Azami 327

Imam Ahmad narrated it (14954) from Muhammad bin Sabiq, who said, Ibrahim bin Tahman narrated to us, from Abu Zubayr, from Jabir, and he related the hadith. Ibn Khuzayma graded it sahih in Kitab Tawhid (55), and Hakim (4/530), both of them through the route of Ibrahim bin Tahman, with his chain of transmission, in abbreviated form. Hakim said, "This hadith has a sahih chain of transmission." Dhahabi said, "It meets the criterion of Muslim." Haythami said in Majma (7/344), "Ahmad narrated it with two chains, the narrators of one of which are the narrators of the Sahih." Its chain of transmission is hasan on account of Abu Zubayr, for his hadith is hasan.As for the saying of Allah Most High, "sailing under Our eyes, a reward" [Qamar 54:14], and His saying to Musa, "and so that you would be brought up under My eye" [Taha 20:39], the apparent meaning and reality of these is not that the ship sails inside Allah's eye, or that Musa was raised on top of Allah's eye. Rather, their apparent meaning is that the ship sails while Allah's eye watches over it and protects it, and likewise Musa's upbringing was such that Allah's eye, Most High, watched over him and protected him. This is what the clear Arabic language indicates. For further detail, see Qawaid Muthla fi Sifat Allah wa Asmaihi Husna (p. 122) by the eminent scholar Sheikh Muhammad Salih Uthaymeen, may Allah Most High have mercy on him.I say, this is not a figurative reinterpretation, rather it is what the clear Arabic language, in which the Quran was revealed, requires. For when someone says, "So-and-so moves before my eyes," it does not mean he moves inside my eye. Likewise, His saying, "And be patient for the decision of your Lord, for indeed you are before Our eyes" [Tur 52:48], does not mean "inside My eye," rather what is meant by it is "within Our sight." All of this comes after affirming the two eyes for Allah Most High, as an attribute among His attributes befitting His majesty, without specifying its modality or resorting to reinterpretation.The jurisprudential lesson of this chapter. Allah Most High said, "And We revealed to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them" [Nahl 16:44]. So the Prophet ﷺ made clear that Allah has two eyes, as is evident in the hadith of Abu Hurairah, and as is apparent in the hadiths about Dajjal. Darimi said in Radd ala Marisi (1/327), "In the interpretation of the saying of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, 'Indeed Allah is not one-eyed,' there is a clarification that He has two eyes, unlike the one-eyed."