Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Allah’s attributes are established only through revelation. We do not affirm an attribute for Allah merely because the human intellect considers it a perfection. Rather, the basis for affirming Allah’s attributes is the Qur’an and Sunnah. The attribute of the Hand is established for Allah Almighty by numerous texts, and therefore Ahl al-Sunnah affirm it for Him in a manner befitting Him, without resemblance or asking how. Every attribute authentically established for Allah is an attribute of perfection, and the attribute of the Hand is among them.
As for what corresponds to it, the complete absence of an attribute that Allah has affirmed for Himself is a deficiency, because Allah described Himself as having a Hand and mentioned actions connected with it, such as creating, grasping, extending, and giving. All of these indicate power, perfection, and greatness.
Allah Almighty says:
﴿وَلِلَّهِ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَى﴾
“And to Allah belongs the highest description.”
[An-Nahl: 60]
Scholars have explained “the highest description” as the loftiest description and absolute perfection.
Therefore, every attribute established for Allah Almighty belongs to Him in the most perfect manner, free from every deficiency and without resemblance to created beings.
It is important here to note that the way to know Allah’s attributes is not to first draw up an intellectual list of what we regard as attributes of perfection and then attribute them to Him. Rather, we begin with what Allah has informed us about Himself and what His Messenger ﷺ has informed us about Him, and then we know that whatever is authentically established for Him is a perfection befitting His Majesty.
The Hand is explicitly affirmed for Allah Almighty in clear Qur’anic texts.
Allah said, addressing Iblis:
﴿قَالَ يَا إِبْلِيسُ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ أَسْتَكْبَرْتَ أَمْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الْعَالِينَ﴾
“He said, ‘O Iblis, what prevented you from prostrating to that which I created with My two Hands? Were you arrogant, or were you among the exalted?’”
[Sad: 75]
Allah also says:
﴿وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ وَالْأَرْضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالسَّمَاوَاتُ مَطْوِيَّاتٌ بِيَمِينِهِ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ﴾
“They did not recognize Allah according to His true worth. On the Day of Resurrection, the whole earth will be in His grasp, and the heavens will be folded in His Right Hand. Glorified and Exalted is He above what they associate with Him.”
[Az-Zumar: 67]
These texts affirm the Hand, the Right Hand, and grasping for Allah Almighty in a manner befitting Him.
The Sunnah likewise affirms this attribute.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Allah’s Hand is full, and spending does not diminish what is in it; He gives generously by night and by day.”
[Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
He ﷺ also said:
“No one gives in charity even the equivalent of a date from good earnings except that Allah takes it in His Right Hand and nurtures it as one of you nurtures his foal or young camel, until it becomes like a mountain or greater.”
[Narrated by Muslim]
It is also reported in the hadith that Allah Almighty will take the heavens and the earth in His Hands on the Day of Resurrection.
For this reason, the leading scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah affirmed the attribute of the Hand for Allah while declaring Him completely free of resemblance to the hands of created beings.
Affirming the Hand for Allah does not mean that His Hand is like a human hand or that of any other created being.
The same principle applies to all of Allah’s attributes: we affirm the meaning indicated by the revealed text, while we do not know the manner of the attribute and do not liken it to the attributes of creation.
Just as Allah possesses knowledge that does not resemble human knowledge, hearing that does not resemble their hearing, and sight that does not resemble their sight, He likewise has two Hands befitting His Majesty that do not resemble the hands of created beings.
Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari, may Allah have mercy on him, related the agreement of Ahl al-Sunnah on affirming the two Hands for Allah, saying:
“They unanimously agreed that He, Mighty and Majestic, hears and sees, and that He, Exalted, has two outstretched Hands … without them being bodily limbs.”
Thus, their affirmation is always accompanied by declaring Allah free from resemblance to creation.
Because the revealed texts do not merely mention the Hand in isolation. They mention actions connected with it that demonstrate greatness, power, and perfection.
Allah Almighty created Adam with His two Hands; He grasps and extends; He gives; and the heavens will be folded in His Right Hand on the Day of Resurrection.
For this reason, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, explained this aspect of perfection by stating that one who can act through his power, speech, and hands whenever he wills is more perfect than one who is unable to do so.
Thus, perfection here is not derived from a merely human conception of a bodily organ or limb. Rather, it comes from the attribute as Allah affirmed it for Himself and the actions of perfection associated with it.
It does not mean that we compare Allah to human beings and say that a human being who has a hand is more complete than one who has lost it, and then transfer this comparison to Allah.
Rather, what is meant is that Allah Almighty affirmed this attribute for Himself and praised Himself through actions associated with it, such as creating, grasping, extending, and giving. Therefore, denying what Allah affirmed for Himself entails stripping Him of a perfection that He Himself affirmed.
Scholars have also cited Allah’s statement concerning idols:
﴿أَلَهُمْ أَرْجُلٌ يَمْشُونَ بِهَا أَمْ لَهُمْ أَيْدٍ يَبْطِشُونَ بِهَا أَمْ لَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا أَمْ لَهُمْ آذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا﴾
“Do they have feet with which they walk? Or hands with which they grasp? Or eyes with which they see? Or ears with which they hear?”
[Al-A‘raf: 195]
Allah censured the idols because of their inability and their lack of power to act, benefit, or repel harm.
Al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that this verse argues against the polytheists by showing that their idols do not possess the means by which they could bring benefit or repel harm. How, then, could they deserve to be worshipped?
No.
This is an important point in relation to the original question.
It is not a condition for affirming an attribute of Allah that we first identify its opposite and prove that the opposite is a deficiency.
Rather, once an attribute is authentically established for Allah in the Qur’an or the authentic Sunnah, it must be affirmed, and we know that it is an attribute of perfection befitting Allah, because Allah Almighty is free from all deficiency.
With attributes such as knowledge, life, and power, it is easy for the human mind to recognize their opposites as deficiencies. However, it is not necessary for every divine attribute to fit the same mental pattern in order for us to affirm its perfection.
The primary reference is the revealed text, not merely intellectual classifications.
Sound reason does not contradict authentic revealed texts.
Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that an existing being who possesses speech, hearing, sight, a face, and two hands is more perfect than one who lacks these attributes, while emphasizing that the Creator’s attributes do not resemble those of created beings.
For this reason, Ahl al-Sunnah saw no contradiction between revelation and sound reason in affirming Allah’s attributes of perfection.
However, human reason does not independently determine Allah’s Names and Attributes. Rather, it is guided by what revelation has brought.
The attribute of the Hand is established for Allah Almighty by the Qur’an and Sunnah. Therefore, Ahl al-Sunnah affirm it for Allah in a manner befitting His Majesty, without resemblance and without asking how.
It is an attribute of perfection because Allah Almighty described Himself with it and connected it with actions such as creating, grasping, extending, giving, and manifestations of greatness.
It is not necessary, in order to affirm that it is an attribute of perfection, to identify an opposite for it in precisely the same way that ignorance is the opposite of knowledge or death is the opposite of life. The fundamental principle is that every attribute authentically established for Allah Almighty is a perfection, and Allah is free from every deficiency.
The absence or denial of an attribute that Allah has affirmed for Himself amounts to denying a perfection established for Him, while always maintaining that Allah’s Hand is befitting His Majesty and does not resemble the hands of created beings.
And Allah knows best.