Muslims often accuse Christians of having an irrational view of the nature of God as Trinitarians. Some Christian apologists have responded back by appealing to the issue of Allah's attributes, and the many debates that have taken place between Islamic groups centuries ago concerning these theological issues (I would recommend watching the debate between Anthony Rogers and Shabir Ally titled "Is Islamic Monotheism Pure?" for an introduction to the arguments on this topic). In this article I will be examining an anthropomorphic attribute ascribed to Allah, namely, that he has hands (two right hands, to be more specific). I will show how the common Islamic argument ends up collapsing under the weight of lots of evidence that appears to suggest a more literal interpretation.
First of all, the Qur'an teaches explicitly that Allah has hands:
"The Jews say: "Allah's hand is tied up." Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blasphemy) they utter. Nay, both His hands are widely outstretched" (Surah 5:64)
"Say: 'Who is it in whose hands is the governance of all things,- who protects (all), but is not protected (of any)? (say) if ye know.'" (Surah 23:88)
"Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion; and He over all things hath Power." (Surah 67:1)
(I want to make a note that I am more than willing to grant than Allah's hands may be used metaphorically at all times. However, saying that the metaphorical meaning is what is always intended would be a composition fallacy. Just because it can be proved that "hand" is used in a figurative sense in some verses, doesn't mean the same goes for all of the verses which deal with this issue.)
The common reply from Muslims is an appeal to Surah 42:11 ("There is nothing like unto Him") along with simply dismissing these verses and descriptions as being metaphorical. Or, Allah's hand(s) are seen as referring to his power. How do we know which view is correct? One particular verse of the Qur'an which helps us greatly in this is from Surah Saad:
"(Allah) said: "O Iblis! What prevents thee from prostrating thyself to one whom I have created with my hands? Art thou haughty? Or art thou one of the high (and mighty) ones?" (Surah 38:75 Yusuf Ali translation)
The context is where Allah is speaking to Satan (Iblis) about Adam and why he refused to bow down to him. Adam is the one that Allah created "with his hands".
Why is this verse so important for our discussion? Right here (and elsewhere in the hadith, as we'll shall see) Adam is singled as unique for a specific reason, i.e. he was created with the hands of Allah. Bear this in mind! Now this verse would not make any sense if the "hand of Allah" here simply meant his power. Because, remember Adam is being viewed as unique. Yet the Qur'an says that everything is created by Allah's power:
"For to Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. He createth what He pleaseth. For Allah hath power over all things." (Surah 5:17)
"And Allah has created every animal from water: of them there are some that creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills for verily Allah has power over all things." (Surah 24:45)
If the meaning of Allah's hand in Surah 38:75 is simply "power", then what makes Adam so unique? Everything is created by the power of Allah! And yet Iblis and the angels are being commanded to prostrate only before Adam (and Allah, of course). Here are the comments from two Muslim scholars on this issue:
"If the intended meaning of the Hand is power, then Adam will enjoy no superiority over Iblis; not even over a donkey and the dogs, because they were all created with the power of Allah. If the intended meaning of the Hand is power, the proof against Iblis will not be valid, since Iblis will say: "And I, my Lord, you created me with your power, with what you have preferred him over me? This Hand which Allah affirmed for Himself is related in such different manners that prevent it meaning favor and power. It is related with the mention of the Fingers, Holding, Stretching, Palm and "the Right." All these show that power cannot be intended by it, because power cannot be described with these attributes. It becomes clear by this, that the view of those who distort the Attributes of Allah and assert that the meaning of Hand is power, is false, from a number of viewpoints" (Muhammad bin Salih al-Uthaymeen, Commentary on Shaikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya's Al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah, vol. 1, pgs. 404-405)
"The obvious meaning here does not leav [sic] us with the obvious meaning of the first, because in this ayaah, the bounties of Allah is not what is being implied here, but the actual merit of Adam because of the fact that Adam was created by Allah’s literal Hands. So here, Hands means Hands, it is just that we have no grasp, or understanding of what these Hands are. This is the reality of knowing the meaning and not knowing the nature." (Ash'ari Contentions: On Tafweedh and Allah's Hand)
The "uniqueness" of Adam (due to his creation by Allah's hands) is further confirmed by the following hadith:
"Narrated Anas: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah will gather the believers on the Day of Resurrection in the same way (as they are gathered in this life), and they will say, 'Let us ask someone to intercede for us with our Lord that He may relieve us from this place of ours.' Then they will go to Adam and say, 'O Adam! Don't you see the people (people's condition)? Allah created you with His Own Hands and ordered His angels to prostrate before you, and taught you the names of all the things. Please intercede for us with our Lord so that He may relieve us from this place of ours.' " (Sahih al-Bukhari 7410)
This hadith is mutawatir. Here are links to five other versions of this same narration: [Sahih Muslim 193a] [Sahih al-Bukhari 3340] [Sahih al-Bukhari 4476] [Sahih Muslim 194a] [Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2434]
Another narration which highlights Adam's uniqueness as the one whom Allah created with his own hands is in a story in the hadith about an argument between Moses (Musa) and Adam:
"Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: There was an argument between Adam and Moses (peace be upon both of them) in the presence of their Lord. Adam came the better of Moses. Moses said: Are you that Adam whom Allah created with His Hand and breathed into him His spirit, and commanded angels to fall in prostration before him and He made you live in Paradise with comfort and ease. Then you caused the people to get down to the earth because of your lapse. Adam said: Are you that Moses whom Allah selected for His Messengership and for His conversation with him and conferred upon you the tablets, in which everything was clearly explained and granted you the audience in order to have confidential talk with you. What is your opinion, how long Torah would haye been written before I was created? Moses said: Forty years before. Adam said: Did you not see these words: Adam committed an error and he was enticed to (do so). He (Moses) said: Yes. Whereupon, he (Adam) said: Do you then blame me for an act which Allah had ordained for me forty years before He created me? Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: This is how Adam came the better of Moses." (Sahih Muslim 2652c)
There are other versions of this same story of the dispute between Adam and Moses. One of them says that Allah wrote the Torah with his hand:
"Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Adam and Moses argued with each other. Moses said to Adam. 'O Adam! You are our father who disappointed us and turned us out of Paradise.' Then Adam said to him, 'O Moses! Allah favored you with His talk (talked to you directly) and He wrote (the Torah) for you with His Own Hand. Do you blame me for action which Allah had written in my fate forty years before my creation?' So Adam confuted Moses, Adam confuted Moses," the Prophet (ﷺ) added, repeating the Statement three times." (Sahih al-Bukhari 6614, also narrated in Sahih Muslim 2652a and Sunan Abu Dawud 4701)
Relevant to the issue is the comment of Abdullah bin Ahmad (son of Ahmad ibn Hanbal) in his Kitab al-Sunna:
"Allah wrote the Torah for Moses with His hand while leaning back on a rock, on tablets of pearl, and the screech of the quill could be heard. There was no veil between Him and him," (Abdullah bin Ahmad, Kitab al-Sunna, vol 1, pg. 294)
The language used here obviously points to a more literal interpretation of the hand of Allah. A common reply from some groups of Muslims is that Kitab al-Sunna is a forgery and falsely attributed to Abdullah bin Ahmad. I refer them to this article (of about 5 pages) which gives many lines of evidence for its authenticity.
The following tradition gives further evidence for our above statement that the uniqueness of Adam (and the Torah) due to their being created by Allah's hands strongly negates the idea that Allah's hands always are metaphorical or merely refer to his power. I warn you beforehand that a lot of text is below to read from the source.
On the authority of al Haarith ibn Nawfal: Allah created three things with His Hand: He created Adam with His Hand He wrote the Tawraah with His Hand and He planted Firdaus with His Hand. (Collected by ad Daylami, It was also collected by ad Darqutni in ‘As Sifaat’ P. 26 #28 and Abu Ash Shaikh in ‘Al ‘Udhmah’: 5/1555)
In another Hadeeth narrated by ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr: Indeed Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - created three things with His Hand; He created Adam with His Hand, He wrote the Torah with His Hand and He planted Firdaws with His Hand. (Collected by ad Darqutni in ‘As Sifaat’ P.45 and al Bayhaqi in ‘Al Asma was Sifat’: P. 403 on the authority of al Harith ibn Nawfal.)
It was authentically reported that ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar said: Allah created four things with His Hand; The Throne, The Pen, Adam and the paradise of ‘Adn. He then said to the rest of the creation ‘Kun’ [Be] and it was.”
Adh Dhahabi stated in ‘Al ‘Uluw’: ‘It’s chain is good.’
Al Albaani stated in ‘Mukhtasar al ‘Uluw’ P.105: ‘The chain is authentic according to the conditions of Muslim.’
On the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn al Haarith who said; the Messenger of Allah - صلى الله عليه و سلم - said: Allah created three things with His Hand; He created Adam with His Hand, He wrote the Torah with His Hand and He planted Firdaws with His Hand. He then said; ;By my Glory, neither a drunkard nor a ‘Dayyooth’ will live in it The companions asked: O Messenger of Allah, we know the drunkard, but who is the Dayyooth? He responded: One who consents to evil taking place in his family. (Collected by al Khira-ity in Masaawi al Akhlaaq: P.62, #426)
On the authority of ibn ‘Umar – may Allah be pleased with him: Allah created four things with his hands: The throne, The paradise of ‘Adn, Adam and the Pen. He veiled the creation from Himself with four: Fire, then darkness, then light, then darkness.
Al-Hakim stated: ‘The chain is authentic according to the conditions of both Bukhari and Muslim but they did not collect them [in their Saheehs].’[Mukhtasar al ‘Uluw by al Albaani]
Ibnul Qayyimstated: "It has been authentically reported by both al Bukhari and Muslim in their Saheehs, that the Prophet - صلى الله عليه و سلم - said in the Hadeeth of the intercession: it will be said to Musa: ‘…You are Musa that Allah has specified with His [direct] Speech [to you] and wrote the Tablets for you with His Hand…’ (Bayaan Talbees al Jahmiyyah: 1/153)
Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:
The people of knowledge stated that Allah did not create anything with His Hand except Adam, the Paradise of ‘Adn – for indeed he created it with His Hand, and He wrote the Torah with His Hand. These are three things that were by the Hand of Allah – the Mighty and Majestic, as for [those of mankind] other than Adam , they were created by the word ‘Kun’ (be). (Tafseer Surat al Kahf: P.89)
There are more ahadith which confirm what we're saying:
"Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab: Muslim ibn Yasar al-Juhani said: When Umar ibn al-Khattab was asked about the verse "When your Lord took their offspring from the backs of the children of Adam" - al-Qa'nabi recited the verse--he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say when he was questioned about it: Allah created Adam, then passed His right hand over his back, and brought forth from it his offspring, saying: I have these for Paradise and these will do the deeds of those who go to Paradise. He then passed His hand over his back and brought forth from it his offspring, saying: I have created these for Hell, and they will do the deeds of those who go to Hell. A man asked: What is the good of doing anything, Messenger of Allah? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: When Allah creates a servant for Paradise, He employs him in doing the deeds of those who will go to Paradise, so that his final action before death is one of the deeds of those who go to Paradise, for which He will bring him into Paradise. But when He creates a servant for Hell, He employs him in doing the deeds of those who will go to Hell, so that his final action before death is one of the deeds of those who go to Hell, for which He will bring him into Hell." (Sunan Abu Dawud 4703)
One particular hadith is quite interesting which mentions Allah even shaking hands with people (something which can only be indeed physically):
"It was narrated that Ubayy bin Ka'b said: 'The Messenger of Allah said: 'The first person with whom Allah will shake hands will be 'Umar, (and he is) the first person to be greeted with the Salam, and the first person who will be taken by the hand and admitted into Paradise. (Da'if: weak) '" (Sunan ibn Majah 104)
Of course, this hadith is indeed graded da'if, so I personally am not basing all of my arguments upon it (I still have the rest of the article with all of its sources to support my case!). However, I did use an online hadith database to check the reliability of each of the narrators in the isnad chain for this hadith using Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb by the famous hadith scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. All of the narrators were said to be trustworthy except for one. You can view a profile for each of them using these links [1] [2] [3] [4]. So I am willing to grant that this hadith not be authentic and thus toss out this mini-argument. However, there are still other hadith which are authentic which are perhaps even worse (for traditional Muslims) than the one I just cited from Ibn Majah.
"Narrated `Abdullah: A Jew came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Muhammad! Allah will hold the heavens on a Finger, and the mountains on a Finger, and the trees on a Finger, and all the creation on a Finger, and then He will say, 'I am the King.' " On that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) smiled till his premolar teeth became visible, and then recited:-- 'No just estimate have they made of Allah such as due to him....(39.67) `Abdullah added: Allah's Apostle smiled (at the Jew's statement) expressing his wonder and BELIEF IN WHAT WAS SAID" (Sahih al-Bukhari 7414)
Notice that the hadith says Muhammad agreed with what the Jew was saying about Allah and the fingers on his obviously-literal hand (at least in some sense). This same tradition is reported in other hadith:
"Abdullah b. Mas'ud reported that a Jewish scholar came to Allah's Apostle (may peace he upon him) and said: Muhammad, or Abu al-Qasim, verily, Allah, the Exalted and Glorious would carry the Heavens on the Day of Judgment upon one finger and earths upon one finger and the mountains and trees upon one finger and the ocean and moist earth upon one finger, and in fact the whole of the creation upon one finger, and then He would stir them and say: I am your Lord, I am your Lord. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) smiled testifying what that scholar had said. He then recited this verse:" And they honour not Allah with the honour due to Him; and the whole earth will be in His grip on the Day of Resurrection and the heaven rolled up in His right hand. Glory be to Him I and highly Exalted is He above what they associate (with Him)" (Sahih Muslim 2786a)
"This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Mansur with the same chain of truemittm (and the words are):A Jew scholar came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). The rest of the hadith is the same, but there is no mention of" then He would stir them." But there is this addition:" I saw Allah's Messengcr (ﷺ) smiling so much that his front teeth appeared and testifying him (the Jew scholar) ; then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) recited the verse:" And they honour not Allah with the honour due to Him" (Sahih Muslim Book 52, Hadith 3)
Some might think that Muhammad's citation of Surah 39:67 means that he is actually disagreeing with what the Jew was saying. If the explicit statements from the above-cited hadith that Muhammad did in fact agree with the Jew, then here are the words of Ibn Kathir from his well-respected tafsir:
"(They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. ) Al-Bukhari recorded that `Abdullah bin Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "One of the rabbis came to the Messenger of Allah and said, `O Muhammad! We learn that Allah will put the heavens on one finger, the earths on one finger, the trees on one finger, the water and dust on one finger, and the rest of creation on one finger, then He will say: I am the King.' The Messenger of Allah smiled so broadly that his molars could be seen, in CONFIRMATION of what the rabbi had said. " (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, vol 8, pg. 418, source)
You can find more information on what the hadith have to say about Allah's hands from this thread post (on a Muslim forum) from Islamic apologist Bassam Zawadi. Here is a quote from Mr. Zawadi:
"This is "clear" and "powerful" evidence that the Prophet (peace be upon him) recognized that Allah literally has a Hand (unlike that of creation of course)." (source)
This a TON of evidence in favor of some form of a "literal" interpretation. Ultimately, Muslims will have to either resort to full-blown anthropormorphism or they can simply say that Allah is "beyond your comprehension", in which case, we could say the same thing about the Trinity and dash all arguments against the logic of Trinitarianism to pieces. Either way, Islam is damaged in a severe way.
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