Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “The hand of Allah is above their hands”

Question:
From Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz, to the honorable brother, peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after:
I refer to your inquiry, registered with the Department of Scholarly Research and Ifta under number: 3137, on 11/7/1408 AH, which reads: We were in a tafsir circle in a mosque in the (Al-Sulaybiyah) district in Kuwait, and the imam of the mosque addressed the exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Fath: 10], and he said: It is said that its meaning is: Allah’s favor upon them, and it is said: Allah’s strength with them, and it is said: Allah is All-Aware of their condition and their intentions.
Then one of the young men among our brothers in Allah spoke after the lesson, and said: This exegesis of yours is not from the creed of the people of the Sunnah and the community, but rather it is from the speech of the Asha'irah; so the imam became angry and said: This is found in the book of Al-Mawardi and Ibn Kathir, so the young man replied and said: This is not in Ibn Kathir, but rather it is with Al-Mawardi the Ash'ari.
When the common people saw the Shaykh angry, they became angry on his behalf, and some of them threw the word (you are a Christian) (you are a Buddhist) at the young man, and they were about to beat him had it not been that some of them protected him. Allah knows that this young man did not speak except out of zeal for the creed of the Muslims, and from the fact that it is not permissible to delay clarification from the time of need, so the young man suggested that your eminence adjudicate between them, and the common people agreed to that, so please inform us, and we are awaiting your reply – and may Allah reward us and the Muslims with the best reward.

Answer:
And I inform you that what we believe in affirming the attribute of the hand for Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) and the other attributes by which Allah described Himself in His noble Book, or by which His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) described Him in his pure Sunnah, is: affirming them for Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) with true affirmation in a manner befitting the majesty of Allah (Glorified is He), without distortion or denial of the divine attributes, and without asking how an attribute is or likening Allah to creation, and we believe that there is nothing like Allah, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. So we do not deny Him what He described Himself with, nor do we distort the words from their places, nor do we ask how or liken His attributes to the attributes of His creation; for He (Glorified is He) has no equal, no counterpart, no peer, and He is not measured by His creation.
Just as He (Glorified is He) has a true Essence that does not resemble the essences of His creation, so He has true attributes that do not resemble the attributes of His creation, and it does not follow from affirming an attribute for the Creator (Glorified is He) that it resembles the attribute of the created being, and this is the school of the Salaf of the Ummah from the Companions and the Tabi'un, and those who followed their path in the three blessed centuries, and those who took their way from the later generations to this day.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “More than one person has narrated the consensus of the Salaf: that the attributes of the Exalted (Exalted and Majestic is He) are to be taken at their apparent meaning, with the negation of how and likening from Him, and that is because the discussion of the attributes is a branch of the discussion of the Essence, following its example and imitating it; so if affirming the Essence is affirming existence, not affirming how, then so is affirming the attributes affirming existence, not affirming how, so we say: Allah (Glorified is He) has a hand and a hearing, and we do not say: the meaning of the hand is power, and the meaning of the hearing is knowledge.”
Then he (may Allah have mercy on him) provided evidence from the Qur'an for affirming the attribute of the hand for Allah (Glorified is He) with the saying of Allah (Glorified is He): [Al-Ma'idah: 64], and He said to Iblis: [Sad: 75], and He said (Glorified is He): [Az-Zumar: 67], and He said (Glorified is He): [Al-Mulk: 1], and He said (Glorified is He): [Aal 'Imran: 26].
Then he said (may Allah have mercy on him): “So the understanding from this speech is: that Allah (Glorified is He) has two hands specific to Him, intrinsic to Him as befits His majesty, and that He (Glorified is He) created Adam with His hand, unlike the angels and Iblis, and that He (Glorified is He) grasps the earth and folds the heavens with His right hand, and that His hands are outstretched, and the meaning of their being outstretched is: bestowing generosity and abundance of giving; for giving and generosity usually occur by extending the hand and stretching it out, and withholding it occurs by closing the hand on the neck, as Allah (Glorified is He) said: [Al-Isra: 29], and it has become a known reality that when it is said he is of an outstretched hand, a real hand is understood from it.”
And he said (may Allah have mercy on him): “The word 'hands' in the dual form has not been used for favor or for power; for using the singular for the dual or the dual for the singular has no basis in the language of the Arabs by which the Qur'an was revealed, so His saying: [Sad: 75], it is not permissible to intend by it power; for power is a single attribute, and it is not permissible to express the singular with the dual, and it is not permissible to intend by it favor; for the favors of Allah are innumerable, so it is not permissible to express the innumerable favors with the dual form.”
Then he (may Allah have mercy on him) provided evidence from the Sunnah for affirming the attribute of the hand for Allah (Glorified is He) with his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: narrated by Muslim, and his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: . Narrated by Muslim.
And in the authentic collections – also – from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) who said: .
And in the authentic collections – also – from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrating the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) who said: His heavens and His earth are in His hands, and He used to grasp His hands and extend them, and say: (I am the Merciful), until I looked at the pulpit moving beneath it, until I was saying: Will it fall with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?!” And in a narration that he recited this verse on the pulpit: [Az-Zumar: 67] He said: , and mentioned it, and in the authentic collections also from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
And in an authentic hadith: .
And in the authentic collections: And in the authentic collections: that when Adam and Musa argued, Adam said: , and Musa had said: .
And in another hadith: that He (Glorified is He) said: .
And in another hadith in the Sunan: .
Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “These hadiths and others are decisive texts that do not accept figurative interpretation, and the Ummah received them with acceptance and belief.”
Then he said (may Allah have mercy on him): “Is it permissible that the Book and the Sunnah be filled with mention of the hand, and that Allah (Glorified is He) created with His hand, and that His hands are outstretched, and that the kingdom is in His hand, and in the hadith there is what is innumerable, and then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and those in authority do not clarify to the people that this speech is not intended in its reality or its apparent meaning, until Jahm ibn Safwan arises – after the era of the Companions has ended – to clarify to the people what was revealed to them regarding their Prophet, and Bishr al-Ghafi' follows him in that, and those who took their way from everyone accused of hypocrisy?
And how is it permissible that our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us everything, even (excrement), and said: , and then left the Book revealed to him and his shining Sunnah filled with what the opponent claims its apparent meaning is likening and ascribing a body to Allah, and that believing in its apparent meaning is misguidance, and he does not clarify that or make it clear?
And how is it permissible for the Salaf to say: Leave it as it came, when its figurative meaning is what is intended, and it is something the Arabs do not understand, until the sons of the Persians and Romans become more knowledgeable of the language of the Arabs than the sons of the Muhajireen and Ansar?!” End of quote. Summarized from (Majmu' al-Fatawa), Vol. 6, pp. 351 to 373.
And with what we have mentioned, it becomes clear to everyone that what the young man mentioned is the correct.
And we ask Allah to guide everyone to hitting the truth in speech and action; indeed He is the All-Hearing, the Responsive. And peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.