Hadiths in which people are confused: are they likening (tashbih) or not?

The Shaykh : Now, if someone were to say: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) narrated to us hadiths that are confusing to us—are they likening (tashbih) or not? And we are placing them before you: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Is the hadith authentic or not? Well, he said: and the letter "kaf" is for likening (tashbih). And this is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and our position is that we believe in what the Messenger said just as we believe in what Allah said. It has been established that his speech, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, is characterized by four qualities for the acceptance of the report? If they are answered regarding this hadith?
We say: We answer this hadith and others with two answers: the first is general and the second is detailed:
The first, the general answer: It is impossible for there to be a contradiction between the speech of Allah and the speech of His Messenger that is authentic from him. It is absolutely impossible for there to be a contradiction between whom? Between the speech of Allah and the speech of His Messenger that is authentic from him, absolutely, because all of it is truth, and truth does not contradict, and all of it is from Allah, and what is with Allah the Exalted does not contradict And this is impossible. Do you understand, my brothers? What do we say about this? A general answer. If something that suggests a contradiction occurs in your understanding, know that this is not according to the text, but according to what is with you. So if a contradiction occurs for you in the texts of the Book and the Sunnah, it is either due to a lack of knowledge, or a deficiency in understanding, or a shortcoming in research. These are the causes of the suspicion of contradiction. Either due to a lack of knowledge, which is the affliction of ignorance, which is difficult, or what? Due to a deficiency in understanding, because people differ greatly in understanding. Or due to a shortcoming in research and reflection. If you had researched and reflected, you would have found that the contradiction you suspected has no basis. Do you understand this? We call this a what? A general answer. Branching from this general answer is that it is obligatory for you, when in doubt, to refer the doubtful matter to the clear (muhkam), because this is the path of those firmly grounded in knowledge. Allah the Exalted said: And they carry the ambiguous (mutashabih) to the clear (muhkam) until the entire text remains clear and distinct, and there is no foreign language after that? Clear. Well, if this is the general answer.
The detailed answer is that we answer regarding each specific text, so we say:
The statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): is not a likening (tashbih) of the seen to the seen, but it is a likening (tashbih) of the seeing to the seeing. You see as you see, so the "kaf" : is entered upon a derived noun (masdar) that is interpreted, because "ma" is a source particle. The interpretation of the speech is: like your seeing the moon on the night of the full moon. And at that time, the likening (tashbih) is for what? For the seeing to the seeing, not for the seen to the seen. And the meaning is that you see Him with a clear vision, as you see the moon on the night of the full moon. And for this reason, he followed it with his saying: or: The problem is now resolved. He said: Well, I am now striking you with a dilemma that you cannot handle. Please proceed.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: and the image is similar to the other, and no image is conceivable except as similar to the other. And for this reason, I write you a letter, then you put it into the photographic machine, and the letter comes out, and it is said: this is an image of this. Look at the difference in the letters and words; is there a difference or not? There is no difference. So the image corresponds to the image. And the one who said: The Messenger, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, is more knowledgeable than you, more sincere than you, more truthful than you, and what else? More eloquent than you or more articulate. He says: He created Adam in His image. Come on, what is the answer? Because I do not know an image except as similar to the other image.
The answer: We carry it to the general answer. We say: It is impossible for it to contradict His saying, the Exalted: If Allah makes it easy for you to combine them, then combine them. And if He does not make it easy, then say: And our belief is that there is no counterpart to Allah. Do you understand now? Do you accept this before Allah or not? You accept it. You accept it before Allah. You say: You have nothing other than this. You say: This is the speech of Allah and this is the speech of His Messenger, and all of it is truth, and it is impossible for some of it to lie about some of it, because it is all report (khabar), not ruling (hukm), so that it can be abrogated. It is report, and abrogation does not enter it. Yes. So I say: This is a negation of the counterpart (mathila) and an affirmation of the image (sura). And Allah knows best. If I do not have a detailed answer, we believe in it, all of it is from our Lord, and I am silent. I do not say a word. And this is the limit of what you can do, is it not? Well.
To give a detailed answer, we say: The one who said: is the Messenger. The one who said: The Messenger cannot utter what contradicts the one who sent him, is that not so? It is well known. And the one who said: is the one who said: Now, if you say the first, it means they entered without eyes, without noses, and without mouths, yes. And if we wish, we say: They entered as stones, because they have now reached the moon, and they say it is all stones, yes, is that not so? So it does not follow that something being in the form of another thing means it is identical to it. And we have brought you a hadith from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that is not necessary [to be identical], if your understanding refuses and falls short of this and says: "I absolutely do not understand it except that it is identical," we say there is another answer: And that is that the attribution here is of the type of attributing the created to its Creator. "The image of Allah" is like His saying (Mighty and Majestic) regarding Adam: Did Allah the Exalted give Adam a part of His spirit? No, absolutely not. But it is the spirit of Allah, the spirit that Allah the Exalted created, but its attribution to Allah specifically is for the sake of honor. Just as we say: "Servants of Allah," which includes the disbeliever and the Muslim, the believer and the martyr, the truthful one and the Prophet. But if we say: "Muhammad is the servant of Allah," this is a specific attribution that is not like the previous servitude. So "the image of Allah" means: One of the images that Allah created and formed. "We formed you from what?" I formed you, Adam. And for this reason He said: So the forming preceded the words of the angels. So who is the former? Adam. So Adam is in the image of Allah, yes, meaning that Allah is the one who formed him in this image, which is considered the most beautiful image among the created. So Allah attributed the image to Himself for the sake of honor, as if He (Mighty and Majestic) took care of this image. And for that reason, you do not strike the face to make it ugly in appearance, nor do you make it ugly by saying: "May Allah make your face ugly and the face of whoever resembles your face," thereby defecting it. So because it is the image that Allah formed and attributed to Himself for honor and glorification, you do not defect it with a sensory defect or a moral defect. Clear. Now.
So is this answer considered distortion (tahrif) or does it have a parallel? It has a parallel, as we said regarding the House of Allah and the she-camel of Allah and the servant of Allah, and the like of that. So it has a parallel, because this image is separate and distinct from Allah. And everything that Allah attributes to Himself and is separate and distinct from Him is from the creations. This rule is known among the people of knowledge: that if Allah attributes something that is a distinct entity standing on its own, it is from the category of attributing the created to its Creator. So at that time, we exit the confusion. But if someone were to say: Which is safer, the first meaning or the second? The first meaning is safer, as long as we find that the apparent meaning of the word has a place in the Arabic language and a possibility in the mind. So what is obligatory? Carrying the speech to it. And we have found that the image does not necessitate the similarity of the other image. And at that time, it is safer to carry it to its apparent meaning.
So if you say: What is the image that is for Allah and that Adam is upon? We say: Allah the Exalted has a face, and He has an eye, and He has a hand, and He has a leg, the Exalted. Yes, but it does not follow from these things being similar to humans. There is something of resemblance, but it is not something of similarity. Just as the first group of the people of Paradise has a resemblance to what? To the moon, but without similarity. And with this, it is true what the people of the Sunnah and the community held, that all the attributes of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, are not similar to the attributes of the creations, without distortion (tahrif), without denial (ta'til), without asking how (takyif), and without likening (tamthil).