The Meaning of the Hadith: Allah Created Adam in His Image

The questioner:
(peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith , and in a narration it says their hearts are each a span long. Does the pronoun refer to Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? And is there a consensus on this issue?

The Shaykh:
Yes, it is from A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her)? "In His image" means the image of Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He), because in some narrations it says "in the image of the Most Merciful." This refutes figurative interpretation (ta'wil). The meaning of "in the image of the Most Merciful" is that Allah gave him hearing, sight, and speech. Even though the created does not resemble the Creator, they share in names, such as "Hearer" and "Seer," and other shared names. They call these shared names. This sharing is in meaning; they call it a shared term. It differs in reality and essence, but is shared in meaning and in the mind. However, in the external reality and the essence, it does not differ.
This is even among created things; created things share in names but differ in realities. So how about the Creator and the created? There is nothing clearer than the hadith on its apparent meaning, and there is no need for difficulty or explanation. The great scholars explained and clarified the meaning, and there is no need to raise this difficulty now. And the last person to write a good book on this mentioned quotations from the Imams of the Salaf (the earliest generations) on this meaning, so there is no need to address this difficulty.