and, “Rather, both His Hands are outstretched” (Q 5:64).

Thus, the early scholars let these and all other passages dealing with the attributes retain their outward sense, declaring that this sense is indeed intended in a manner befitting Allah, without distortion and without likening Him to His creation.

To clarify: among our attributes are intangible qualities that subsist in us—such as life, knowledge, and power—and there are tangible bodily parts that are portions of us, such as the face and the two hands. It is well known that when Allah describes Himself as living, all-knowing, and all-powerful, no Muslim understands His life, knowledge, and power to be like ours. In the same way, when He describes Himself as possessing a face and two hands, the reality signified by His face and hands is not like the reality of our faces and hands. Muslims simply maintain that the meaning of Allah’s attributes, in every case, does not resemble the meaning of our attributes; each attribute suits the One described by it and befits Him. Just as the being of the Creator is unlike the beings of the creatures, His attributes are unlike theirs.

We have already affirmed that discourse on the attributes follows the same rule as discourse on the Essence.

It therefore becomes clear that anyone who says, “The apparent sense of the texts on the attributes is not intended,” is mistaken in every respect. If he understands from that apparent sense a corrupt meaning—namely, anthropomorphic comparison—then he errs in his understanding but is right in saying that such a meaning is not intended. If he understands from that apparent sense a sound meaning—one befitting Allah—then he is correct in his understanding but wrong in claiming that this meaning is not intended. Thus, whether his understanding is right or wrong, his statement that the apparent sense is not intended is erroneous in all cases.

The faultless view, free from error, is that their outward sense is intended, and that it conveys nothing but a meaning befitting Allah.