean the kind of men in general, because the name of the singular already indicates the kind, and this kind spreads among individuals, and likewise the plural has within it a meaning of kind, and the kind is realised by the existence of a single individual.
So His saying:
لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ
“to what I created with My two hands.”
(Sad: 75)
cannot be taken to mean power, because power is one attribute, and it is not permissible to speak about one thing using the dual form. It is also not allowed to take it to mean favour, because the favours of Allah cannot be counted, so it is wrong to refer to uncountable favours with a dual form.
It is also not allowed that its meaning be, “what I created Myself,” because when they want to express that, they add the action to the hand and make adding the action to the hand like adding it to the person, such as His saying:
بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاكَ
“because of what your two hands have put forward.”
(al Hajj: 10)
and His saying:
بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ
“because of what your hands have put forward.”
(Aal Imran: 182)
and from this is His saying:
مِمَّا عَمِلَتْ أَيْدِينَا أَنْعَامًا
“from what Our hands have done, cattle.”
(Yasin: 71)
But when He adds the action to Himself and then connects the hand to the verb with the letter “ba”, as in His saying:
لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ
“to what I created with My two hands.”
(Sad: 75)
this is an explicit text that He did the action with His two hands. For this reason, it is not correct that if someone spoke or walked, you say to him, “You did this with your two hands.” Rather, you say, “This is something your two hands have done,” because his saying “I did” is enough to add the action to the doer.
So if it is not meant that he did it with his hand in reality, then mentioning the hand would be extra and would have no benefit.
You will not find in the speech of the Arabs, and not in the speech of non Arabs in clear speech, that someone says, “I did this with my hand,” or “So and so did this with his two hands,” except that he really did the action with his hands. And it is not allowed that the one who speaks in this way has no hand at all, or that he has a hand but the action took place by something other than his hand.
By this precise difference one comes to know the places where figurative use is correct and the places where real use is correct. It becomes clear that these verses do not accept figurative interpretation at all from the side of language itself.
He said to me: They did put the dual form in place of the singular in His saying:
أَلْقِيَا فِي جَهَنَّمَ
“Throw into Hellfire.”
(Qaf: 24)
while it is an address to a single angel.
I said to him: This claim is not accepted. Rather His saying:
أَلْقِيَا
“Throw both of you.”
has been said to be a case where the doer and the verb are both made dual, and the meaning is, “Throw, throw,” meaning emphasise the command.
And it has been said that it is an address to the driver and the witness, the two angels who accompany the being.
Those who said that it is an address to a single angel said that the human being is with two angels, one on his right and one on his left, so he says, “My two close friends, my two close friends,” then he uses this style of address even if those two are not both present in front of him, as if he is talking to two present persons. So His saying:
أَلْقِيَا
“Throw both of you.”
according to this view is an address to two angels whose presence is assumed in the scene. So there is no proof at all in this verse for their claim.
I said to him: The second station is that we say: Let us assume that it is possible in language that the word “hand” may mean a real hand and may also be used for power or favour, or that mentioning the hand could be used as a figurative expression pointing to the action.
But what is the reason that forces us to turn the word away from its real meaning.
If you say, “Because the hand is a limb, and this is impossible for Allah the Exalted,” I say to you: Such a claim and what is like it only prove that it is impossible to describe Allah with a hand that is of the same kind as the hands of creation, and there is no doubt about that.
But why can it not be that He has a hand in reality that is suitable for His essence, a hand that deserves attributes of perfection just as His essence deserves attributes of perfection.
He said: There is nothing in reason nor in revelation that prevents this.
I said: If this is possible, and this is the real meaning of the word, then why should the word be diverted from its real meaning to a figurative meaning. Every proof that the opponent might mention, which they claim to show that describing Him with what is used about creation is impossible, if the proof is sound, we accept from him that the meaning which belongs to the creation is absent in the case of the Creator.
But the real meaning and the apparent sense of the word “hand” is a hand which the Creator deserves, in the same way that “knowledge” and “power” are attributes of the Creator, and in the same way as “essence” and “existence.”
The third station. I said to him: Have you ever come across, in the Book of Allah or in the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ or from one of the imams of the Muslims, that they said, “What is meant by the hand is not its apparent sense,” or “The apparent sense is not intended.” Is there in the Book of Allah any verse that clearly shows that He is not described with a hand, whether this indication is clear or even subtle. At the very most, what those who force interpretations mention is His saying:
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
“Say, He is Allah, One.”
(al Ikhlas: 1)
and His saying:
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ
“There is nothing like Him.”
(al Shura: 11)
and His saying:
هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُ سَمِيًّا
“Do you know of anyone who is named like Him.”
(Maryam: 65)
These verses only show the negation of likeness and resemblance. As for negating that He has a hand that befits His majesty, there is nothing at all in these words that show such a negation in any way.
Likewise, is there anything in reason that shows with a clear proof that the Creator has no hand at all, neither a hand that befits His majesty nor a hand that resembles the contingent beings. Is there anything in reason that shows this in any form, even in a hidden way.
When there is nothing in revelation and nothing in reason that negates the real meaning of “hand” at all, and if we suppose that something could be brought that contradicts the attribute, then at the very most that claim rests on hidden and subtle ways of argument according to the one who claims it. In reality, such arguments are only corrupt doubts.
So is it allowed, after that, that the Book and the sunnah be filled with mention of the hand, and that Allah the Exalted created with His hand, and that His two hands are outstretched, and that the dominion is in His hand, and that the hadiths on this are so many that they cannot be counted, then after all of that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the people in authority do not explain to people that this wording is not to be taken on its real and apparent sense.
Until Jahm ibn Safwan appears, after the end of the time of the companions, and he is the one who explains to people what was sent down to them upon their Prophet. Then after him Bishr ibn Ghiyath and others who follow their way from among those whose faith is suspected and whose condition is criticised.
How can it be allowed that our Prophet ﷺ teaches us everything, even the etiquette of relieving ourselves, and says, “There is nothing that will bring you closer to the Garden except that I have told you about it, and nothing that will distance you from the Fire except that I have told you about it,” and that he says, “I have left you upon a clear whiteness, its night is like its day, no one deviates from it after me except one who is destroyed.”
Then he leaves the Book that was sent down upon him and his clear sunnah in a state that, according to the claim of the opponent, their apparent sense is likening Allah to His creation and making Him a body, and that believing in the apparent sense is misguidance, while he does not explain this or clarify it.
And how can it be allowed for the predecessors to say, “Let these verses pass as they have come,” when their figurative meanings are actually what is intended, and those figurative meanings are something that the Arabs do not understand, such that the sons of Persia and Rome end up being more knowledgeable of the language of the Arabs than the sons of the emigrants and the helpers.
The fourth station. I said to him: I will bring you proofs that are clear, decisive and obvious, which show you that Allah has two hands in reality.
Among them is His giving Adam preference in a way that made the angels commanded to prostrate to him and made arrogance towards him forbidden. If what was meant was only that He created him by His power, or by His favour, or that He simply added the act of creation to Himself, then Iblis and all created beings would share with him in this.
He said to me: It may be that something is added to Allah by way of honour, like His saying, “the she camel of Allah” and “the House of Allah.”
I said to him: An addition which is an honour is not correct until there is in the thing that is added some meaning by which it is singled out from others. If there were not in the she camel and the House signs and proofs that set them apart from all other she camels and houses, they would not deserve this special addition.
The matter here is the same. Adding the creation of Adam to Allah with the expression that He created him with His two hands means that He did an action with His two hands for Adam that He did not do for others. He created others by His saying “Be” and they are, as has come in the reports.
Among the proofs also is that when they say, “In His hand is the dominion,” or “This is something your two hands have done,” there are two things being indicated. The first is the confirmation of the hand, and the second is adding the dominion or the action to it. The second of these two is where figurative use occurs a lot.
As for the first, they do not use such speech except for someone who has a real hand. They do not say, “the hand of desire” nor “the hand of water.” So even if we assume that His saying “in whose hand is the dominion” could be known in that context to refer to power, they only give this figurative sense for one who has a hand in reality.
The difference between His saying:
لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ
“to what I created with My two hands.”
(Sad: 75)
and His saying:
مِمَّا عَمِلَتْ أَيْدِينَا
“from what Our hands have done.”
(Yasin: 71)
is from two angles.
The first is that in the verse about Adam He added the action to Himself and then clarified that He did that action with His two hands, but in the verse about the cattle, He added the action to the hands.
The second is that from the language of the Arabs is that they sometimes place the plural form in the place of the dual when there is no fear of confusion, as in His saying:
فَاقْطَعُوا أَيْدِيَهُمَا
“Then cut off their hands.”
(al Maida: 38)
meaning their two hands, and His saying:
فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوبُكُمَا
“The two of your hearts have inclined.”
(al Tahrim: 4)
meaning your two hearts. In the same way His saying:
مِمَّا عَمِلَتْ أَيْدِينَا
“from what Our hands have done.”
can be understood.
As for the sunnah, then it is very abundant in this subject. Among that is his ﷺ saying:
This was reported by Muslim.
This was reported by Muslim in his Sahih and by al Bukhari in meaning.
In the Sahih as well, from Abu Saeed al Khudri, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«تكون الأرض يوم القيامة خبزة واحدة يتكفؤها الجبار بيده كما يتكفأ أحدكم خبزته في السفر»
And in the Sahih, from Ibn Umar, that he described the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as saying:
«يأخذ الرب عز وجل سماواته وأرضه بيديه»
and he tightened his two hands and opened them while he was saying this, and he said: “I am the Most Merciful,” until I looked at the pulpit moving beneath him, so much that I said, will it fall with the Messenger of Allah. In another wording, that he recited this verse on the pulpit:
(al Zumar: 67)
and he said, “He says, I am Allah, I am the Compeller,” and he mentioned the rest of the narration.
And in the Sahih as well, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«يقبض الله الأرض ويطوي السماء بيمينه ثم يقول: أنا الملك، أين ملوك الأرض»
and this is in agreement with the famous narration from the Jewish scholar who came to the Prophet ﷺ and mentioned some of this, so he ﷺ smiled out of amazement and belief in what he said.
And in a sound narration it is reported:
And in the Sahih it is reported:
«أن الله كتب بيده على نفسه لما خلق الخلق إن رحمتي تغلب غضبي»
And in the Sahih it is reported that when Adam and Musa argued, Adam said:
In another hadith He the Exalted says:
«وعزتي وجلالي لا أجعل صالح ذرية من خلقت بيدي كمن قلت له كن فكان»
“By My might and My majesty, I will not make the righteous offspring of one whom I created with My two hands like one to whom I said, Be, and he was.”
And in another hadith in the Sunan:
«لما خلق الله آدم ومسح ظهره بيمينه فاستخرج منه ذرية فقال خلقت هؤلاء للجنة وبعمل أهل الجنة يعملون، ثم مسح ظهره بيده الأخرى فقال خلقت هؤلاء للنار وبعمل أهل النار يعملون»
“When Allah created Adam and wiped his back with His right hand, He brought forth from him offspring and said, I created these for the Garden and they will act with the actions of the people of the Garden. Then He wiped his back with His other hand and said, I created these for the Fire, and they will act with the actions of the people of the Fire.” (It was narrated by Abu Dawud (4703), al Tirmidhi (3075), and Ahmad (311)
Side Note:
This hadith is weak and so are all its other chains,
Abu Hatim al Razi (d.277 AH) said: Muslim ibn Yasar did not hear from Umar. Between them is Naim ibn Rabiah. (Tuhfat al Tahsil fi al Marasil 1/494) However Imam Malik said: from Zayd ibn Abi Anisah, from Abd al Hamid, that Umar was asked about this verse, and he did not mention Naim ibn Rabiʿah. (Tahdhib al Kamal fi Asma al Rijal by al Mizzi 29/485)
Abu Zurah al Razi (d.264 AH) said: His hadith from Umar is mursal. (Tuhfat al Tahsil fi al Marasil 1/494)
Al Tirmidhi (d.279 AH) said: This is a good hadith, and Muslim ibn Yasar did not hear from Umar. Some of the scholars mentioned that in this chain of narration there is a man between Muslim ibn Yasar and Umar. (Jami al Tirmidhi 5/158) End of side note.
I mentioned these hadiths and others to him, then I said to him: Do these hadiths accept figurative interpretation, or are they clear and decisive texts. These are hadiths that the ummah has received with acceptance and belief, and they have been transmitted from a great sea of narrators.
So the man showed repentance, and the truth became clear to him.
This is what I pointed to, may Allah do good to you, when I said that I would write it.
And this is a very wide subject.
وَمَنْ لَمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ نُورًا فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ نُورٍ
“And the one for whom Allah has not made a light, he has no light.”
(al Nur: 40)
وَمَنْ يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِي وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُرْشِدًا
“Whoever Allah guides, he is the guided one, and whoever He sends astray, you will never find for him a protecting guide.”
(al Kahf: 17)
Peace, the mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, and upon the three Muhammads, and Abu Zakariyya, and Abu al Baqa Abdul Majid, and the family of the house, and those you know from the people of Madinah, and all of the people of that blessed town.
If you know of a book about Madinah that gathers its reports as some have written about the reports of Makkah, then let me know of it.
All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the universe, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and upon his family and his companions all together.
Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (6/361-373)
