The terms “body” and “that which occupies space” may also mean something that can be pointed towards, in the sense that hands are raised towards it in supplication and that it can be said to be here or there. They may also mean something self-subsisting, or simply something that exists. There is no doubt that Allah exists and is self-subsisting. According to the early generations and Ahl al-Sunnah, hands are raised towards Him in supplication, and He is above the Throne. If someone calls whatever possesses these characteristics a “body,” this is like someone else calling whatever is living, knowing and powerful a “body,” or another calling whatever possesses life, knowledge and power a “body.”

It is well known that all these usages are contested on three grounds:

First: calling whatever possesses these attributes a “body” is an innovation both in religious usage and in the language. The authorities on the language do not call this a “body”; rather, for them, the term means the bodily frame, as several leading lexicographers have reported and as is well known from the dictionaries. Al-Jawharī says in his well-known Sihāh:

“Abū Zayd said: ‘Al-jism means the body, as do al-jusmān and al-juthmān.’ Al-Asma‘ī said: ‘Al-jism and al-juthmān mean the body, and al-juthmān means the person.’ He said: ‘Al-ajsam means larger in bodily build.’ Ibn al-Sikkīt said: ‘Tajassamtu al-amr means that I undertook its greatest and most substantial part—that is, its main part.’ He said: ‘Likewise, tajassamtu al-rajul wa-l-jabal means that I took on the man or the mountain at its largest part.’”

Allah mentions the term “body” in two places in the Quran. He, Exalted is He, says:

“and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature”

and:

“When you see them, their bodies impress you.”

“Body” may also be understood as an attribute inhering in something, namely its size and thickness, as when one says: “This garment