Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The basic principle concerning Allah’s names and attributes is to restrict them to what has been established in the Qur’an and Sunnah. Therefore, no name or attribute should be affirmed for Allah using a term that has not been mentioned in revelation.
As for ambiguous expressions that have neither been affirmed nor negated in revelation, and whose meanings may include both truth and falsehood, one should refrain from affirming or negating the wording itself and instead ask about the intended meaning. If the intended meaning is true, it is accepted while expressing it using the established Islamic terminology. If it entails deficiency or resemblance to creation, it must be rejected and denied concerning Allah.
As for the terms “corporeal form” and “physical body” in their commonly understood meanings, the fatwa rejects attributing them to Allah. As for the term “body,” it requires further clarification because of the different meanings intended by those who use it.
Ambiguous expressions are terms that are not established by a text from the Qur’an or Sunnah and that can carry more than one meaning, some correct and others false.
Among the examples mentioned in the fatwa are “direction,” “spatial domain,” and “body.”
The principle regarding such terms is not to hasten to affirm or deny them until their intended meaning is known.
The fatwa quotes Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen as stating that whatever the Qur’an and Sunnah affirm must be affirmed, and whatever they negate must be negated. As for what has neither been affirmed nor negated, one should refrain from using the wording itself, while explaining its meaning. If the meaning is true and befitting Allah, it is accepted; if it is a meaning that does not befit Allah, it must be rejected.
Because some terms may be intended to convey a correct meaning.
For example, the term “direction” does not occur in the texts as an affirmation or negation concerning Allah.
If someone means by it a created place that surrounds Allah, then this meaning is false, because nothing from His creation encompasses Allah.
But if the intended meaning is that Allah is above His creation and that nothing encompasses Him, the fatwa considers this meaning correct, while preferring clear, established Islamic expressions rather than the ambiguous term “direction.”
No.
There is a distinction between an ambiguous expression and a meaning that clearly entails deficiency.
Every form of deficiency must be denied concerning Allah, even if there is no specific text negating that exact term, because Allah possesses absolute perfection.
Allah says:
“There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
[Al-Shura 42:11]
The fatwa quotes Ibn Taymiyyah as stating that Allah is absolutely free from attributes of deficiency, such as incapacity, ignorance, drowsiness, and sleep. The methodology of the early generations is based on affirming the attributes of perfection without likening Allah to His creation, and declaring Him free of deficiency without denying His established attributes.
According to the fatwa: no.
In their commonly understood linguistic usage, these two terms refer to the physical body and corporeal form known among created beings, along with the bodily meanings associated with them.
For this reason, the fatwa states that it does not know of anyone among Ahl al-Sunnah who refrained from denying “corporeal form” and “physical body” with regard to Allah. Allah is exalted and free from such descriptions.
Thus, one should not say: “Allah has a corporeal body” or “Allah has a physical body.”
This negation does not mean negating the attributes that Allah affirmed for Himself, such as the Face, Hand, and Eye, according to the fatwa. These attributes are established by revelation, whereas “corporeal form” and “physical body” are other terms with their own particular implications.
The term “body” is more complicated because it has historically been used with different meanings.
It may mean, in ordinary language, a physical body or corporeal form, and this meaning is denied concerning Allah.
Some theologians may use it to mean something composed of parts or of matter and form, and the fatwa also denies these meanings concerning Allah.
However, some have used the term “body” to mean an independently existing entity.
This meaning in itself—that Allah exists and subsists by Himself—is true. However, the correctness of the meaning does not make it permissible to call Allah “a body,” because this term is not found in revelation and is an ambiguous, innovated expression.
No. The fatwa states that Ibn Taymiyyah did not use the term “body” as a description of Allah. Rather, he considered it an ambiguous, innovated term.
He therefore rejected the unrestricted use of the word and then examined the meaning intended by the speaker.
If by “body” one means a physical body, something composed of parts, or matter and form, then this is denied concerning Allah.
If one merely means “an independently existing entity,” then the meaning is correct, but calling this meaning “body” is not acceptable because the term is not established in revelation and is ambiguous.
According to the fatwa, Allah is free from composition in the sense of being composed of separate parts that have been assembled, or of matter and form, or of being subject to division and separation.
Allah says:
“Say: He is Allah, One. Allah, the Self-Sufficient. He neither begets nor is born, and there is none comparable to Him.”
[Al-Ikhlas 112:1–4]
However, care should also be taken with the term “composition” if it is used in an innovated sense intended to negate Allah’s established attributes. The mere fact that Allah possesses multiple attributes, such as knowledge, power, hearing, and sight, does not mean that He is “composed” in the sense known among created beings.
The term “bodily organ” is not mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah as a description of Allah’s attributes.
Therefore, it is preferable not to use it when speaking about Allah’s attributes, and not to reinterpret the Hand, Eye, or other attributes using this terminology.
Rather, we say as the texts have come: Hand, Eye, Face, in a manner befitting Allah, according to the fatwa, while denying any resemblance to created beings and refraining from asking about the modality.
The revealed terms are clearer and safer than potentially ambiguous theological terminology.
The methodology of the fatwa can be summarized in three principles:
This prevents both forms of error: affirming expressions and meanings that revelation did not establish, or rejecting correct meanings merely because they are expressed through ambiguous terminology.
According to the fatwa, Allah should not be described as having a “corporeal form” or “physical body,” because these terms indicate created bodily meanings. As for the term “body,” it should not be affirmed for Allah because it is not mentioned in the texts and is an ambiguous expression; the intended meaning must therefore be clarified.
If it means a physical body, composition of parts, or matter and form, then the meaning is denied concerning Allah. If it merely means that Allah exists and subsists by Himself, then the meaning is correct, but Allah should not be called “a body.”
The preferable approach in this matter is to avoid newly introduced and ambiguous expressions and adhere to the clear terminology found in the Qur’an and Sunnah, while affirming Allah’s attributes of perfection and declaring Him free from deficiency and resemblance.
And Allah knows best.