Affirmation that Allah has two feet
Question

                I am a seeker of knowledge and I am confused: do we affirm that Allah has two feet, as is mentioned in the mawqoof hadeeth the isnaad of which ends with Ibn ‘Abbaas, “The kursiy (foot stool) is the place of the feet”? Or do we affirm that Allah has one foot, as it says in the hadeeth: “… until the Lord of Glory places His foot in it (Hell)” (or, according to another report, “… His foot on it…”)? If Allah has two feet, will Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, place both of His feet on Hell, taking into account the fact that the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) “His foot” appears in the genitive (or possessive) and as we know, the genitive singular is general in meaning?
Praise be to Allah.
      One of the 
      confirmed attributes of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, is the 
      foot. 

    The evidence for 
    that is the report narrated by al-Bukhaari 
    (6661) and Muslim (2848) from 
    AnasibnMaalik, 
    according to which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) 
    said: “Hell will keep saying, ‘Are there any more (to come)?’ until the Lord 
    of Glory, may He be blessed and exalted, places His foot on it, then it will 
    say, ‘Enough, enough, by Your glory!’ And all its parts will be integrated 
    together. 

    Al-Bukhaari 
    (4850) and Muslim (2847) narrated that Abu 
    
    Hurayrah 
    (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of 
    Allah be upon him) said: “Hell and Paradise disputed, and Hell said: ‘I have 
    been 
    favoured 
    with the arrogant 
    and proud.’ Paradise said: ‘What is the matter with me, that no one will 
    enter me except the weak, humble and downtrodden?’ Allah, may He be blessed 
    and exalted, said to Paradise: ‘You are My mercy by which I will show mercy 
    to whomsoever I will of My slaves.’ And He said to Hell: ‘You are My 
    punishment with which I will punish whomsoever I will of My slaves. And each 
    of you will be full.’ As for Hell, it will not be full until Allah, may He 
    be blessed and exalted, places His foot on it and it says, ‘Enough, enough.’ 
    Then it will be full and all its parts will be integrated together, and 
    Allah will not treat any of His creation unjustly. As for Paradise, Allah 
    will create a creation just for it.” 

    This indicates 
    that it is confirmed that Allah, may He be exalted, has a foot. 

    Ibn ‘Abbaas (may 
    Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Kursiy (foot stool) is the place of 
    the two feet, and the size of Throne cannot be known.” 

    This was narrated 
    by 
    Ibn Khuzaymah 
    in at-Tawheed, 
    1/248, no. 154; Ibn Abi Shaybah in al-‘Arsh, 61; ad-Daarimi in 
    ar-Radd ‘ala al-Muraysi; ‘Abdullah ibn al-Imam Ahmad in 
    as-Sunnah; 
    and al-Haakim 
    in al-Mustadrak, 2/282 – he classed it as 
    
    saheeh 
    according to the conditions of the two 
    
    shaykhs 
    (al-Bukhaari and Muslim), and 
    
    adh-Dhahabi 
    agreed with him. It was also classed as 
    
    saheeh 
    by al-Albaani 
    in 
    Mukhtasar 
    al-‘Uluw, 
    p. 102; and by Ahmad Shaakir in ‘Umdat at-Tafseer, 2/163. 

    Abu 
    Moosa 
    al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Kursiy is the place for 
    the two feet, and it creaks as a saddle creaks. 

    Narrated by 
    ‘Abdullah ibn al-Imam Ahmad in as-Sunnah; Ibn Abu Shaybah in 
    al-‘Arsh, 60; and by Ibn Jareer, al-Bayhaqi and others. Its isnaad was 
    classed as saheeh in al-Fath, 8/47 and by al-Albaani in Mukhtasar 
    al-‘Uluw, p. 123-124 

    These two reports 
    confirm that Allah, may He be exalted, has two feet, and this is the belief 
    of Ahl as-Sunnah. 

    Imam Abu ‘Ubayd 
    al-Qaasim ibn Salaam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: These hadeeths 
    which say that our Lord smiles at the despair of His slaves when things will 
    soon change, and that Hell will not be filled until your Lord places His 
    foot on it, and that the Kursiy is the place for the two feet – these 
    hadeeths, as narrated, are true in our opinion; they were narrated from 
    trustworthy narrators to other trustworthy narrators. But if we are asked 
    about their meaning, we do not explain them, and we have never seen any 
    scholar discuss their meanings. 

    Narrated by 
    al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma’ wa’s-Sifaat, 2/198; Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr in 
    at-Tamheed, 7/149 

    In Fataawa 
    al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah (2/376) it says: What we must do is affirm that 
    which Allah has affirmed for Himself, such as two hands, two feet, fingers 
    and other attributes that are mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah, in a 
    manner that is befitting to Allah, may He be glorified, without distorting 
    the meaning, discussing how, likening Him to His creation or denying any of 
    His attributes, because He, may He be glorified, says (interpretation of the 
    meaning): 

    “Say (O Muhammad 
    (Peace be upon him)): "He is Allah, (the) One.

    Allah-us-Samad 
    (The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He neither eats nor 
    drinks).

    He begets not, nor 
    was He begotten;

    And there is none 
    co-equal or comparable unto Him.”

    [al-Ikhlaas 
    112:1-3] 

    “There is nothing 
    like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer”

    [ash-Shoora 42:11]. 

    So we take these 
    (attributes) as true in a real sense, not metaphorical. As for going to 
    extremes in affirming attributes that are not mentioned in the Qur’an or 
    sunnah, we have to refrain from doing so. 

    Standing Committee 
    for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas 

    Bakr Abu Zayd, 
    ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal ash-Shaykh, Saalih al-Fawzaan, ‘Abdullah ibn Ghadyaan, 
    ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Baaz. End quote. 

    Shaykh ‘Abd 
    ar-Rahmaan al-Barraak (may Allah preserve him) said: This hadeeth confirms 
    that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has a foot. Ahl as-Sunnah 
    affirm that Allah has what is mentioned in this hadeeth in a true sense, as 
    they affirm all other divine attributes, as they affirm that He has two 
    hands and two eyes, and they say that He, may He be exalted, has two feet, 
    as is mentioned in the well-known report from Ibn ‘Abbaas that describes the 
    Kursiy (footstool) and says that it is the place for the feet – i.e., the 
    feet of the Lord, may He be glorified and exalted. 

    The view about the 
    feet and hands is the same, and there is no room for differentiation. 

    End quote from 
    Sharh al-Waasitah, p. 172 

    What is proven is 
    that Allah, may He be exalted, will place His foot on Hell. We believe in 
    this but we stop at this point and refrain from going further (in 
    discussion). We do not say that He will place both of His feet on it, just 
    as we do not say that He wrote the Torah with His two hands. Rather we 
    adhere to what has been narrated, because with regard to the divine 
    attributes, the matter is based on tawqeef (i.e., limiting it only to what 
    has been narrated in sound texts). 

    And Allah knows 
    best.