Q: Is it right to believe that Allah have eyes, hands but unlike His creation?
A: It is wrong to express a belief in the words you used, that is, “Allah has hands, eyes, face, etc.” The Holy Qur'aan and Hadeeth do not mention these qualities in such a manner. Instead the Qur'aan and Hadeeth speak of The Hand of Allah, The Face of Allah, The Eyes of Allah, etc. We therefore, say that the reality of such qualities are known only to Allah, because our understanding of hands, face, and eyes, can only be confined to limbs that are created. It will be the height of Kufr to compare Allah Ta’aala to anything that He Himself has created. We use those terms only as Allah has used them. For this reason Imam Hasan Basri and other great Scholars never even allowed the translation of these words into another language. Rather they would prefer that these words are used in the Arabic form. So instead of saying Hand of Allah, we say what the Qur'aan said, i.e. YADULLAH, and so forth. According to latter generation scholars and some of the former, it is permissible to interpret these Qualities in a metaphoric manner, i.e. conveying a broader meaning that humans can understand. For example, Imam Bukhaari (RA) translates the Face of Allah to mean the Very Being of Almighty Allah. Other Scholars say the Hand refers to Power and Control. These meanings do not go contrary to any Law of Qur'aan and Hadeeth, nor are they different or contrary to the Attributes of Almighty Allah.
A: It is wrong to express a belief in the words you used, that is, “Allah has hands, eyes, face, etc.” The Holy Qur'aan and Hadeeth do not mention these qualities in such a manner. Instead the Qur'aan and Hadeeth speak of The Hand of Allah, The Face of Allah, The Eyes of Allah, etc. We therefore, say that the reality of such qualities are known only to Allah, because our understanding of hands, face, and eyes, can only be confined to limbs that are created. It will be the height of Kufr to compare Allah Ta’aala to anything that He Himself has created. We use those terms only as Allah has used them. For this reason Imam Hasan Basri and other great Scholars never even allowed the translation of these words into another language. Rather they would prefer that these words are used in the Arabic form. So instead of saying Hand of Allah, we say what the Qur'aan said, i.e. YADULLAH, and so forth. According to latter generation scholars and some of the former, it is permissible to interpret these Qualities in a metaphoric manner, i.e. conveying a broader meaning that humans can understand. For example, Imam Bukhaari (RA) translates the Face of Allah to mean the Very Being of Almighty Allah. Other Scholars say the Hand refers to Power and Control. These meanings do not go contrary to any Law of Qur'aan and Hadeeth, nor are they different or contrary to the Attributes of Almighty Allah.
Mufti Siraj Desai
