What is the meaning of Sheikh Al-Ghunaiman's statement that there is a similitude in the Hadith between the speech of Allah and the dragging of a chain over a rock, and has anyone preceded him in this saying?

Shaykh Ibn Baz said that the similitude in the noble Hadith refers to the audible sound and not to Allah, similar to likening the clarity of vision to seeing the moon on the night of the full moon. He also held that the similitude refers to the act of hearing, not to what is heard. This view was also adopted by others, such as Ibn Qasim and Al-Hakimi.

However, scholars differed regarding the intended meaning of the similitude in the Hadith. Some, like Al-Fawzan, said it refers to the sound of revelation. Others, like Ibn Uthaymeen, said it describes the fright of the angels when they hear Allah's speech.

Shaykh Ali Al-Khudair considered that the most probable interpretations for the pronoun "as if it were" in the Hadith are the sound of the angels, or the fright they experience, or likening hearing to hearing, favoring the latter.

As for likening Allah's sound to His very essence, this is impossible because "there is nothing like unto Him."