Chapter 1: The “Image” Of Allah
A. From The School Of The Caliphs
Let us examine two traditions from this School.
- Ibn Khuzaimah in his Tawhid, together with Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim report through Abu Huraira that the Prophet (S) said:
“Allah created Adam in His Own image, sixty feet in height. Then He ordered him to go before a group of angels and greet them. ‘Listen to them carefully when they answer your greetings, for that will be the greeting you and your descendants shall adopt,’ Allah said.So Adam obeyed and he greeted them thus: ‘Assalamu Alaikum’ (Peace be upon you). The angels replied: ‘Assalamu Alaika Wa Rahmatullah’ (Peace be upon you and Allah’s Mercy), adding ‘Wa Rahmatullah.’So everyone who enters the heaven will be in the image of Adam. Human beings were gradually reduced in height as time lapsed, till the stature they have today.”
- Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (S) said:
“Whenever one is involved in a quarrel or a fight against one’s brother, one should refrain from hitting him on the face. This is because Allah created Adam in His Own ‘image’.”1These are the reports from Abu Huraira. Let us now compare them with the tradition reported by the School of Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a) so that the picture is complete.
(B) Ahl Ul-Bayt (‘A) Explain The Actual Fact
- Husayn bin Khalid says:
“I asked Imam Ridha (‘a) about the famous tradition of the Prophet (S) that Allah created Adam in His Own image. He said: ‘Cursed be those fraudulent narrators who have omitted the first part of the tradition.’ Then he explained: Once the Prophet (S) was passing by when he heard two men abuse each other. He heard one say: ‘May Allah foul and disgrace your face, and the face which resembles yours.’ At that time, the Prophet (S) paused and admonished him by saying: ‘Do not utter such words for your brother. For Allah created Adam (also) in his image.’ (Meaning that Adam also resembled him).”
- In another tradition reported by Abul Ward to Thamamah from Amir Al-Mu’minin Ali bin Abu Talib (‘a), we read:
“The Prophet (S) heard someone abuse another saying: ‘May Allah foul and disgrace your face, and the face that resembles yours.’ The Prophet (S) said: ‘Be silent! Do not say that! For Allah has created Adam in his image’.”
- Besides these two traditions, let us examine one more which would give us a general idea of how the Imams of Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a) viewed the belief of anthropomorphism.
Shaikh Sadooq in his book Tawhid, says:“Imam Musa bin Ja‘far (‘a) received a letter in which someone had sought clarification about the belief concerning the body and image of Allah. Imam (‘a) replied: ‘Praised be Allah! There is nothing whatever like unto Him - no body, and no image’.”
(C) Observations And Comparisons
When we ponder over these reports and compare, we find that Abu Huraira in his two narrations has made two additions and one omission.
1. The Omission
When Abu Huraira reports from the Prophet (S), he omits the incident in which the Prophet (S) had an encounter with two men engaged in the slang of abuses, then he admonished one of them not to speak ill of the human face because it resembled that of Adam. This, indeed is an important omission, because Abu Huraira’s version gives an impression that the pronoun ‘his’ refers to Allah, while actually it refers to the man himself.Abu Huraira may have omitted the important part in the tradition because:
- He used to commit the traditions to memory, as he was unable to read or write. And even if he did, he would not be allowed by the Caliphs who had forbidden Muslims to maintain a written record of the Prophet’s traditions, till the end of the first century Hijra.
- Abu Huraira was tremendously influenced by Ka‘b al-Ahbar who spread the corrupted verses from Torah among Muslims. Obviously, the impression of what Ka‘b related was fresh in the mind of Abu Huraira, because it came approximately 20 years after having heard from the Prophet (S).
- Probably the error was on the part of the latter day traditionists who recorded Ka‘b’s report falsely ascribed to Abu Huraira. Whatever the case, the consequences remain unchanged.
2. Two Additions
- In the first tradition, Abu Huraira attributes the following statement to the Prophet (S):
“Whenever one is engaged in a fight against one’s brother, one should refrain from hitting him on the face ....”This is possibly a substitute fabricated by Abu Huraira, in place of the omission we have referred to above.
- In another tradition, Abu Huraira speaks of Adam’s height:
“Allah created Adam in His Own image, sixty feet in height ....”Obviously, such statements are not factual, nor do they tally with scientific investigations.One can easily see that the stories quoted from Abu Huraira bear a striking similarity to the stories from Genesis in the Old Testament. By tampering with the actual tradition of the Prophet (S), inserting here and cutting there, Abu Huraira and his likes have succeeded to give credibility to the fiction from Torah. These, then, are the Israiliyyat which have made tragic inroads into Islamic traditions and beliefs.The schools of the Caliphs have swallowed them hook, line and sinker because renowned names like that of Abu Huraira are attached to them.The result was that whenever words like “face” occur in relation to Allah in the Qur’an, they have insisted upon the literal meaning. To them, all human characteristics, norms and forms can be applied to Allah! We will discuss the subject in the following chapters, InshaAllah.
- 1. Sahih Muslim - pp. 2016, 2017.