Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah sanctify his soul—said:

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As for his question about “taking the Quran according to its apparent meaning”: if he believes in what Allah has said of Himself and what His Messenger has said of Him, without distorting its meaning or specifying its modality, then he has followed the path of the believers.

The expression “apparent meaning” has come to carry more than one meaning in the usage of later scholars. If, by taking it according to its apparent meaning, he means attributing to Allah characteristics peculiar to created beings, thereby likening Allah to His creation, then he is misguided. Rather, one must affirm with certainty that nothing is like Allah, whether in His essence, His attributes, or His actions.

Ibn ‘Abbās said:

“Nothing in this world shares anything with what is in Paradise except names.”

He meant that the realities of the gold, silk, wine, and milk that Allah has promised in Paradise differ from the realities of these things as they exist in this world. Allah Most High is therefore far further removed from resemblance to His creatures, to a degree His servants cannot comprehend