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All praise is due to Allah, and may blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Merely denying resemblance to creation is not sufficient to establish an attribute for Allah. No attribute may be affirmed for Him without evidence from the Qur’an, Sunnah, or scholarly consensus. Attributes of imperfection are denied of Him in every case; adding the phrase “in a manner befitting Him” does not turn them into perfections. Denying resemblance applies when affirming established attributes; it does not permit inventing attributes unsupported by evidence.
Allah’s attributes are established only on the basis of revealed evidence
This means that we limit our affirmation of His attributes to what the evidence establishes. We do not describe Him merely on the basis of personal opinion or imagination, even if we think a description conveys perfection.
Ibn al-ʿAṭṭār said: “There is consensus that the attributes are established only on the basis of revealed evidence.” See Al-Iʿtiqād al-Khāliṣ min al-Shakk wa-l-Intiqād (p. 129).
Al-Saffārīnī quoted Imam Aḥmad as saying: “Allah is described only with what He has described Himself with and what His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, has described Him with. We do not go beyond the Qur’an and hadith.”
He also quoted Ibn Taymiyyah as explaining that the approach of the early generations is to affirm what Allah and His Messenger have stated about His attributes, “without distortion or denial, and without specifying how they are or likening them to the attributes of creation.” See Lawāmiʿ al-Anwār al-Bahiyyah (1/24).
Affirming an attribute without evidence is therefore speaking about Allah without knowledge. Allah says:
“Say: My Lord has only forbidden shameful deeds, whether open or hidden, sin, unjust aggression, associating with Allah that for which He has sent down no authority, and saying about Allah what you do not know.” [Al-Aʿrāf 7:33]
Why is denying resemblance not sufficient?
When we say of established attributes, “In a manner befitting Allah, without resembling created beings,” we explain how to approach what the evidence establishes: we do not specify its manner or liken it to the attributes of creation.
However, this phrase is not an independent proof establishing any attribute a speaker proposes. If it were sufficient, hunger, thirst, and every other imperfection could be attributed to Allah, with objections dismissed merely by saying: “They are unlike the attributes of created beings.”
Ibn ʿUthaymīn explained that this demonstrates the error of relying solely on denying resemblance. The governing principle is to affirm the attributes of perfection that Allah has affirmed for Himself, in a manner involving no imperfection. See Taqrīb al-Tadmuriyyah (p. 76 onward).
Attributes of imperfection are denied of Allah
Allah possesses perfection and is free from everything that contradicts it. He says:
“To Allah belongs the highest description, and He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.” [Al-Naḥl 16:60]
That is, His is the most perfect description.
Ibn Taymiyyah said: “Imperfection is denied of Him by reason, just as it is denied of Him by revelation. Reason requires that He possess attributes of perfection, and imperfection is whatever contradicts those attributes.” See Sharḥ al-Aṣbahāniyyah (p. 412).
Accordingly, the fear, eating, and giving birth mentioned in the question cannot be attributed to Allah, whether or not resemblance to creation is denied. Eating and drinking entail need, and need is an imperfection. This meaning does not disappear simply by describing the eating as “great” or “befitting Allah.”
The same applies to hunger, thirst, and similar imperfections. Allah is free from them because of His perfection, not merely because we seek to distinguish them from human attributes.
Is a specific text required to deny every imperfection?
It is not necessary for every attribute of imperfection to be explicitly denied by name before we affirm that Allah is free from it. The evidence establishing His perfection also negates whatever contradicts that perfection.
Two matters must be distinguished here: refraining from affirming an attribute for which there is no evidence, and denying an attribute whose incompatibility with Allah is established by His perfection.
It may be said that the absence of a text establishing a particular attribute does not, by itself, prove that the attribute is impossible. Nevertheless, this does not permit attributing it to Allah without knowledge. If it involves imperfection, the evidence of His perfection also provides evidence for denying it.
The difference between established attributes and invented attributes
The fatwa affirms the attributes mentioned in the revealed texts, such as joy, laughter, anger, speech, the Face, and the two Hands, in a manner befitting Allah and without resemblance to created beings.
The difference between these and invented attributes is that the former are established by evidence and affirmed for Allah in a perfect manner. The latter have no evidence establishing them and may involve imperfection that contradicts His perfection.
Sharing certain terms with descriptions of human beings is not a reason to deny what is established. Likewise, denying resemblance is not a reason to accept what is not established.
Conclusion
Affirming Allah’s attributes rests on evidence, together with belief in His perfection and His freedom from resemblance to His creation. An unattested attribute is not established merely by adding “in a manner befitting Him.” Attributes of imperfection are denied of Him in every case.
And Allah knows best.