Wahhabis Say Allah (s.w.t.) Has Feet

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Dr. Ahmad Hijazi as-Saqqa wrote, in Mukhalifun li Zhahir al-Lafz, that Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Swalih al-‘Utsaymin said, “It is established that Allah (s.w.t.) has feet, and the Ahl as-Sunnah have explained the leg and foot as being literal according to what befits Allah, whereas the Ahl at-Ta’wil have explained ‘al-rijl’ as being the group which Allah will Place in the Fire, and ‘al-qadam’ as being those who are sent forth to the Fire ...”  He continued later in the passage, “… and I reject and return their explanation to them on the grounds that it contravenes the external meaning of the words.”  This is found in his Sharh al-Ajurumiyyah. 

In response to this, Imam Muhammad Sa’id ibn Muhammad Ramadhan al-Buwthi (r.a.) mentioned that Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Bayhaqi (r.a.) related from Imam Abu Sulayman Hamd ibn Muhammad al-Khaththabi (r.a.), after the latter cited the hadits of Sayyidina Anas ibn Malik (r.a.), narrated by Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari (r.a.) and Imam ‘Asakir ad-Din Abu al-Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (r.a.): “Jahannam will keep asking: is there more?’ until the Lord of Might Places His Foot in it.  Then it will say, ‘Enough!  Enough!’  Then it will gather up its parts together.  And there will still remain room in Paradise until Allah Gives rise to a Creation He will then Place in the remainder of Paradise.” 

After mentioning what has been said about Allah’s Qadam, Foot and Rijl, Leg, through different chains of transmission, Imam al-Bayhaqi (r.a.) said that Imam al-Khaththabi (r.a.) said, “It is likely that those who mentioned ‘al-qadam’ and ‘ar-rijl’ without attributing it to Allah did so because of their great fear, and to avoid misinterpretation in the matter.  Abu ‘Ubayd used to say used to say, ‘As for us we narrate those ahadits but we do not smear them with meanings.’” 

However, the people of the time in which we live have joined two parties.  The first, the Mu’tazilah and Jahmiyyah, altogether disavow this kind of ahadits and declares them forged to begin with, which implies their giving the lie to the scholars who have narrated them, that is, the a’immah of our religion and the transmitters of the prophetic ways, and the intermediaries between us and Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.).  The second party, the Mushabbihah, gives its assent to the narrations and applies their outward meanings literally in a way bordering anthropomorphism. 

Sunni Islam steers clear of both views, and accepts neither as valid.  It is, therefore, incumbent upon us to seek for these ahadits, when they are cited and established as authentic from the perspectives of transmission and attribution, ta’wil, an interpretation, extracted according to the known meanings of the foundations of Islam and the schools of the scholars, without rejecting the narrations to begin with, as long as their chains are acceptable and narrators trustworthy. 

Imam al-Khaththabi (r.a.) said that the meaning of “qadam” here is possibly a reference to those whom Allah has Created of old or Sent Forth for the Fire in order to complete the number of its inhabitants.  Everything that is Sent Forth is a qadam, in the same way that the verbal noun of hadamah, demolishing.  “Hadamah” is a “hadm”, “ruin”, and that of “qabadah”, “seizing” is “qabd”, “seizure”. 

Likewise Allah (s.w.t.) Says: 

سُوۡرَةُ یُونس

… وَبَشِّرِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ أَنَّ لَهُمۡ قَدَمَ صِدۡقٍ عِندَ رَبِّہِمۡ‌ۗ… (٢) 

… and give the good news to the believers that they have before their Lord the lofty rank of truth … (Surah Yunus:2) 

This explanation has been transmitted to us from Shaykh Abu Sa’id ibn Abu al-Hasan Yasar al-Baswri (q.s.).  It is supported by the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) saying, “As for Paradise, Allah will Create for it a Special Creation.”  Both meanings are in agreement with the sense that Paradise and Hell will be provided with an additional number of dwellers to complete their respective numbers, at which point they will be full.  This is from Imam al-Khaththabi’s (r.a.) Ma’alim as-Sunan Sharh Abu Dawud.