Thread by @mahmud_murrah

[🧵 Affirming that Allāh created Ādam with His Hands…]

These are some of the most embarrassing Jahmī-influenced taʾwīlāt I have ever seen, all done to negate the fact that Allāh created Ādam ﷺ with His Hands. Firstly, let's see what the Ṣaḥābah say about Ṣifah al-Yad…

https://twitter.com/umarelhashmi/status/1642424442209935366

Salmān al-Fārisī (d. 33) رضي الله عنه said, “Verily, Allāh left the clay of Ādam for forty days/nights.” Then, he said with his hand like this (i.e., while gesturing with his hand), “Then all the good emerged in His Right Hand, and all the corrupt emerged in the other (Hand).”

Imām al-Dāraquṭnī (d. 385) said, “It is ṣaḥīḥ.” Note that the gesturing may be referring to Salmān al-Fārisī gesturing with his hand, or it may be someone else in the isnād. If it’s someone else in the isnād, note that all its narrators are well-known Imāms of the Sunnah.

Ibn Baṭṭah al-Ḥanbalī (d. 387) narrated it through another path, and when Ḥammād ibn Salamah (d. 167) reported this ḥadīth, he said, “Like this,” and wiped one hand over the other; Al-Ḥajjāj, another rāwī of the ḥadīth, did the same. Are they both Taymī mushabbihah?

Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68) رضي الله عنه also said, “Allāh wiped the back of Ādam, so He brought forth all the good in His right Hand, and He brought forth all the corrupt in the other (Hand).” Imām ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (d. 310) reports similar āthār from Ibn ʿAbbās through via asānīd.

And ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (d. 84) said, “Verily, Allāh created four things with His Hand: the Throne, the Pen, Jannah ʿAdn, and Ādam. And He said for the rest of the creation, ‘Be,’ and they were.” Imām al-Dhahabī (d. 748) said, “Its isnād is jayyid.”

You claim that Allāh creating Ādam ﷺ with His Hands means that He created Him directly with His Power rather than through a process in a womb, while Ibn ʿUmar (d. 84) doesn’t make any such distinction.

https://twitter.com/umarelhashmi/status/1642424442209935366

If Ibn ʿUmar (d. 84) were upon your taʾwīl, he would’ve said, “He created the rest of the creation indirectly.” This also refutes those who claim “…created with My Hands” means His Power, since Allāh created everything with His Power, not just the four which Ibn ʿUmar mentions.

Moreover, if you accept the athar of Ibn ʿUmar (d. 84) while still insisting upon your taʾwīl, you would have to also maintain that Allāh created only four things directly and created everything else via some process, which I don’t think you will accept.

Next, we have the half-baked Jahmī argument brought by @Lubnanix…

https://twitter.com/Lubnanix/status/1638619325929070594

Not surprisingly, we also find Bishr al-Marīsī al-Jahmī (d. 218) using the Āyah, “Verily, the likeness of ʿĪsā to Allāh is like that of Ādam. He created him from dust; then, He said to him, ‘Be,’ and he was,” and he argues that Ādam, like—ʿĪsā—wasn’t created with Allāh’s Hand.

Imām al-Dārimī (d. 280) responds by stating that the likeness is in the fact that both were created by the command of Allāh without a father, but that Ādam ﷺ differs from ʿĪsā ﷺ in other matters, such as the fact Allāh created Ādam with His Hand, which this Āyah doesn’t negate.

For example, Allāh said that He created Ādam from dust (35:11), but He also says that Ādam was created from sticky clay (37:11). This isn’t a contradiction and both are correct; we say that Allāh created Ādam ﷺ from dust and then from clay, as Imām Aḥmad (d. 241) explained.

Likewise, Allāh created Ādam ﷺ 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 with His Hands and with His command, while He created ʿĪsā ﷺ with His command alone. You, however, erroneously use the word ‘only’ when you claim the Āyah means Ādam was created 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 by Allāh’s command.

https://twitter.com/Lubnanix/status/1638632306184269827

The ‘only’ part is your interpretation; I challenge you to reconcile it with the athar of Ibn ʿUmar (d. 84), who said Allāh created only Ādam ﷺ with His Hand, and that He said, “Be,” for everyone else. If your tafsīr were correct, Ibn ʿUmar couldn’t have made this distinction.

And Imām al-Dārimī (d. 280) mentions that one cannot say statements like “I did such-and-such with my own hands” unless they have real hands, even if they only intended it as a metaphorical statement. Hence, the Āyah, even if metaphorical, still entails that Allāh has two Hands.

Al-Dārimī (d. 280) also makes clear that this is not applicable to all metaphorical expressions, so these objections won’t get you anywhere.

https://twitter.com/Lubnanix/status/1642363659346116608

Back to @umarelhashmi, unfortunately for you, your own Imāms have refuted your false metaphorical taʾwīlāt, some of whom are listed below…

Objection: “Why do you not understand ‘…created with My Hands’ to be metaphorical?” Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (d. 324) responds, “The ruling regarding the Kalām of Allāh is that it is upon its ẓāhir and ḥaqīqah (apparent and real meaning)…

“…and one cannot divert it from its ẓāhir (apparent meaning) in favour of a metaphorical interpretation except with a ḥujjah (evidence).”

Objection: “Why do you reject that ‘…created with My Hands’ means His favour or His Power? ‘Al-Yad,’ in the Arabic language, can mean ‘power’ or ‘favour,’ like how it is said, ‘I have a white hand (i.e., a favour) with him,’ and it is said, ‘It is in his hands (i.e., control).’”

Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī (d. 403) responds, “This is falsehood, as the Āyah, ‘…created with My Hands,’ necessitates that He has two Hands which are both a Ṣifah […] and the word ‘Al-Yad’ is not used (in this way) except to refer to a hand which is an attribute of the essence.”

Now, let’s see what the Salaf have said. On the Āyah, “He (i.e., Ādam) whom I created with My Hands,” rather than explaining it to mean His Power or only His direct creation without intermediary, ʿĀṣim al-Jaḥdarī (d. 129) explains it to mean, “Bi-Yadayh (with both His Hands).”

Likewise, on the Āyah, “Rather, both His Hands are extended; He spends however He wills,” instead of explaining it to mean His bounty or blessings, ʿIkrimah (d. 105) said, “Meaning, Al-Yadayn (i.e., the two Hands of Allāh).”

Nāfiʿ ibn ʿUmar al-Jumaḥī (d. 169) said, “I asked Ibn Abī Mulaykah (d. 117) regarding the Hand of Allāh—one or two?” He answered, “Certainly, two.” How exactly will you reconcile this athar with your misguided taḥrīf?

Imām al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204) said, “…He has two Hands (Yadayn), as He said, ‘Rather, both His Hands are extended,’ and He has a Right Hand, as He said, ‘The heavens will be folded in His Right Hand,’ and He has a Face, as He said, ‘Everything will perish except His Face.’”

Ḥammād ibn Zayd (d. 179) said, “When it is said to the Jahmiyyah, ‘Does your Lord speak?’ they say, ‘No.’ So it is said, ‘Does He have a Hand?’ and they say, ‘No.’ So it is said, […] ‘Does He become pleased or angry?’ and they say, ‘No.’ So it is said, ‘Then you have no Lord!’”

And Imām al-Bukhārī (d. 256) has a chapter in Al-Ṣaḥīḥ, under Al-Radd ʿalā al-Jahmiyyah, where he narrates a number of aḥādīth to affirm the Hands of Allāh. Why did the Jahmiyyah feel the need to negate Ṣifah al-Yad? Because they thought it’s tashbīh, like today’s Ashāʿirah.

Al-Tirmidhī (d. 279) said, “As for the Jahmiyyah, then they denied these narrations, and they said, ‘This is tashbīh!’ […] So the Jahmiyyah made taʾwīl of these verses […] they said, ‘Allāh did not create Ādam with His Hand! The meaning of Yad is Quwwah (Power).’”

Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh (d. 238) said, “It is not tashbīh except when one says: the Hand of Allāh is like another hand, or similar to another hand […] but as for (only) affirming for Him a Hand, Hearing, and Seeing, just as He has affirmed for Himself […] then this is not tashbīh.”

In closing, I will mention Abū Sulaymān al-Khaṭṭābī (d. 388), who said, “As for what you have asked regarding the Ṣifāt […] then the maḏhab of the Salaf is to affirm them and observe them upon their apparent meanings (ʿalā ẓāhirihā).”

And Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī (d. 463), who also said, “As for the Ṣifāt […] then the maḏhab of the Salaf is to affirm them and observe them upon their apparent meanings (ʿalā ẓawāhirihā).”

And Al-Ḥāfiẓ ibn ʿAbd al-Barr al-Mālikī (d. 463), who said, “Ahl al-Sunnah are all unanimously agreed upon affirming the Ṣifāt which are found in the Kitāb and Sunnah and observing them upon their real meanings (ḥaqīqah), not as metaphorical expressions (majāz).”

So in the end, I again advise you to reconsider the approach you adopt, as this is not a light matter. Imām al-Ājurrī (d. 360) says to one who denies Allāh created Ādam with His Hand, “You have disbelieved in the Qurʾān, rejected the Sunnah, and opposed (the Ijmāʿ of) the Ummah.”

And Imām al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204) said, “To Allāh belongs Asmāʾ (names) and Ṣifāt (attributes) […] and whoever opposes any one of them after the evidence is established against him, then he is a kāfir (disbeliever).”

And Allāh knows best.