Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The Hand of Allah, the Exalted, is an attribute established by the Qur’an and Sunnah in a manner befitting His majesty, and it does not resemble the hands of created beings. It is permissible to explain this attribute by mentioning some of the actions that the revealed texts have connected to it, such as grasping, extending, and taking. However, one should not expand beyond this by attributing to the Hand actions that the texts have not connected to it. Likewise, the expression “functional similarity” should be avoided because it is a newly introduced expression that may suggest incorrect meanings.
The same name or description of an attribute may be applied to Allah and to a created being without implying that the two are identical.
Allah, Glorified be He, described Himself as the All-Hearing and All-Seeing, and He also described the human being as hearing and seeing:
﴿إِنَّا خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ نَبْتَلِيهِ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا﴾
“Indeed, We created man from a mixed drop to test him, and We made him hearing and seeing.”
[Al-Insan: 2]
Yet Allah’s hearing is not like human hearing, nor is His sight like human sight.
The same applies to what is established for Allah regarding the Hand, the Face, and other attributes. Allah’s attributes befit Him, while the attributes of created beings correspond to their created nature and weakness.
The comprehensive principle is Allah’s statement:
﴿لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ﴾
“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
[Ash-Shura: 11]
The verse denies any likeness while at the same time affirming hearing and sight.
The methodology of Ahl al-Sunnah is to affirm the meanings of the attributes mentioned in the revealed texts without delving into their modality.
Imam al-Tirmidhi therefore transmitted from a number of the early imams regarding the hadiths of the divine attributes that they said:
“Pass them on without asking how.”
He also transmitted from Ishaq ibn Rahawayh that resemblance occurs when someone says: “a hand like a hand” or “hearing like hearing.” As for affirming the Hand, hearing, and sight as they occur in the texts, without specifying their modality or likening them to created beings, this is not anthropomorphic resemblance.
According to the fatwa, there is no harm in explaining the attribute of the Hand by referring to some of the actions established in the texts as being connected to it. For example, one may say:
It is an attribute of Allah by which grasping, extending, taking, and giving occur, in a manner befitting Allah.
It is narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will take His heavens and His earths in His two Hands,” and the narrator mentioned the closing and opening of the fingers.
Narrated by Muslim.
The revealed texts also establish that Allah created Adam with His two Hands, that His two Hands are outspread, and that the heavens will be folded in His Right Hand.
These texts may therefore help us understand what Allah has informed us about this attribute without attempting to imagine its modality.
This expression is not among the transmitted expressions used concerning Allah’s attributes, and it may lead to excessive analogy between the attributes of the Creator and those of created beings.
Not every action that a human performs with his hand may be attributed to Allah’s Hand.
A human being, for example, eats and drinks with his hand, whereas Allah, Glorified be He, is exalted above food, drink, and need. Allah says:
﴿وَهُوَ يُطْعِمُ وَلَا يُطْعَمُ﴾
“He feeds and is not fed.”
[Al-An‘am: 14]
Therefore, it is incorrect to formulate a general principle stating that the “functions” of a created being’s hand correspond to similar functions of Allah’s Hand.
The more precise statement is:
We affirm regarding Allah’s Hand whatever attributes and actions the revealed texts affirm, and we do not go beyond them to matters that have not been mentioned.
If revelation informs us that Allah created a particular thing with His Hand, it is incorrect to generalize this and say that every created thing was created by Allah with His Hand.
Adam, peace be upon him, was specifically mentioned in this regard. Allah says:
﴿مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ﴾
“What prevented you from prostrating to that which I created with My two Hands?”
[Sad: 75]
Therefore, it is not correct to define Allah’s Hand as “the hand by which He is able to create,” because Allah’s power is not dependent upon the Hand. Rather, He, Glorified be He, has power over all things and creates whatever He wills however He wills.
Allah says:
﴿إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُ إِذَا أَرَادَ شَيْئًا أَنْ يَقُولَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ فَسُبْحَانَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ مَلَكُوتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ﴾
“His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is. So glory be to Him in whose Hand is the dominion of all things, and to Him you will be returned.”
[Ya-Sin: 82–83]
Allah’s attributes belong to the matters of the unseen. Therefore, the safest and most precise approach is not to invent definitions and details for which there is no need.
When an attribute has a known meaning in the Arabic language, such as the attribute of the Hand, we affirm it for Allah as it has been revealed. We also know some of what is connected to it through the revealed texts, while denying resemblance and refraining from specifying its modality.
We do not need to determine its form or how it functions, because Allah has not informed us of that.
Allah’s Hand is a real attribute established for Him, Glorified be He, in a manner befitting His majesty, and it is not like the hands of created beings. It is permissible to explain it by referring to actions that revelation has established in connection with it, such as grasping, extending, and taking, without expanding into matters that have not been revealed.
As for the expression “functional similarity,” it is better to avoid it because it may suggest an analogy between Allah’s attributes and human attributes.
The more precise statement is:
We know the meaning of the attribute and what revelation has informed us about its effects and actions, but its modality is unknown to us.
﴿لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ﴾
“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
[Ash-Shura: 11]
And Allah knows best.