(Original Source: http://power-dawah.blogspot.com/2009/10/response-to-allah-evidence-of.html )

by Abdullah Yaqub

(Edited by Defending-Islam.com Team)

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

I came across the blog of a former Muslim who goes by the name of 'Abdul-Quddus'.

Allah says in His book (in the translation) that:

"There is nothing like Him; And He is the All-Hearing and the All-Seeing" (Qur'an 42:11).

In another verse Allah says (in the translation):

"It is He who has sent down to you (O Prophet), in it are verses (that are) muhkamaat (with a clear meaning) and other verses mutashaabihaat (that do not have a clear meaning). Those with deviance in their hearts will emphasize the latter kind of verses in order to spread deviance (i.e. by contradicting the meaning of the muhkamaat) and explain the meaning (in a way that agrees with their sick hearts.) Only Allah knows their meaning. And the steadfast in knowledge, they say: "We believe in them, they are all from Our Lord." (and there is no contradiction between them). Only the sound minded take heed and ponder this." (Qur'an 3:7)

Shaykh 'Abdullah bin Hamid 'Ali writes in his introduction to his translation of 'The Attributes of God,' by 'Abdur-Rahman ibn al-Jawzi:

Anthropomorphism is defined as "The ascribing of human motivation and characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena." It is also used to ascribe such motivations and characteristics to God. This definition is synonymous with the Arabic Islamic theological terms, tashbih and tajsim. The minute difference between these two terms is that tashbih is a general term, which means "Ascribing the resemblance of a created thing (namely human) to God or vice versa," whereas tasjim is a specific type of tashbih, meaning to "ascribe a body or bodily characteristics to God."

Ibn al-Jawzi argues that to understand the ambiguous verses of the Qur'an and the Sunna correctly, one must first remember that the Qur'an was revealed in the Arabic language which itself is composed of diverse literary styles, nuances and constructs. He stresses that while the Qur'an contains words words and phrases that are to be understood in their original literal meanings, it also contains words and phrases that need to be understood according to their figurative meanings. God says:

Verily We have made it an Arabic Qur'an so that you may comprehend (Qur'an 43:3).

As the Qur'an is revealed in Arabic, it must be understood according to the constructs of that language, which is made up of both literal and figurative expressions. When it is said that a word literally means such and such according to how it was originally understood, it must concur with the way that the Arabs of the time of Revelation understood that literal meaning to be.

So we must be careful in translating certain Arabic words, especially when related to Allah. The words themselves may have many different meanings and on top of that they might be used as a figurative expression. The same is in English too. For example, one might say that he created his business with his own two hands. This means that through his efforts he created his business. Another example is like saying “John is above me at Microsoft”. This means that John is above him in rank, even if he is literally on the next floor.

Similarly, in 'Foundations of the Religion' by Shaykh Abu Adam he says:

Identifying literal meanings that are absurd is of particular importance in matters of belief, so it deserves a more detailed discussion. It should first be pointed out that rejecting absurd meanings and understanding expressions as figures of speech is something natural that we all do constantly. To illustrate: A few years ago the telephone company AT&T had an advertising slogan saying, “reach out and touch someone.” What they meant here was not a physical touch, but simply pleasing another person by calling them. To interpret this slogan liter-ally would be absurd and laughable. We know this through our knowledge of what a telephone is and what it is not.

Another example is if someone said "It is not in my hands," you would not conclude from this that they have those limbs. This dea does not even enter your mind, because of the context. However, if we were to mention 4-5 figures of speech like this together, you might start thinking of limbs, even though they are not refering to limbs.

The Face of Allah

“And the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and Honour will abide forever.” (Qur'an 55:027)

And there is also another verse similar to the above,

“Everything will perish, save His Face.” (Qur'an 28:88)

The word in Arabic which is translated as face here is ‘wajh’. The majority of the scholars of Tafsir (some mentioned below) say that it means Allah Himself. Allah is Ever-Living and so even after the whole material universe is destroyed, Allah remains Alive, since He is not a part of the creation.

Regarding the latter verse, Imam Ibn Kathir says in his tafsir:

And His, subhanahu wa ta'ala, statement that “Everything will perish save His Face” shows that He is the

Eternal, the Everlasting, the Ever-Living and the Self-Existant, who does not die while all of reation will die. As He, subhanahu wa ta'ala, said “Everything on this earth will perish, but forever will abide he Face of your Lord, full of Might and Glory”, and ‘Face’ denotes the Being (of Allah).

And similarly, His statement that “Everything will perish save His Face” means that every being will perish except His Being.

Mujahid (one of the students of Ibn Abbas) and Al-Thawri (also from the tabi'een) said regarding His statement “Everything will perish save His Face” that everything will perish except the acts that are done for seeking His pleasure.

Every being is bound to perish and is impermanent – except for His Being, Most High and Holy. For He is the First and the Last, and He was before and is after everything else.

And Imam at-Tabari says in his tafsir:

And there has been disagreement regarding the meaning of “save His Face”. Some said that it means everything other than Allah will perish, while others said that it means everything except he acts that are done seeking His pleasure, will perish.

And finally Imam al-Qurtubi says in his tafsir:

Mujahid said it meant everything save Allah will perish.

Al-Sadiq (Imam Ja’far) said that it meant everything except for his religion.

Abu Al-’Aliyah and Sufyan (Al-Thawrī) said that it meant everything will perish except the acts hat are done seeking Him, i.e. seeking closeness to Him.

Muhammad bin Yahya reported that Al-Thawri said: “I asked Aba ‘Ubaydah regarding His Statement ‘everything will perish save His face’ and he replied: ‘except His Glory.’”

The Eyes of Allah

“Knows he not that Allah does see (what he does)?” (Qur'an 96:014)

Allah is the All-Seeing. This is one of Allah’s perfect attributes. How can Allah be attributed with the opposite of seeing? That is, being unable to see, blindness. This is not an attribute that is befitting for the Creator.

If one understands this ‘seeing’ in the same manner of our seeing, then this is not correct. Allah’s seeing is eternal, without a beginning or an end, and does not involve or require instruments, and thus Allah’s seeing is unlike our seeing. Since Allah’s seeing is without modality we cannot know the reality of His seeing, and we cannot describe it, because all the seeing we have a description of is seeing with a modality.

“Floating under Our Eyes, a reward for him who had been rejected!” (Qur'an 54:014)

“Build the ark under our [watchful] eyes.” (Qur'an 54:13-14)

Eyes here means His seeing, or observation, according to Ibn Abbas.

The Shin of Allah

“(Remember) the Day when the Shin shall be laid bare (i.e. the Day of Resurrection) and they shall be called to prostrate (to Allah), but they (hypocrites) shall not be able to do so,” (Qur'an 68:042)

Al-Tabari says, “A number of the exegetes of the Companions and their students held that it (a day when the shin shall be exposed) means that a dire matter (amrun shaded) shall be disclosed” (Jami’ al-bayan, 29:38) - the shin’s association with direness being that it was customary for Arab warriors fighting in the desert to ready themselves to move fast and hard through the sand in the thick of the fight by lifting the hems of their garments above the shin.

Ibn ‘Abbas, a famous Companion of the Prophet, sallahu alaihi wa salam, said that ‘saq (or shin)’ in the above verse means “a day of war and direness (harbin wa shidda)”

The Foot of Allah

“As for the Fire (Hell), it will not be filled till Allah puts His Foot over it” (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Hasan al-Basri, an early well-known scholar of Islam, said:

“Al-qadam (literally the foot) is a reference to those from the worst of Allah’s creatures who have been earmarked and designated for Hell.”

Another scholar, Abu Mansur al-Azhari said:

“al-Qadam are those who have been preordained to reside everlastingly in the Fire. And things that have been placed out in front are referred to in Arabic as qadam, while things that have been demolished are called hadam.” And the Prophet’s, sallahu alaihi wa salam, saying, “As for the Garden He will erect for it (qadam) a creation” supports this.

A second interpretation is that all of those who will arrive at Hell is called a qadam. In this case, qadam is the plural of qadim. As for those who relate the hadith with the word “foot/leg” the Arabs say (about locusts), “a foot or leg of locusts.” So the intent would be “a party will enter Hell resembling, in their abundance, locusts. Then they will fall quickly into it.”

Qadam also means group, the front part of an army formation is also called Qadam.

The Hands of Allah

“The Hand of Allah is over their hands.” (Qur'an 48:10)

This is not to be understood literally, and this is clear. It could be that the Arabic expression is simply meant to emphasize the tremendousness of the offense of breaking the pact, as some scholars state, for the Prophet, sallahu alaihi wa salam, placed his hand on top of the Companion’s, and the wording could be a figure of speech emphasizing Allah’s backing of this action; and classical Arabic abounds in such figures of speech. The Prophet, sallahu alaihi wa salam, used hand as a figure of speech, which is reported in the following hadith, “The Muslim is he who the Muslims are safe from his tongue and his hand (yad),” where hand meanings anything within his power to do to them, whether with his hand, his foot, or by any other meanings. The well-known scholar Imam al-Ghazali says about the word ‘yad’:

“…the word may be used figuratively, with no relation to that of a body at all: as when one says, "The city is in the leader’s hands," the meaning of which is well understood, even if the leader’s hands are missing, for example”

So, the word ‘yad’ which is translated as hand, as we can see, has many other meanings. The scholars have agreed that words used to ascribe attributes to Allah must be verbatim from scripture texts; either the Qur'an or highly authentic ahadith. If they are not, such when translating, then words used must connotate glorification and not be misleading at all. These conditions are not met here. Many of the scholars say that “yad” refers to Allah’s attribute of Power.

"And the sky We built with hands; verily We outspread [it]" (Qur'an 51:47)

Ibn Kathir says about this verse:

"With hands" meaning, with strength, according to `Abdullah bin `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah, Ath-Thawri and several others.

The Finger of Allah

“A Jew came to the Prophet and said, “O Muhammad! Allah will hold the heavens on a Finger...” (Sahih al-Bukhari)

The apparent reason for the Prophet’s, sallahu alaihi wa salam, smile is to show his disapproval of the Jew’s statement. Some of the Jews liken God to His Creation, and the revelation of the verse is proof of the Messenger’s condemnation of such beliefs. Similar in meaning to this hadith is his saying, “Verily the hearts of the children of Adam, alaihis salam, are between two of the fingers of the All-Merciful One. He turns them about however He pleases.” Since the heart between two fingers is tractable and subdued, this indicates that one who turns them about subjugates the hearts.

The Writing of Allah

“None can change His Words,” (Qur'an 18:27)

“And We wrote for him on the Tablets" (Qur'an 78:145)

This does not mean that Allah writes with the use of a limb, as we do. It is narrated in a hadith that the Prophet, sallahu alaihi wa salam, said: “The first thing Allah created was the pen; He commanded it to write…”

The Throne of Allah

“…Who is established on the Throne.” (Qur'an 57:4)

The Throne is a creation of Allah. The ‘Arsh (Throne) is over the creation (in rank and place). Allah is above the Throne without His need, nor settlement upon it. He is above the Throne, above everything, with a loftiness which does not make Him any closer to the throne or the heavens, just as it does not make Him any further from the earth. He has made Himself exalted over the heaven with the exaltation of sovereignty and power, not that of displacement and movement.

To explain further, the term used in the verse “istawa ‘ala ‘arsh”. Amongst the figurative interpretations of istiwa is “subdued” or “took control of”; indeed, it has been in common use in this sense among the Arabs until this day, for they routinely say ‘istawa ‘ala ‘arsh al-mamlukah, meaning literally that he sat on, or ascended the Throne, and figuratively that he assumed the rule of the kingdom. The authoritative Arabic dictionary called Miabah al-Munar says:

“Wa istawa ‘ala sarari ’l-mulk; that is “He ascended the throne of the kingdom” is a metaphor (or metonym) for the assumption of sovereignty even if he [the ruler] did not actually sit on it.”

Thus, one could use this term to refer to a person who assumed the rule of a kingdom even if he never sat on the throne, or even if there actually was no throne. Such use of the term is demonstrated in a famous verse of classical Arabic poetry which the scholar Imam al-Baihaqi reported in his book ‘al-Asma wal-Aifat’ in the chapter on al-Istawa:

“Qad istawa Bishr ‘ala’l-‘Iraq min ghair saifin wa la damin muhraq; that is “Bishr subjugated [or took control of] Iraq without using a sword, and without spilling any blood.”

The Shade of Allah

“…there will be no shade except His.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)

The meaning of this is that it is the shade provided by Allah. For example if one were to own all of the water then we would say that there is not water but his. This is clarified in the following hadith:

Mu’adh radiAllahu anhu narrates: I heard Rasulullah, sallahu alaihi wa salam, saying: “Those who love one another for the sake of Allah will be under the shade of the ‘Arsh, when there will be no shade on the Day of Resurrection, except for the shade of the ‘Arsh…”

The Laughter of Allah

“…Allah will laugh…” (Sahih al-Bukhari)

The word dahk (literally laughing) has a number of meanings that all originate from “clarification” and “manifestation.” Anyone who reveals a matter that was hidden, it is said of him (in Arabic): “he laughed.” It is said, for example “The Earth laughed with vegetation when it appears in it and brings forth its flowers.” This is also the same thing when it is said, “The sky cried.” A poet once said: “Every day the Earth laughs with a new daisy/From the crying of the sky.”

Al-hafidh Imam al-Bayhaqi records that [Muhammad ibn Yusuf] al-Farabri related from from the hadith master, Imam al-Bukhari, that he said:

“The meaning of laughter in it is mercy”

The Image of Allah

It is a point of belief in Islam that believers will behold Allah Most High in the Next Life, with a beholding that is unlike the beholding of created things and free of directionality or encompassing the Beheld. The vision will be without encompassment or delimitation within any given limit, whether from the front, the back, above, below, right, or left. Allah will be seen unlike any material being, not in a place or in a direction so far as being confronted, nor by the conjunction of the rays of light, nor by a certain definite distance between the one who sees and Allah.

In other words, the believers will see Allah without our specifying how and in a manner that Allah knows best. It is impossible and wrong to draw an analogy for the unseen from the seen. This vision of Allah is certainly unlike the vision of material things in this world, for vision in this world requires the seen to be in a place, direction, at a specific distance, etc, whilst the vision of Allah in the hereafter will be free from such restrictions.

Allah Most High is the necessary existent, and necessarily distinct from created things. He tells us in the Qur'an,

"Like Him there is naught; He is the All-hearing, the All-seeing." (Surah ash-Shura, 11)

This entails that Allah is exalted beyond the limitations of time and space, for He is the Creator of time and space and all that is in them. He is not a body or form.

Then how can we see Allah? Wouldn't it entail affirming a direction, body, and form for Allah?

No, it doesn't--because the beholding of Allah Most High is "without resemblance (to the beholding of created things) and without encompassing," as Imam Ibrahim Laqani mentions in his primer on Islamic beliefs, Jawharat al-Tawhid.

“the Almighty will come to them in a shape”

This should be read while considering ‘in’ to mean ‘with’. Similar to it is the statement of Ibn ‘Abbas who said about His saying: “Do they but wait until God comes to them in canopies of clouds…” (Qur'an An-Nahl, 33), that “This means with canopies of clouds.”