According to Islamic mythology, Allah is said to have two hands—but, curiously, both of them are right hands. How exactly He manages His essential tasks with two right hands is, of course, never explained.
Reference : Sunan an-Nasa’i 5379
In-book reference : Book 49, Hadith 1
English translation : Vol. 6, Book 49, Hadith 5381
English:
It was narrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin Al-‘As that:
The Prophet [SAW] said: “Those who are just and fair will be with Allah, Most High, on thrones of light, at the right hand of the Most Merciful, those who are just in their rulings and in their dealings with their families and those of whom they are in charge.” Muhammad (one of the narrators) said in his Hadith: “And both of His hands are right hands.“
Arabic:
أَخْبَرَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ عَمْرٍو، ح وَأَنْبَأَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ آدَمَ بْنِ سُلَيْمَانَ، عَنِ ابْنِ الْمُبَارَكِ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ بْنِ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ دِينَارٍ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ أَوْسٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ” إِنَّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى عَلَى مَنَابِرَ مِنْ نُورٍ عَلَى يَمِينِ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَعْدِلُونَ فِي حُكْمِهِمْ وَأَهْلِيهِمْ وَمَا وَلُوا “. قَالَ مُحَمَّدٌ فِي حَدِيثِهِ ” وَكِلْتَا يَدَيْهِ يَمِينٌ “.
So, to summarize: Islamic tradition not only insists that Allah literally has hands, but also that both are right hands. One cannot help but notice how bizarre this sounds—an omnipotent deity supposedly limited to a pair of “right hands,” leaving us to wonder: how does He clap, hold something symmetrically, or perform any ordinary action without ever having a “left”?
