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The_Foundations_of_the_Islamic_Belief, page : 85
interpretation).
Among those was Ahmad ibn-Hanbal who went as far as to forbid the allegorical interpretation of the
Words of Allah "`Be', and it is." (Quran 16:42). His followers have claimed that these Words were
words
of actual speech with enunciated letters and sounds brought into existence by Allah the very moment
He
created a created thing. I have even heard one of his followers say that (Ahmad ibn-Hanbal) forbade
the
allegorical interpretation of all but three prophetic quotations, namely the words of the Prophet
when he
said, "The Stone is the right Hand of Allah in the earth," (the Stone in Ka'bah) and, "The heart of
the
believer lies between two of the fingers of the Merciful (Allah);" and "Verily I shall find the
soul of the
Merciful (coming) from the direction of al-Yaman." Even here the literalists have been inclined to
forbid
any allegorical interpretation.
It is assumed, however, that Ahmad ibn Hanbal knew that ascending is not fixity of location, and
Among those was Ahmad ibn-Hanbal who went as far as to forbid the allegorical interpretation of the
Words of Allah "`Be', and it is." (Quran 16:42). His followers have claimed that these Words were
words
of actual speech with enunciated letters and sounds brought into existence by Allah the very moment
He
created a created thing. I have even heard one of his followers say that (Ahmad ibn-Hanbal) forbade
the
allegorical interpretation of all but three prophetic quotations, namely the words of the Prophet
when he
said, "The Stone is the right Hand of Allah in the earth," (the Stone in Ka'bah) and, "The heart of
the
believer lies between two of the fingers of the Merciful (Allah);" and "Verily I shall find the
soul of the
Merciful (coming) from the direction of al-Yaman." Even here the literalists have been inclined to
forbid
any allegorical interpretation.
It is assumed, however, that Ahmad ibn Hanbal knew that ascending is not fixity of location, and