The Sixth Section: Regarding the denial by the people of theology of the attribute of the Hand and the refutation of them.

The Shaykh : The Sixth Research: The people of denial claim that
affirming the true Hand of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is an absurdity and impossible for Allah, and it is describing Allah with what is not befitting Him. They say it is not permissible for a Muslim to hold this belief, to the extent that some of them said: whoever asserts that is a disbeliever, because it implies or necessitates that Allah is a body, and whoever affirms that Allah is a body is a disbeliever, according to their claim. So what is the meaning of the Hand? They said its meaning reverts to power; it reverts to power. And they reverted it to power, O brothers, because they affirm power as part of the attributes, what? The seven. So they reduce every actual attribute to the meaning of power, saying the meaning of the Hand is power. Some of them said the Hand is grace, because it comes in the Arabic language with the meaning of grace. From this is the saying of the poet:
"And how many hands of the darkness of the night are with you *** that confirm that the Manichaeans lie, or inform that the Manichaeans lie"
Meaning, he says that you have many blessings in the night that clarify and inform that the Manichaeans—and the Manichaeans are a sect of the Zoroastrians—say that darkness never produces good, and that there is no good in darkness. These blessings that this praised one finds testify that the Manichaeans are liars. The Shaykh: "His saying 'from a hand'" means from a grace. And from this is the saying of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), I think it is from Badil ibn Waraqah: "If it were not for a hand of yours with me, I would not repay." I forgot the story, but he said "If it were not for a hand of yours with me," meaning a grace. So it is said: the original meaning of the Hand is the true Hand. So if a context prevents the intended meaning from being other than the true one, that the intended meaning is the true Hand, then at that time it is obligatory for us to take what the context indicates. Then we say: this interpretation is prevented by the dual form Do you say that Allah has no power except two, and what is the meaning of this statement? Or do you say that Allah has no grace except two graces? And this is refuted by reality; it is refuted by reality, without doubt. And on this basis, we say: everyone who distorts it is mistaken, far from the truth, and contrary to what the righteous Salaf were upon, from the Companions and the Tabi'un and those who followed them in goodness. If someone says: bring us one piece of evidence or one text from the Companions that they said the intended meaning of the Hand is the true Hand, we say: we do not bring you anything. Rather, what is mass-transmitted from them is that they recite the Book of Allah and what came from the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and yet not a single word was transmitted from them clarifying that the intended meaning is other than its apparent meaning. And on this basis, they believe in it according to its apparent meaning, and they are pure Arabs who know the meaning. And if nothing is transmitted from them that contradicts the apparent meaning, then we are certain that they say by the apparent meaning. How could they recite the Book of Allah at all times of the night and day, and not go beyond the ten verses they learn, and the knowledge and practice therein, and yet not a single word is transmitted from them indicating that they take the speech away from its apparent meaning? And there is no need for us to transmit a specific text from the Companions or the Tabi'un for each attribute individually, because the original position is that they say what the apparent meaning of the Qur'an indicates: that the intended meaning is the true Hand and the true Eye, and so on for the rest of the attributes. If someone says: the saying of Allah the Exalted: did not clarify in it that Allah has a right Hand and a left Hand, so what do you say? Do you say that Allah has no more than two Hands and you remain silent, or do you say He has a right Hand and a left, or what do you say? We say: we say as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So both of His Hands are right with respect to the non-difference of each Hand from the other. But the explicit mention of the left came in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, which Muslim narrated in his Sahih, and the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab mentioned it in the book of Tawhid and extracted the issues from the proofs, and said among the issues: "The explicit mention of the left for Allah (Mighty and Majestic)" And on this basis, the reconciliation between this narration and His saying: is that we say they are two Hands, right and left, but they do not differ as the Hands of the created beings differ with respect to the right and the left. So both of them are right, blessed; both of them contain good and giving. For Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), His Hand is full, giving in the night and the day, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Glorified and Exalted is He) for the abundance of His blessings and His mercy, His existence and His kindness. Yes.