Are the divine attributes, such as: the hand, fingers, face, and foot, considered among the multi- 와 المتشابهات (mutashabihat)?

Fatwa Summary:

The narration from Ibn Abbas, "They find guidance in its clear verses and perish by its ambiguous ones," was transmitted by Abdur-Razzaq as-San'ani from Ibn Tawus, from his father. It refers to the Kharijites. What is meant by "ambiguous" (mutashabih) here is anything that causes doubt for an individual, so they do not accept it as is, but rather meet it with denial and objection, or interpret it incorrectly.

The relative ambiguous (mutashabih nisbi) is that which some know and some do not. As for the truly ambiguous (mutashabih haqiqi), only Allah knows it, such as the realities of the unseen. It has not been reported from the Salaf that the verses describing Allah's attributes are among the truly ambiguous whose meaning only Allah knows. Ibn Jarir and Ibn al-Jawzi mentioned several opinions regarding the ambiguous, and they did not include the verses of attributes among them. Ibn Abbas himself believed that he was among "those firmly rooted in knowledge" who know its interpretation.

"Ta'wil" (interpretation/true meaning) in the Quran and Sunnah has two meanings: exegesis (tafsir), and the true reality to which something ultimately refers. Not knowing the ta'wil does not necessitate not knowing the meaning. For example, the truly ambiguous, such as the Hour and the descent of Isa, have meanings that are linguistically known, even if their ta'wil (true reality) is known only to Allah. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah emphasized that negating knowledge of the ta'wil is not a negation of knowledge of the meaning, and that the Salaf did not consider the verses of attributes to be among the ambiguous whose meaning is not understood.

In conclusion: The narration from Ibn Abbas does not mean that the texts describing Allah's attributes are among the ambiguous whose meaning only Allah knows. Rather, it may refer to the relatively ambiguous, or to the kayfiyyah (modality) and true reality of the attributes, which only Allah knows. However, their linguistic meaning is known.