Allah is Anthropomorphic (i)

Allah is for real.
Muslims often think of their God, Allah, to be someone who is omnipresent, omnipotent, shapeless, infallible, ever‑awake and rules the world through His absolute commandments as enshrined in the holy Qur’an. According to many Islamist apologists, none could comprehend the nature and extent of Allah, the Islamic God. Many of these erudite scholars write prolix essays filled with Islamic drivels. They will write, extolling various features of the invisible, vacuous, incomprehensible and impenetrable Allah. Imbued with utmost devotion to Allah, many Muslims, five times a day, will seek bounty and forgiveness from Him. What do you think this means? Obviously, there is some kind of contradiction here. On one hand, during conversing loosely, they will portray the concept of Allah as someone who is unreal and ephemeral, while during prayer they will consider Allah to be like a real entity who has eyes to see, ears to hear and has the physical means to deliver to the faithful all their requests. So, what is the correct situation—a non-physical, unreal, unseen, ephemeral Allah or a real, temporal, physical deity? Believe it or not: when we search the Islam’s main sources: the Qur’an, Hadith, Sirah (Muhammad’s biography) and Sharia, we invariably derive one simple conclusion—that Allah, truly is for real, that He, Himself had written the Qur’an with His own hands and that He, truly metes out justice and bounties with His own hands.

To begin with, an impeccable Islamic scholar, Ali Dashti contends that most Islamic scholars believe that just like human beings Allah has limbs and organs (68:42).This means: Allah is anthropomorphic!—with real hands, eyes, ears, legs, feet and body! Quoting from an immaculate Islamic source (Abu ‘Amer), Ali Dashti says that according to real Islam Allah has limbs and organs like a human being. Abu ‘Amer uses verse 68:42 to describe the true nature of Allah. Here is what Dashti writes:

Abu ‘Amer ol–Qorashi, a Moor from Majorca who died at Baghdad in 524/1130, declared that it was heretical to understand the sentence “There is nothing similar to Him” in verse 9 of sura 42(osh–Showra) (this is verse 42:11in the Qur’an translation of Yusuf Ali—author’s note) as meaning what it says; it meant, in his opinion, that nothing resembles God in respect of His divinity, because “God possesses limbs and organs like yours and mine.” As proof of God’s possession of such limbs and organs, Abu ‘Amer ol-Qorashi cited the description of the last judgement in verse 42 of sura  68 (ol-Qalam) “On the day when the leg will be bared and they will he bidden to kneel but cannot,” and then slapped his thigh and said, “God has legs just like mine.” (Dashti, 1994, p.158)

That’s right. Allah has limbs and organs just like us—the human beings, which He had created with His own hands. Here are those two verses which confirm that Allah is truly anthropomorphic.

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YUSUFALI: (He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).
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YUSUFALI: The Day that the shin shall be laid bare, and they shall be summoned to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able,-

Ali Dashti continues:

Allah is anthropomorphic! According to Ghazali, Mutazillites were infidels and heretics. Allah will step down from His throne—said Ghazali.(Dashti, 1994, p. 157).  

Sourcing Imam Ahmad b. Taymiya, one of the highest among the Islamic scholars, Dashti further writes that he (Ibn Taymiya) repudiated Ghazali (the most celebrated Islamic scholar—many Muslims consider Ghazali’s work as next to the Qur’an) who did not have a clear idea about Allah—believing that Allah is not a physical entity. Ibn Taymiya even called Ghazali a heretic. Ibn Taymiya strongly believed that Allah is really anthropomorphic! He will step down from His throne! Dashti writes:  

Many Moslems, however, have had rigid minds. Such men only accepted interpretations which are confirmed by Hadiths, and they considered any use of reason in religious matters to be misleading and impermissible. They took the above quoted Qur’anic phrases literally and believed that God possesses a head, mouth, eyes, ears, hands, and feet just like those of human being. In the opinion of Abu Ma’mar al–Hodhali (d. 236/850), a preacher in Baghdad , anyone who denied this belief was an infidel. Adherents of the school of the famous traditionist and lawyer Ahmad b. Hanbal (164/780–241/855) have stuck to the same unthinking literalism ever since. The school’s chief later exponent, Ahmad b. Taymiya, was so fanatical that he called the Mo’tazelites infidels and Ghazali a heretic; on one celebrated occasion, after quoting the Qor’an in a sermon, he said to the congregation as he stepped down from the pulpit of the Great Mosque at Damascus, “God will step down from His throne in the same way as I am stepping down from this pulpit.” .(Dashti, 1994, p. 157)  

Dashti also writes that Muslim scholars agree that the Qur’an is not a miracle. Al-Maari wrote an imitation of the Qur’an. He writes:  

It is widely held that the blind Syrian poet Abu’l‑‘ Ala ol‑Maari (368/979–450/1058) wrote his Ketab ol‑fusul wa’‑ghayat, of which a part survives, an imitation of the Qor’an (Dashti, 1994, p. 48)..  

Here is another proof that Allah is for real and possesses human qualities (anthropomorphic):  

Enoch walked with Allah 19:56-57, 21:85-86 (Tabari, 1988, p. 6.42).  

Allah walks with human beings (in Paradise , of course)—this is impossible to believe. But look what the Qur’an says!  

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YUSUFALI: Also mention in the Book the case of Idris: He was a man of truth (and sincerity), (and) a prophet:
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YUSUFALI: And We raised him to a lofty station.  

In foot note 55 of volume vi of Tabari we read:  

A Prophet mentioned in the Qur’an as “raised to high station “ by God (19:56f, sec 21:85). He is usually identified with the Biblical Enoch (Akhnukh) who “walked with God, and he was not, for God took Hi” (genesis 5:24).” (Tabari, 1988, p. 6.42).  

This means Allah surely has feet, just like humans, to be able to walk with a human being such as Prophet Enoch (Idris).  

Further evidence that Islamic God, Allah is a living entity, alive and going about His daily business, like other creatures is glimpsed from a hadith. In Sahih Bukhari we read:  

People used to worship Muhammad till he died, Abu Bakr then claimed that Muhammad was dead but if people worshipped Allah then Allah is alive…(Sahih Bukhari, 5.59.733)  

Volume 5, Book 59, Number 733:

Narrated 'Aisha:

Abu Bakr came from his house at As-Sunh on a horse. He dismounted and entered the Mosque, but did not speak to the people till he entered upon 'Aisha and went straight to Allah's Apostle who was covered with Hibra cloth (i.e. a kind of Yemenite cloth). He then uncovered the Prophet's face and bowed over him and kissed him and wept, saying, "Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you. By Allah, Allah will never cause you to die twice. As for the death which was written for you, has come upon you."

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: Abu Bakr went out while Umar bin Al-Khattab was talking to the people. Abu Bakr said, "Sit down, O 'Umar!" But 'Umar refused to sit down. So the people came to Abu Bakr and left Umar. Abu Bakr said, "To proceed, if anyone amongst you used to worship Muhammad , then Muhammad is dead, but if (anyone of) you used to worship Allah, then Allah is Alive and shall never die. Allah said:--"Muhammad is no more than an Apostle, and indeed (many) apostles have passed away before him..(till the end of the Verse)......Allah will reward to those who are thankful." (3.144) By Allah, it was as if the people never knew that Allah had revealed this Verse before till Abu Bakr recited it and all the people received it from him, and I heard everybody reciting it (then).

Narrated Az-Zuhri: Said bin Al-Musaiyab told me that 'Umar said, "By Allah, when I heard Abu Bakr reciting it, my legs could not support me and I fell down at the very moment of hearing him reciting it, declaring that the Prophet had died."

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