to establish contact, we affirmed the act because the text expressly states it, and dispensed with contact through an intermediary.

They say:
“The primary meaning of a hand that acts, according to customary and unqualified usage, is a bodily member. We therefore depart from that meaning and interpret it, in relation to a human being, in a suitable sense: a blessing. In Arabic, ‘hand’ can mean a blessing or favour. Thus one says, ‘He has done me a favour,’ or, ‘He has done me many favours.’ Allah, Most High, bestowed two blessings in creating Adam, peace be upon him: a blessing of religion and a blessing of worldly life. This therefore requires the interpretation we have mentioned.”

We reply:
We have already invalidated the grounds for requiring figurative interpretation, or the grounds that would necessitate it—namely, the presence of an obstacle preventing the words from being understood in their original, literal sense, as immediately understood according to the customary usage of those being addressed. No such obstacle exists here.

Moreover, had He intended ‘hand’ to mean a blessing, He would have said, ‘For what My hand created’—‘For what My blessing created’—for the blessings of religion and worldly life are what he was created for.

This is further confirmed by the fact that creation through religious blessings is not possible. Religious blessings consist of faith, worship and obedience. According to them, all these are created, and a created thing cannot serve as the means of creation. Likewise, worldly blessings consist of the pleasures afforded by desirable things. All these are created, and some are accidents. Such things certainly cannot serve as the means of creation. This interpretation is therefore invalid on this ground.