shaken hands with Allah and kissed His right hand). It is self-evident that the item being likened is not identical to the one to which it is likened. The very wording of the report therefore makes clear that the person who touches the Stone is not literally shaking hands with Allah, nor is the Stone itself His right hand. How, then, can anyone brand the plain sense of the ḥadith as disbelief, or insist that it must be subjected to figurative reinterpretation—especially when this narration is known only through Ibn ʿAbbās?

As for the second ḥadith, its wording is explicitly clarified in the Ṣaḥīḥ: “Allah will say, ‘My servant, I was hungry and you did not feed Me.’ He will answer, ‘Lord, how could I feed You when You are the Lord of all realms?’ Allah will say, ‘Did you not know that My servant So-and-so was hungry? Had you fed him, you would have found the reward with Me. My servant, I was ill and you did not visit Me.’ He will answer, ‘Lord, how could I visit You when You are the Lord of all realms?’ Allah will say, ‘Did you not know that My servant So-and-so was ill? Had you visited him, you would have found Me with him.’”