To what extent is the statement true that saying, "Allah has a hand, but it is not like our hands," is an innovation (bid'ah) because the Companions only said, "Pass them on as they came"?

The statement that Allah Almighty has a hand that is not like our hands is not an innovated one. Rather, it is supported by the Qur’an and Sunnah (definition), and there is a consensus among the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah (mainstream Sunni Muslims) regarding it. This is evidenced by His saying, the Most High: “Nay, both His Hands are widely outstretched” (Qur’an 5:64), and His saying: “What prevented you from prostrating to that which I created with My own hands?” (Qur’an 38:75). It is also supported by the hadith (definition) in which Adam said to Moses: “Allah chose you with His speech and wrote the Torah for you with His hand.” The evidence that Allah’s hand is not like our hands is His saying, the Most High: “There is nothing like unto Him” (Qur’an 42:11). The Ahl al-Sunnah have unanimously affirmed these attributes without asking ‘how,’ contrary to the Jahmiyyah, the Mu’tazilah, and the Khawarij, who believe that whoever affirms them is likening Allah to His creation. As for the claim that this contradicts the saying of the Companions, “Pass them on as they came,” this statement is not narrated from the Companions, but rather from the Salaf (early generations), and it is true. The Ash’aris contradict this statement by interpreting the attribute of the hand. The meaning of the Salaf’s saying, “Pass them on as they came,” is without asking ‘how.’ Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “They only denied knowledge of the ‘how’ (kayfiyyah), not the reality of the attribute.”