the invalidity of the view that there are many Hands and the view that there is one Hand. We therefore say: two Hands, for the Quran is to be understood according to its apparent meaning unless evidence establishes otherwise.

If someone asks, ‘What grounds have you for denying that His words, exalted is He, “from what Our Hands have made” [Yā Sīn 71], are metaphorical?’ the answer is: Allah’s speech is to be understood according to its apparent, literal meaning. Nothing may be diverted from its apparent meaning to a metaphorical one except on the basis of evidence. Do you not see that when a statement apparently has a general scope, but its general wording is intended to convey a specific meaning, it does not bear its literal, apparent meaning? It is not permissible to depart from the apparent generality of a statement without evidence. Likewise, His words, Mighty and Majestic, “I created with My two Hands” [Sād 75], are to be understood according to their apparent meaning, affirming Hands, and may not be diverted from