Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
It is permissible to use the word “person” (shakhs) in reference to Allah Almighty and to speak of Him using this expression, because this wording occurs in the authentic Sunnah. According to those scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah who affirm it, applying this expression to Allah is valid both in wording and meaning.
This wording is established in the authentic hadith narrated by Muslim from Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubadah, may Allah be pleased with him, in which the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Are you astonished at Sa‘d’s jealousy? By Allah, I am more jealous than he is, and Allah is more jealous than I am. Because of Allah’s jealousy, He has forbidden immoral deeds, both those that are apparent and those that are hidden, and there is no person more jealous than Allah...” Narrated by Muslim (1499).
Al-Bukhari narrated the hadith with the wording: “No one”**, and he also transmitted the wording “There is no person more jealous than Allah” from one of the narrators of the hadith. Al-Bukhari also entitled a chapter: “Chapter: The statement of the Prophet ﷺ: ‘There is no person more jealous than Allah.’”
Some scholars used this as evidence that it is permissible to use the word “shakhs” in reference to Allah Almighty, because the Prophet ﷺ was the most knowledgeable of creation concerning his Lord, Glorified be He, and what he informed us about Him in this matter must be accepted.
Scholars of the Arabic language stated that “shakhs” refers to something that appears and rises, and among its meanings is: an entity existing in itself, apparent and distinct from others.
According to this meaning, using the word for Allah Almighty does not necessarily imply resemblance to created beings. Affirming a wording that occurs in the Sunnah does not mean affirming for Allah the characteristics possessed by created persons.
Shaykh ‘Abdullah al-Ghunayman explained that Imam al-Bukhari’s purpose in giving this chapter heading was to affirm this wording for Allah Almighty, because the Prophet ﷺ affirmed it for Him, and he was the most knowledgeable of creation concerning Allah, what is appropriate for Him, and what is impossible for Him.
Some commentators on the hadith held that the word “shakhs” should not be used for Allah Almighty, and they attempted to interpret the wording found in the hadith differently.
One of their main reasons was that, in their understanding, the word “shakhs” might imply a body or physical size, and such meanings may not be affirmed for Allah, Glorified be He.
However, this argument is based on interpreting the word “shakhs” according to a particular meaning that is not stated in the hadith and then basing the ruling upon it. If, however, what is intended is a specific entity existing in itself and manifest, then this meaning does not necessarily imply anything unbefitting Allah, Glorified be He.
Furthermore, the word “body” itself is an ambiguous expression that the revealed texts do not affirm for Allah nor negate from Him absolutely. Therefore, the mere possibility that the word “shakhs” might be understood in an invalid sense is not sufficient reason to reject a wording that is established in the Sunnah.
One of the strongest arguments for the permissibility of using “shakhs” for Allah Almighty is that the hadith uses a form of categorical negation:
“There is no person more jealous than Allah.”
This form indicates that the one being compared is included within the category expressed by the word. For example, saying: “There is no man more generous than Zayd” indicates that Zayd is a man.
Accordingly, the statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “There is no person more jealous than Allah” indicates, from the perspective of this Arabic linguistic construction, that Allah Almighty is included among those to whom the term “shakhs” may be applied, without this implying any resemblance between Him and created beings.
Al-Qadi Abu Ya‘la transmitted from some hadith scholars the view that this wording may be used for this reason, and he cited the hadith itself as evidence.
Those who affirm the term “shakhs” for Allah Almighty intend only to affirm what the text indicates, without likening Him to creation, without drawing comparisons, and without believing that Allah Almighty resembles created persons.
Ahl as-Sunnah distinguish between sharing a basic linguistic meaning and being identical in reality or modality. Allah, Glorified be He, has nothing comparable to Him, and His Essence and attributes do not resemble the essences and attributes of created beings.
The permissibility of this expression has been affirmed by a number of leading scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah, including Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim. It was also transmitted from al-Qadi Abu Ya‘la and others that they used the hadith as evidence for its permissibility.
As for those who interpreted the wording differently or prohibited its use, they understood it according to specific meanings that they considered unbefitting Allah Almighty. For this reason, scholars differed regarding how the hadith should be understood.
It is valid to use the word “shakhs” in reference to Allah Almighty and to speak of Him with this expression, because it is established in the authentic Sunnah, including the statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “And there is no person more jealous than Allah.” This wording does not necessarily imply likening Allah Almighty to created beings, because affirming what is found in the texts does not mean attributing the characteristics of created beings to Allah, Glorified be He.
The Muslim must affirm what has come in the Qur’an and Sunnah in the manner befitting Allah Almighty, while declaring Him free of any resemblance to His creation. Allah says:
{There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing} [Ash-Shura: 11].
And Allah knows best.