“…the face, for Allah created Adam in the image of al-Rahman (the Most Merciful).” This report was transmitted by numerous authorities: Ibn Abi Asim, al-Sunnah, no. 517; ‘Abd Allah b. Ahmad, al-Sunnah, 1/268; al-Ajurri, al-Shari‘ah, no. 725; al-Daraqutni, Kitab al-Sifat, hadith 50; Ibn Battah, al-Ibanah, part 3, 3/258; Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Tawhid, p. 38; al-Tabarani, al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir, 12/430; and others. The two imams Ishaq b. Rahwayh and Ahmad b. Hanbal declared the hadith authentic; see Fath al-Bari, 5/226. Ibn Taymiyyah writes in Bayanu Talbis al-Jahmiyyah fi Ta’sis Bida‘ihim al-Kalamiyyah, 6/448: “The least that can be said about this wording is that it is hasan (sound).” Al-Dhahabi likewise inclined to its authenticity in Mizanu al-I‘tidal, 2/420. See also: Hamud al-Tuwayjiri, ‘Aqidatu Ahl al-Iman fi Khalaqi Adama ‘ala Surati al-Rahman; and ‘Abd Allah b. Muhammad al-Duwaysh, Difa‘ Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Iman ‘an Hadith Khalaqi Adama ‘ala Surati al-Rahman. c) Were the pronoun to refer to Adam—or to the son of Adam who is struck, as some variants suggest—the statement would be pointless, for everyone knows that Allah created everything according to its own form. See the arguments listed by Ibn Taymiyyah refuting the return of the pronoun to anyone other than Allah, Bayanu Talbis al-Jahmiyyah, 6/423-450; and the discussion of ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Abd al-Rahman Aba Butayn in al-Durr al-Saniyyah, 3/260-264. Imam Ahmad—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “Whoever claims that Allah created Adam in Adam’s own image is a jahmi; what image did Adam have before He created him?” See Abu Ya‘la, Ibatil al-Ta’wilat, 1/88-89; and Ibn Taymiyyah, Bayanu Talbis al-Jahmiyyah, 6/416-417. Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr states in al-Tamhid, 7/148: “The position of Ahl al-Sunnah, and of the leading jurists and hadith scholars on this and similar matters, is to believe whatever has come from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—affirm it as true, and refrain from specifying its modality (kayfiyyah) in any respect.”