اسلام عليكم
I have studied that believing " Allah has hand but as befits His Majesty" is a type of anthropomorphism then why some Respected Ulama of Deoband,s belief is that Allah has hand but without modality بلا كيف ?
Wa alaikum salam
The scholars of Ahlus Sunna wal Jama'a consider the verses of the Qur'an related to the Sifat (attributes of Allah) to be from the mutashabihat (ambiguous/have several possible meanings). They negate the howness (nafi al kayf) and consign the meaning (tafweed al-ma'n) of them to Allah.
Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Khallal, who died in Hijra year 311, and who took his fiqh from Imam Ahmad’s students, relates in his Kitab al-Sunna through his chain of narrators from Hanbal ibn Ishaq al-Shaybani, the son of the brother of Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s father, that
Imam Ahmad was asked about the hadiths mentioning, "Allah’s descending," "seeing Allah," and "placing His foot on hell"; and the like, and Ahmad replied: "We believe in them and consider them true, without ‘how’ and without ‘meaning’ (bi la kayfa wa la ma‘na)."
Imam Ahmad and Ibn Qudama (d. 620 AH) on Tafweed as quoted in the latters
al-Luma al-I’tiqad:
All what is mentioned in the Qur'an or is authentically reported upon "the Chosen One" (al-Mustafa) - 'alayhis-salam - from among the attributes of al-Rahman, it is incumbent [upon us]:
to believe in [that report]
to receive it with submission and acceptance
and to forsake resisting it by (i) rejection, (ii) allegorically interpretation (at-ta'wil, or by resembling (at-tashbih) or likening (at-tamthil) [the attribute to that of His creation].
Whatever of [these reports that we find] difficult [to comprehend] it is required to affirm its wording and to forsake delving into its meaning. We [rather] entrust knowledge of its reality to He who has spoken it and we place the responsibility [of our faith in it] upon he who transmitted it. Thereby following the way of those firmly grounded in knowledge whom Allah has praised in His Clear Scripture by His statement - subhanahu wa ta'ala, "And those firmly rooted in knowledge say, `We believe in it; all is from our Lord."' (3:7) While He has said in condemnation of those who seek the interpretation (at-ta'wil) of the ambiguous (mutashabih) of His revelation: "As for those in whose hearts is swerving, they follow the ambiguous part, desiring dissension, and desiring its interpretation; and none knows its interpretation, save only Allah." So He made seeking its interpretation an indication of perversity [of the heart] and He linked it in its condemnation with seeking dissension (fitna). He then veiled them from that which they sought and He cut off their hope [of ever reaching that] by His statement - subhanahu, "And none knows its interpretation, save only Allah."
Imam Abu `Abdullah Ahmad b. Muhammad b.Hanbal - may Allah be pleased with him - has said regarding the Prophet's statements - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam- that Allah descends to the lowest heaven, that Allah will be seen on the day of Resurrection, and what resembles such statements. "We have faith and believe in them without how or meaning. We do not reject any of [these reports]. We know that what the Messenger came with is the truth. We do not reject what the Messenger of Allah - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam - has brought. Nor do we describe Allah with more than what He has described Himself without [ascribing to Him] a limit or an end. 'Like Him there is naught. And He is the All-hearing, the All-seeing.' (42:1 1). We say as He has said and we describe Him as He has described Himself. We do not transgress that. The descriptions of men do not reach Him. We believe in the whole of the Qur'an - its definitive (mukham) and its equivocal (mutashabih). We do not separate from Him any of His attributes due to the protests of anyone. We do not transgress the Qur'an and the hadith. Nor do we know the reality of [these attributes] except by believing the Messenger - sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam - and affirming the Qur'an."
Imam Ibn Qudama inDhamm at-Ta'wil on Tafwid:
. .
في بيان مذهبهم في صفات الله تعالى
ومذهب السلف رحمة الله عليهم : الإيمان بصفات الله تعالى وأسمائه التي وصف بها نفسه في آياته وتنزيله أو على لسان رسوله ، من غير زيادة عليها ، ولا نقص منها ، ولا تجاوز لها ، ولا تفسير ، ولا تأويل لها بما يخالف ظاهرها ، ولا تشبيه بصفات المخلوقين ، ولا سمات المحدثين ، بل أمروها كما جاءت ، وردوا علمها إلى قائلها ، ومعناها إلى المتكلم بها .
وقال بعضهم : ( ويروى ذلك عن الشافعي رحمة الله عليه: آمنت بما جاء عن الله ، على مراد الله ، وبما جاء عن رسول الله ، على مراد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ) .
وعلموا أن المتكلم بها صادق لا شك في صدقه فصدقوه ، ولم يعلموا حقيقة معناها فسكتوا عما لم يعلموه ، وأخذ ذلك الآخر والأول ، ووصى بعضهم بعضا بحسن الإتباع والوقوف حيث وقف أولهم ، وحذروا من التجاوز لهم والعدول عن طريقهم ، وبينوا لهم سبيلهم ومذهبهم ، ونرجوا أن يجعلنا الله تعالى ممن اقتدى بهم في بيان ما بينوه ، وسلوك الطريق الذي سلكوه
"The Madhab of the Salaf is to have Iman in the Attributes of Allah Ta’ala and His Names, with which He described Himself in the Qur’an and Sunnah without adding to it, and removing from it, and not exceeding the bounds of it, without giving explanation, or a ta’wil that opposes its dhahir, without resemblence to the attributes of the creation or the qualities of (things) brought into existance. Rather, they passed them on (narrated them) as they came and relegated the knowledge of them to the One who spoke them (Allah) and the meaning of them to the One that said them."
And some said it was related from Imam Shafi’i: "I believe in Allah and what has come about Allah according to the intent of Allah. and what has come from the Rasool of Allah according to the intention of Rasool Allah [sallallahu alayhi wassallam]”
And they (the Salaf) knew that the One who spoke them (Allah) was truthful without doubt, so they believed Him. And they did not know the real meaning (Haqiqah Ma'naha) of them (the attributes) so they were silent about what they did not know. The later and the earlier ones held on to this, and the later ones were the inheritors of the earlier ones in following of excellence and keeping quiet where the early ones kept quiet. And warned from exceeding their bounds and diverging from their path and explained for them their path and their doctrinal positions and we appeal to Allah that he makes us from the ones who followed them in explaining what they explained and following the path that they followed"
Imam al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) on Tafweed al-Ma’na:
He mentioned in his Siyar a’lam an-Nubala (8/105):
فَقَولُنَا فِي ذَلِكَوَبَابِهِ: الإِقرَارُ، وَالإِمْرَارُ،وَتَفْويضُ مَعْنَاهُ إِلَى قَائِلِه الصَّادِقِ المَعْصُومِ
Meaning:
"Our saying in this and what falls under it is: Submission to the text, passing it on as it came and consigning the knowledge of its meaning (tafwidu ma'nahu) to its Sacrosanct and Truthful Sayer.
He also said in his Siyar a’lam an-Nubala (14/376):
وَأَمَّاالسَّلَفُ،فَمَاخَاضُوافِيالتَّأْوِيْلِ،بَلْآمَنُواوَكَفُّوا،وَفَوَّضُواعِلمَذَلِكَإِلَىاللهِوَرَسُوْلِه
Meaning: “As for the Salaf (three earliest Muslim generations), then they did not delve into interpretation (of the Attributes), but rather they believed, refrained, and consigned the knowledge of that to Allahand His Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)."
Other quotes on Tafweed:
Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH) in Hadi us-Sari [page 103] states:
قوله استوى على العرش هو من المتشابه الذييفوض علمه إلي الله تعالى ووقع تفسيره في الأصل
While defining certain words used in Sahih Al-Bukhari, Ibn Hajar says:
‘The statement istawa alal arshi is from the mutashabih (unclear verses) whose knowledge is consigned (yufawwadu from tafwid) to Allah the Almighty although by principle its manifestation has already occurred.’
Ibn Hajar on the Hadith of Descent (nuzul)
The hadith of descent from Sahih Al-Bukhari:
Abdullah bin Maslamah narrates from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Salamah and Abdullah Algharr both of whom narrate from Abu Huraira that:
The Messenger of Allah – sallallahu alaihi wa sallam - said:
‘Our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, descends every night to the nearest Heaven when the last third of the night remains, saying: “Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?”’
Ibn Hajar’s comments from Fathul Bari
Those who assert direction for Allah have used this hadith as proof that He is in the direction of above-ness (uluw). The vast majority of the scholars reject this, because saying such leads to establishing boundaries for Him and Allah is exalted above that.
And so there is disagreement regarding the meaning of 'Nuzool' upon the [following] sayings (i.e. of the scholars):
• So from them are those who hold that that it is upon its Thaahir (apparent) and its Haqeeqi (real/literal) meaning, and they are the Mushabbihah (those who make tashbeeh which is to liken Allah to his creation), exalted is Allah from their sayings.
• Some reject the validity of the ahadith cited in that chapter altogether. These are the Khawarij and the Mu’tazila and this view is highly contentious. What is strange is that they interpret figuratively what is related to this in the Qur'an, but they reject what is in the ahadith either out of ignorance or out of obstinacy.
• Some have taken them as they have come, believing in them without specificity, declaring Allah to be transcendent above modality (kayfiyya) and likeness to creation (tashbih): these are the vast majority of the Salaf. That position is reported by Al-Bayhaqi and others from the four Imams, Sufyan ibn ‘Uyayna, Sufyan Ath-Thawri, Hammad ibn Salama, Hammad ibn Zayd, Al-Awza’i, Al-Layth, and others.
• Some interpreted them in a way that befits the linguistic usage of the Arabs.
• Some have over-interpreted them to the point that they almost tampered with the text (tahrif).
• Some have made a difference between a kind of interpretation that is likely and current in the linguistic usage of the Arabs, and another kind which is far-fetched and archaic, interpreting in the former case and committing the meaning to Allah in the latter. [I.e. if the Arabic equivalent is sensible and befitting to Allah’s majesty it would be accepted but if the Arabic usage opposes the majesty of Allah then tafwid is practised]. This is reported from Malik, and among the later scholars (muta‘akhkhirun) it is asserted decisively by Ibn Daqiq al-‘Id.
Al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH) said: “The safest method is to believe in them without modality, and to maintain concerning what is meant except if the explanation is conveyed from the Prophet himself, in which case it is followed.” The proof for this is the agreement of the scholars that the specific interpretation is not obligatory, and that therefore the commitment of meaning to Allah (tafwid) is the safest option.
As-Suyuti (d. 911 AH) on Tafweed
قالالإمامجلالالدينالسيوطيفيكتابه "الإتقانفيعلومالقرآن" (2/6
ومنالمتشابهآياتالصفات ... وجمهورأهلالسنة،منهمالسلفوأهلالحديثعلىالإيمانبها،وتفويضمعناهاوالمرادمنهاإلىاللهتعالىولانفسرهامعتنزيهنالهعنحقيقتها" . اهـ
As-Suyuti wrote in Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur’an:
“From the Mutashabihat is the Ayahs on the Sifat....And the majority of the Ahlus Sunnah, which includes the Salaf and the people of hadith, have opined that such verses should be believed in but their meanings should be consigned to Allah, and we do not interpret them in such a way that negates their reality.”
As-Suyuti as quoted by Imam Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali in Shadharatudh Dhahab [volume 8, page 17] said:
فوض أحاديث الصفات * ولا تشبه أو تعطل
الارمتإلا الخوض في * تحقيف معضلة فأول
إن المفوض سالم * مما تكلفهالمؤول
Consign (the meaning) of the ahadith of attributes (to Allah)
And do not liken them to the creation nor negate them
If all other pursuits have past except embarking upon
The solving this problem, only then search for an interpretation
'Indeed the one who consigns (its meaning to Allah) is saved
From the burden of the one who interprets figuratively’
Imam al-Mari’i Al-Karmi al-Hanbali (d. 1033 AH) said in his Aqawil al-Thiqat (pp. 118):
al-Karmi: and from those unclear verses [mutashaabih]: al-Istiwa, from his speech, Most High: "Al-Rahman istiwa above the arsh", and also: "He then did istiwa on the arsh" [surah a'raf:54], and it [istiwa] is mentioned in the Quran in seven different verses.
As for the salaf, then they [surely] did not speak about it one bit, in keeping with their custom in dealing with those unclear verses of the Quran - not delving into it, [as well as] consigning knowledge of it to Allah, most High, while still believing in it.
For a more detailed discussion in arabic the reader may download a work from the following link:
How to understand the Attributes of Allah