disbelieved.” He said, “This is a Syrian. What business does he have with this?” I asked, “What do you say?” He replied, “Let the hadith stand as it has come down.”’

I say: As for the judge’s words, “not by way of contact, touching, or the like,” this is a matter of disagreement to be discussed elsewhere. As for what he related from his teacher, Abū ‘Abd Allāh ibn Hāmid, Ibn Hāmid stated in his book:

“Section: Among the things that must be believed is that Allah has a waist. Al-Marwadhī said, ‘I read a book to Abū ‘Abd Allāh. He looked through it and found mention of the hadith narrated by Abū Hurayrah from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “Allah created kinship, and when He had finished creating it, it took hold of the waist of the Most Merciful.” The hadith transmitter raised his head and said, “I fear that you have disbelieved.” Abū ‘Abd Allāh said, “This man is a Jahmī.”’

Abū Tālib said, ‘I heard Abū ‘Abd Allāh being asked about the report that a hadith had been read to Hishām ibn ‘Ammār: