17.1 IN THE SINGULAR FORM:
i.e. One Hand or One Eye.
- e.g. (67):1 and (20):39
17.2 IN THE PLURAL FORM
i.e. Hands and Eyes.
- e.g. (3):71; (54):14.
17.3 IN THE DUAL FORM
i.e. Two Hands and Two Eyes.
- e.g. (5):64 - and hadeeth in Mukhtasar-us-Sawaa'iq of Ibnul Qayyim: "When the slave stands in Prayer, he stands between the Two Eyes of ar- Rahmaan." [But the Shaykh points out that Ibnul-Qayyim does not have a full chain for this, nor a reference.]
17.4 ALL THESE FORMS ARE NOT CONTRADICTORY.
17.4.1 THE SINGULAR COVERS THE DUAL AND
PLURAL.
- As this is correct in the language.
[e.g. Man is singular but is used for all of 'mankind' (used in the generic sense)].
17.4.2 IF THE SMALLEST PLURAL IS TWO
- Then there's no contradiction between the dual and plural.
17.4.3 IF THE SMALLEST PLURAL IS THREE [THE USUAL DEFINITION]
- Then refer to (54):14 - "Our Eyes".
- In Arabic, the plural can be used to show honour and praise. Hence Allaah says "Our Eyes" instead of "My Eyes", to show this Honour for Himself.
- And "Eyes" is also plural - agreeing with the plural pronoun of "Our".
- Hence when the possessor of the attribute and the attribute itself are in the plural forms - then an even greater and more intense form of praise is implied.
Creed of Hamawiyyah - Chapter 17 : The Way in which the Two Eyes and Two Hands Have Been Mentioned in the Texts