Al-Bukhārī and Muslim narrated the hadith concerning the creation of Adam in full. Ibn Khuzaymah then said:

“Some who had not delved deeply into knowledge imagined that ‘in his image’ meant the image of the Most Merciful. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is exalted above such a meaning being intended by this report. Rather, in the words ‘He created Adam in his image,’ the pronoun ‘his’ refers to the person being struck and reviled. What is meant is that Allah created Adam in the image of this person whose face the one striking him was commanded to avoid, and whose face was reviled. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) therefore forbade saying, ‘and the face of anyone whose face resembles yours,’ because Adam’s face resembles the faces of his descendants. Thus, if someone insults one of Adam’s descendants by saying, ‘May Allah disfigure your face and the face of anyone whose face resembles yours,’ he would be reviling the face of Adam (may blessings be upon him), whose descendants’ faces resemble their father’s.

“Understand, then—may Allah have mercy on you—the meaning of this report. Do not fall into error or deliberately misrepresent it, lest you stray from the right path and be led into likening Allah to His creation