Ithbat Al-Yad Lillah [1-25] – Imam Adh-Dhahabi

Translated

Abu Sinan

Checked & Revised

Abu Khuzaimah Ansaari

 

An Introduction to the Treatise

Origin

This treatise is found in Kitab Al-Kawakib Ad-Darari of Imam Ibn ‘Urwah, Volume 39 across six pages in Darul Kutub Adh-Dhahariyyah, and in Markaz Makhtutat w’at-Turath Kuwait #5/12811, and its chain of narration to the author is authentic, every narrator is a trustworthy Imam.

Narrators

1. ‘Ali bin Husayn bin ‘Urwah Abu’l Hasan Ad-Dimashqi, he was born in the year 760H, Ibn Muflih said regarding him, “The Shaykh, the ‘Aalim, the Pious, the Role-Model – he arranged the Musnad (of Imam Ahmad) in accordance to the chapters of Al-Bukhari, and he named it Al-Kawakib Ad-Darari Fi Tartib Musnad Al-Imam Ahmad ‘Ala Abwab Al-Bukhari, and he explained it in 120 volumes.”
2. Yahya bin Yusuf bin Ya’qub Ar-Rahbi Ad-Dimashqi, he was born in the year 714H, and Ibn Hajar said regarding him, “He took from many of the companions of Ibn Taymiyyah, and he passed away in the year 894H.”
3. Al-Imam Al-Hafidh Abu ‘Abdillah Muhammad bin Ahmad bin ‘Uthman Adh-Dhahabi, the author of this treatise, he was born in the year 673H, and his father was a goldsmith, hence he was known as Adh-Dhahabi. He was the great Hafidh and scholar of Hadith, author of the famous ‘Siyar A’lam An-Nubala’ and ‘Tarikh Al-Islam’ – well versed in the various sciences such as Aqidah, Fiqh, Hadith, History, and his Shaykhs were many, the most famous of which being Al-Hafidh Ibn Kathir, author of the famous Tafsir, may Allah have mercy on them all.

The Topic of this Treatise

This treatise pertains to affirming and establishing the attribute of Al-Yadayn (The Two Hands) of Allah, Exalted is He, and the author establishes these Lofty Attributes by using evidences from the Ayat of the Qur’an, Ahadith, and Athar of the Salaf As-Salih. The methodology of the Ahlul-Hadith, Ahlus-Sunnah, is to affirm these attributes without Tahrif (distortion), or Takyif (ascribing a modality to these attributes), or Tamthil or Tashbih (likening these attributes to the creation) –  The early Imams of this Ummah discussed these Lofty Attributes in their works, such as:

Imam At-Tirmidhi, “They (the Jahmiyyah) say: ‘Allah did not create Adam with His Hand’, and they say: ‘Verily Hand here only means power.'” (Sunan At-Tirmidhi)

‘Abdullah bin Zubayr Abi Bakr Imam Al-Humaydi (Student of Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah), “The Sunnah with us is […] belief in the Ru’yah (seeing Allah) after death, and what has been mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadith, such as: {…and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand…} [Az-Zumar, 39:67].” (Usul As-Sunnah, Musnad of Al-Humaydi)

Imam Al-Muzani (Student of Imam Ash-Shafi’i), “…Then He created Adam with His Hand.” (Sharh As-Sunnah of Imam Al-Muzani)

Imam Harb Al-Kirmani (Student of Imam Ahmad and Ishaq bin Rahuyah), “and He (Allah) created Adam with His Hand, in His Image.” (Ijma’ Al-Salaf fil I’tiqad)

Imam Ibn Abi Dawud, “and the Jahmiyyah certainly reject His Right Hand.” (Al-Ha’iyyah)

Imam Ibn Abi Zayd Al-Qayrawani, “And verily He is [able to be] heard and seen, and He Grips and Opens [His Hand], and both of His Hands are outstretched.” (Al-Jami’ fi’l Sunan w’al-Adab w’al-Maghazi w’at-Tarikh)

Imam As-Sabuni said, “They (Ashab Al-Hadith) do not distort the Words from their proper places (meanings) by claiming the Two Hands are only His Blessings, or His Power, [like] the distortions of the Mu’tazila Jahmiyyah, May Allāh destroy them.” (Aqidah As-Salaf wa Ashab Al-Hadith)

The Treatise (Narrations 1-25)

Ash-Shaykh Shams Al-Din Muhammad bin Ahmad bin ‘Uthman Adh-Dhahabi said:

Affirming Al-Yad for Allah, Exalted is the Attribute from His Attributes

Allah, Exalted is He, said,

“What prevented you from prostrating to whom I created with both My Hands.”
(Surah Sad, 38:75)

And He said,

“Rather! Both His Hands are outstretched.”
(Surah Al-Ma’idah, 5:64)

And He said,

“Do they not see that We have created for them from what Our Hands have made…”
(Surah Ya-Sin, 37:61)

And He said,

“…and the Heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand…”
(Surah Az-Zumar, 39:67)

And He said,

“Verily, those who pledge allegiance to you are pledging allegiance to Allah, the Hand of Allah is above their hands.”
(Surah Al-Fath, 48:10)

1. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Verily, Musa met Adam, so he said: ‘Allah created you by His Hand, and the Angels prostrated to you, so by Allah! If you had not done what you had done, not one single person from your offspring would enter the Fire!’ So he replied, ‘O Musa! You are the one who Allah chose for His Message and to Speak with…'”¹ and he mentioned the Hadith.
2. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah will fold up the Heavens on the Day of Resurrection, then He will take them by His Hand and He will say, ‘I am the King! Where are the Tyrants? Where are the arrogant?'”²
3. ‘Umar bin Hamzah mentioned the previous Hadith, and he added, “I heard ‘Ikrimah saying: Both of the Hands of Allah are Right, so He will fold up the Heavens and take them by His Hand, then say: ‘I am the King!’, then he will take the Earths by His other Hand.'”³
4. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Verily when a slave gives charity from good, Allah accepts it, and takes it with His Right Hand, and grows it as one of you would raise his colt or young camel, and even if a man gives charity with a crumb, then it grows in the Hand of Allah until it becomes like Mount Uhud – so give in charity.” These Ahadith are authentic.⁴
5. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Verily the first thing that Allah created was the Pen, so He took it with His Right Hand, and both of His Hands are Right, and He wrote what is to be from the actions, righteous or immoral, [in every] moist or dry [place], so He counted them in Adh-Dhikr, then He will say: Read, If you wish: “This record of Ours speaks about you with truth, Verily, We were recording what you used to do.” [Al-Jathiya, 45:29]
   This is a Hasan Hadith.⁵
6. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The Right Hand of Allah is full, and nothing in the night or the day (i.e., His Bounty) diminishes it, and in His other Hand is the Two Scales, He raises it and lowers it.” Agreed upon (by Bukhari and Muslim).⁶
7. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The Just will be on pulpits of light on the Right of Ar-Rahman, and Both of His Hands are right – those that are just with their families and their judgements and those that they are in charge of.” Muslim narrated it.⁷
8. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah will take His Heavens and His Earths by His Hands and He will say, ‘I am Allah.’ – And he (The Messenger of Allah) clenched his fingers and opened them – ‘I am The King, I am Ar-Rahman.'” And this is a Sahih Hadith.⁸
9. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Verily, on the Day of Resurrection, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will gather the Heavens and the Earths in His Grasp, then He will say: ‘I am Allah.'”⁹
10. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah created the Garden of Eden, and He planted its trees by His Hand, then He said to it, ‘Speak.’ So it said, ‘Certainly, the believers are successful.’ [Surah Al-Mu’minun, 23:1].” Authentic.¹⁰
11. Abu Bakr As-Siddiq said, “Allah created the creation, and they were in His Grasp, so He said to those in His Hand: Enter into Jannah with peace, and He said to those in His other Hand: Enter into the Fire.” Al-Lalaka’i and Ibn Battah both narrated it through the path of ‘Abdur Rahman.¹¹
12. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, Charity falls into the Hand of Allah, Exalted is He, before it falls into the hand of the recipient.” And this is authentic.¹²
13. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Verily, Allah wrote a book with His Hand, and He placed it with Him above the Throne: ‘Verily My Mercy has overcome My Anger.'” And this is an authentic Hadith.¹³
14. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah created the creation, and he decreed the Divine Will, then He took the People of the Right by His Right Hand, and He took the People of the Left by His Other Hand, and Both of His Hands are Right, then He Said: Am I not your Rabb?…” And this is a Hasan Hadith, Ibn Battah narrated it in Al-Ibanah.¹⁴
15. Ibn ‘Umar said, “Verily Allah created four things with His Hand: Adam, and the Pen, and the Garden of Eden [and the Throne], and He said for the rest of the creation: ‘Kun (Be)’ and so it was.” More than one narrated this from ‘Ubayd, such as Sufyan Ath-Thawri and ‘Abdul Wahid Ibn Ziyad.¹⁵
16. And it is authentic from from Mughith bin Sumi that he said, “It has reached me that verily Allah did not create anything with His Hand except three: He planted Al-Jannah with His Hand, and He created Adam with His Hand, and He wrote the Tawrah with His Hand.”¹⁶
17. And it is authentic from from Hakim bin Jabir that he said, “I have informed you that your Rabb did not touch anything with His Hand except three: He planted Al-Jannah with His Hand, and He created Adam with His Hand, and He wrote the Tawrah with His Hand.”¹⁷
18. And it is authentic from Sa’id bin Abi Hilal who said, “It has reached me that the first thing revealed from Allah upon Musa was: ‘In the Name of Allah, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim, This is a book from Allah by His Hand in the Tablets for His Slave, Musa.'”¹⁸
19. And it is authentic from ‘Ata’ bin Yasar that he said, “The Angels said: ‘O Rabb! You made Bani Adam, then you made them to eat, and to drink, and to enjoy women, and you did not make any of those for us, so when you made the Dunya for them, then make the Akhirah for us.’ So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: ‘I will not make the offspring of the one I made by My Hands like the one I said ‘Kun’ (Be) for.'” ¹⁹
20. And ‘Abdullah bin Salih narrated it from Al-Layth, from Hisham bin Sa’d, from Zayd bin Aslam, from ‘Ata’ bin Yasar, from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr and bin Al-‘As, and this chain of narration is authentic and established, ‘Uthman bin Sa’id Ad-Darimi likewise narrated it from ‘Abdullah bin Salih.²⁰
21. And it is authentic from Ibn ‘Abbas that he said, “The Seven Heavens and the Seven Earths are not in the Hand of Ar-Rahman, except like a mustard seed in the hand of one of you.”²¹
22. And it is authentic from Wahb bin Munnabih that he said, “The creation is not in the Grasp of Allah, except like a mustard seed here in the hand of one of you.”
23. And it is authentic from Ibn ‘Abbas that he said, “Allah wiped the back of Adam, then removed every purity with His Right Hand, and removed every impurity with His Other Hand.”²³
24. And it has been narrated with a Hasan chain of narration that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The first thing Allah created was the Pen, then He took it with His Right Hand, and Both of His Hands are Right, and He wrote the Dunya and what is to occur in it.” Narrated by Baqiyyah bin Al-Walid, from Arta’ bin Al-Mundhir, from Mujahid, from Ibn ‘Umar.²⁴
25. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever gives the equivalent of a date from good income in charity, and Allah does not accept anything except good, then verily Allah raises it for one of you like one of you raises his colt or young camel, then it grows in the Hand of Ar-Rahman until it becomes greater than a mountain.”²⁵

 

Tahqiq and Takhrij Summarised from the Research of  Dr. ‘Abdullah bin Salih Al-Barrak

[TN:] The full chains of narration have not been included due to brevity.

¹ Kitab Al-Iman of Ibn Mandah (#11,13), Sunan Ad-Daraqutni (#207)

² Sunan Abi Dawud (#4832), Al-Asma’ of Al-Bayhaqi (#705), Sahih Muslim (Kitab Sifah Al-Munafiqin, 4/2148) and other than them

³ Musnad Abi Ya’la (9/410, #5558), and Tafsir At-Tabari (24/28)

⁴ Musannaf ‘Abdur Razzaq (11/106, #20050)

⁵ Kitab As-Sifat of Ad-Daraqutni (#14)

⁶ Sahih Al-Bukhari (Kitab At-Tafsir 8/352, #4684, and Kitab At-Tawhid 13/393, #7411), and Sahih Muslim (Kitab Az-Zakah 2/690)

⁷ Sahih Muslim (Kitab Al-Imrah 3/1458, #18), Sunan An-Nasa’i (Kitab Al-Qadha’ 8/221, #5379), Musnad Ahmad (2/159,160,203)

⁸ Sahih Muslim (Kitab Sifah Al-Munafiqin 4/2149, #26), Sunan Ibn Majah (Al-Muqaddimah 1/71, #198), Kitab At-Tawhid of Ibn Mandah (2/47, #190)

⁹ Juz Ibn ‘Urfah (#9), Sahih Muslim (4/2149)

¹⁰ Tafsir Ibn Kathir (3/238), Al-Asma’ of Al-Bayhaqi (2/124, #691), and their is a weakness in their chains.

¹¹ Sharh Usul Al-I’tiqad of Al-Lalaka’i (4/663), Al-Ibanah of Ibn Battah (1/312, #1335, 2/125, #1555, 1556), Musannaf ‘Abdur Razzaq (11/123)

¹² Dala’il At-Tawheed of Al-Harawi (#25), Kashf Al-Astar of Al-Bazzar (1/441, #931), and Al-Haythami said, “Its men are trustworthy.”

¹³ Sahih Al-Bukhari (Kitab Bada’ Al-Khalq 6/287, #3194), Sahih Muslim (Kitab Al-Tawbah 4/2107, #14)

¹⁴ Al-Ibanah of Ibn Battah (#227)

¹⁵ Naqdh Ad-Darimi ‘Ala Bishr (#35, 90), Al-Lalaka’i (3/429)

¹⁶ [TN:] The Muhaqqiq could not find this narration.

¹⁷ Ar-Radd ‘Ala’l Mu’atillah of Al-Hakim At-Tirmidhi (1/96), As-Sunnah of ‘Abdullah (1/295, #570), An-Najjad (#98), Al-Ajurri (p. 303)

¹⁸ [TN:] The Muhaqqiq could not find this narration.

¹⁹ Al-Ibanah of Ibn Battah (#236)

²⁰ Naqdh Ad-Darimi ‘Ala Bishr (#236), Ibn Al-Qayyim said, “[Narrated] with an Authentic Chain.”

²¹ Al-Ibanah of Ibn Battah (#238), Tafsir At-Tabari (24/25)

²² Tafsir Mujahid (p. 580)

²³ Al-Ibanah of Ibn Battah (1/312, #1334), Tafsir At-Tabari (13/228), Abu Ya’la weaked it in Ibtal At-Ta’wil (1/177)

²⁴ As-Sunnah of Ibn Abi ‘Asim (1/49, #106), Al-Faryabi (#416), Ash-Shari’ah of Al-Ajurri (p.175)

²⁵ Bukhari narrated in Mu’allaq form in his Sahih (Kitab Az-Zakah, 3/278, Kitab At-Tawhid, 13/415), Sahih Muslim (Kitab Az-Zakah 2/706)