When Allah refers to His 'Hands' and 'Face' are we meant to understand it in the literal or allegorical sense? Some argue to interpret 'Hands' and 'Face' as anything other than its literal meaning is to engage in tahreef which basically means distorting the intended meaning of the Quran. They argue we should accept the literal meaning and leave the question of how to Allah. They also argue this literal approach does not conflict with Tawheed because His 'Hands' and 'Face' are unlike ours.
However, it is because Allah is unlike anything, it is not possible for Allah to literally have 'Hands' and 'Face' because even if we say His 'Hands' and 'Face' are unlike ours they are still nonetheless parts of Allah. This partitioning of Allah likens Him to His creation and conflicts with His Oneness. For instance Allah has said He has created everything in pairs. Thus to say Allah literally has 'two Hands' means He is not only like His creation but it would also mean that Allah is no longer One in the absolute sense for He is divided into segments. We cannot ignore this partitioning of Allah for then we would be no different from the Christians who are at a loss to explain the partitioning of their god.
In addition, if Allah really meant for His 'Hands' and 'Face to be taken literally, then why would He say the following?
"...Everything (that exists) will perish except His Face..." (Holy Quran 28:88)
If we take this verse literally it will mean the literal 'Hands' of Allah will also perish. Now obviously no Muslim can take this verse literally. We must interpret 'Face' allegorically otherwise the literal 'Hands' of Allah will perish. Thus Allah would never say everything will perish except His 'Face' if His 'Hands' were meant to be taken literally.
It would be an appropriate place to remind ourselves here that we must first interpret the Quran by the Quran, meaning one verse will explain other verses. So if one verse clearly proves His 'Hands' and 'Face' is allegorical, then we must apply this allegorical approach on every occasion these words are mentioned. After all Allah is not the author of confusion. He will not use 'Hands' and 'Face' literally in one verse and allegorical in another.
Finally it should also be pointed out allegory is necessary in the Quran because we as finite beings are simply unable to appreciate what Allah actually is. We can only say He is unlike anything in the absolute sense. So it is only through symbolism of our existence that we can then better familiarize ourselves with the message being conveyed. For instance we know that Allah is All Powerful but will this statement alone help us appreciate that power? To us it is just a statement. The only way to attain a better appreciation is through familiarity of what we know. For example, imagine holding a finger just above an ant. From this example alone we can appreciate how vulnerable that ant is, how its existence relies on our mercy and how the ant is absolutely powerless if ever we wanted to squash that ant. Obviously we cannot compare our power with the power of Allah but through the symbolism of the hand, we can better appreciate His power and majesty.
So never was 'Hands' meant to be taken in the literal context just like darkness and light in the following verse is not meant to be taken literally:
"Allah is the gaurdian of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness and into the light..." (Holy Quran 2:257)
It is no coincidence that Allah speaks of guidance allegorically.
said...
Salaam un Alaykum
Bro, Rev Guard, your article is beautiful. It is the best way to show people who have the wrong conception of Allah, that what they believe in is absurd.
What muslims should take pride in is their Quran. The Quran unlike the Bible explains to its reader how to understand the Quran. The Quran Also warns us that in whose hearts is perversity they will take the allegorical verses literally. The Quran Explicitly says in ONE VERSE that quran has two types of verses, decisive and allegorical; for the allegorical, refer to the decisive for they are the BASIS of the book. Subhanallah!
"[QURAN 3:7] He it is Who has revealed the Book to you; some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the Book, and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation. but none knows its interpretation except Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord; and none do mind except those having understanding."
WHO DARES TO CHALLENGE THE WORD OF GOD? this is the Holy Quran speaking: WARNING us... that when the quran says Allah has hands, that we will be looking at the face of the Lord, All these verses are allegorical for the are susceptible two or more interpretations. We must refer it to the decisive verses like
"[Quran:Ikhlas] He does not father nor is He fathered",
like the verse that says,
"[QURAN 6:103] Vision comprehends Him not, and He comprehends (all) vision; and He is the Knower of subtleties, the Aware."
THESE ARE DECISIVE VERSES which have only one meaning, and they FORM THE BASIS OF THE HOLY QURAN.
Revolutionary said...
ws bro. thanks so much for your valuable and insightful input.
you mentioned a great verse: [QURAN 3:7].
Its true, Allah has explicitly stated in the verse you mentioned that He speaks allegorically, so its somewhat suprising there is opposition to allegorical interpretation.
thanks again for bringing this to our attention. looking forward to your future input inshaAllah.
said...
Pretty! This has been an incredibly wonderful post.
Thank you for supplying these details.
Look at my website - Air Jordan
said...
Thankѕ veгy nice blog!
Feеl fгеe to surf tο my
websitе - meuble salle de bain pas cher
said...
Gοod web site you've got here.. It's haгԁ to fіnԁ
high-quality ωrіtіng lіkе
yοurѕ nowadayѕ. I гeally apρгeciаtе inԁiѵiduаlѕ lіke you!
Take caге!!
Mу ωebsіtе :: devis peinture
said...
Thankfulness to my father who informed me about this web sitе, this
wеblog is in faсt awеsomе.
Also visit my webpage ... Disque Dur SSD
said...
I just like the helpful info you supply in your articles.
I will bookmark your blog and take a look at again right here regularly.
I'm quite sure I will be told many new stuff proper here! Best of luck for the next!
Also visit my website - Tennis
said...
When I initially commented I clicked the "Notify me when new comments are added" checkbox and now
each time a comment is added I get three emails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
Many thanks!
Check out my webpage - voyance
said...
Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am impressed!
Very useful information particularly the last part :) I care for such information much.
I was seeking this certain info for a long time.
Thank you and good luck.
Feel free to visit my website ... maquillage pas cher
said...
Since the admin of this web site is working, no question very soon it will be renowned,
due to its quality contents.
Also visit my page - website
said...
Hi there to every one, it's truly a nice for me to go to see this web page, it includes valuable Information.
Feel free to surf to my web page ... Nike Free
said...
You really make it seem really easy along with your presentation but
I to find this topic to be actually one thing which I
think I might never understand. It kind of feels too complicated and very broad for me.
I am having a look forward in your subsequent submit, I'll try to get the cling of it!
My blog post :: Clicking Here
said...
This site was... how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I've found something which helped me. Appreciate it!
Here is my website ... Nike Pas Cher
said...
I all the time used to read paragraph in news papers but now as I am a user of internet thus from now I am
using net for articles, thanks to web.
Look into my web page Nike Blazers JD
said...
Howdy! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog.
Is it tough to set up your own blog? I'm not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I'm thinking about making my own but I'm not sure where to start. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Appreciate it
my web blog ... voyance par telephone