for he means by this only coming face to face and drawing near. Allah Most High also says:

“And they will be received therein with greetings and peace.” [al-Furqān 75]

Greetings and peace are not things that physically touch a person. If that is so, and these people agree that this meaning holds between the servant and his Lord, then his claim of universal agreement is refuted.

The second response: Even if it were assumed that “meeting” linguistically means physical contact, there is no agreement that this meaning must be denied. Rather, most of those who affirm the divine attributes consider it possible for Allah to touch created beings and for them to touch Him, just as they consider it possible for Him to see them and for them to see Him. Indeed, this is also the position of the leading Ashʿarī authorities. He himself has reported this from them in his discussion of the five modes of perception, as mentioned previously.