and limbs, since that would entail resemblance to created beings. Allah is exalted above that: “There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him.”

I say: Yes, there is nothing like unto Him; yet affirming the attributes that Allah has affirmed for Himself entails no likening whatsoever, just as affirming His Essence—exalted is He—does not entail likening. Thus, just as His Essence does not resemble other essences, while being a real and established truth, so too His attributes do not resemble other attributes; they too are real and established realities, befitting Allah’s majesty, greatness, and transcendence. There is therefore no objection to ascribing the Shin to Allah—exalted is He—if this is established in the revealed Law. Although, from the standpoint of transmission, I consider the wording “a Shin” more authentic than the wording “His Shin,” I see no difference between them from the standpoint of critical understanding, because the context of the hadith indicates that what is meant is Allah’s Shin—exalted is He. The most explicit narration in this regard is Hishām’s version recorded by al-Ḥākim, with the wording: “Is there a sign between you and Allah by which you recognize Him?” They say: “Yes: the Shin.” He then uncovers a Shin …

I say: This is explicit—or nearly explicit—that what is meant is the Shin of the Lord of Majesty, exalted is He.

It appears that Saʿīd ibn Abī Hilāl would sometimes narrate it according to its meaning when he said, “His Shin.” There is no objection to that, so long as he arrived at the truth. Further confirming the hadith’s overall authenticity is that corroborating report from Ibn Masʿūd which al-Bayhaqī cited as a report attributed directly to the Prophet, although I have not now encountered it in a version attributed directly to the Prophet. Ibn Khuzaymah recorded it in al-Tawḥīd (p. 115) through Abū al-Zaʿrāʾ, who said: “The Dajjāl, the False Messiah, was mentioned in the presence of ʿAbd Allāh. He said: ‘At his emergence, you people will divide into three groups …’” He then related the hadith in full and said: “Then Allah manifests Himself to His creatures and says: ‘Do you recognize your Lord?’ They reply: ‘Glory be to Him! If He makes Himself known to us, we shall recognize Him.’ At that point, He uncovers a Shin, and no believing man or woman remains without falling prostrate before Allah.”

I say: Its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators used by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, apart from Abū al-Zaʿrāʾ, whose name is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hānīʾ.