Are the hands mentioned in the two verses to be understood as meaning power, in His saying, the Exalted: “The hand of Allah is over their hands” and “Nay, His two hands are outstretched; He spends as He wills”?

The questioner : It is a creedal question regarding His saying, the Exalted: He said to me, meaning, how do you affirm the oneness of Allah? I affirmed the oneness of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, by saying that Allah has a hand that is not like our hands, but He has affirmed this attribute for Himself. He said, no, these mean power. Otherwise, how can there be a hand, two hands, and hands?

The Shaykh : From here, he was given this. Of course, this is also like what we said to our Iraqi Muslim friend: it appears that the one he is talking about is not a shaykh. He said, no, this is a young man. And I also say that your companion is a young man.

The questioner : He is preparing a doctoral dissertation in the principles of jurisprudence.

The Shaykh : That is the case; he is a young man, meaning he has no knowledge. Because in His saying, the Exalted: here, “ayd” is not the plural of “hand”; rather, “ayd” means strength linguistically. So the intended meaning here is not the plural of hands, which would contradict the dual form of the hand in some texts and the plural here. No, this has no relation to that.

The questioner : It is not the plural of hand.

The Shaykh : No, this is an error, and it indicates that his knowledge is shallow; he does not have a broad horizon in knowledge.