Note: Ahl al-Sunna take this hadith upon its apparent meaning, and by it they affirm the Form (al-Ṣūra) for Allah Almighty, and they say: The pronoun in the statement of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him: "Allah created Adam in His form," refers to the Most Merciful, Mighty and Majestic, for two reasons:

First: Due to the hadith of ʿAbdullāh bin ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: "Do not disfigure the face, for indeed Allah created the children of Adam in the form of the Most Merciful."

Narrated by Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim in al-Sunna (529), al-Ājurrī in al-Sharīʿa (725), ʿAbdullāh bin Aḥmad in al-Sunna (482), and al-Dāraquṭnī in al-Ṣifāt (48). It is a Sahih (Authentic) hadith, having been authenticated by two Imams from the major Imams of Ahl al-Sunna and Hadith, namely:

Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal and Isḥāq bin Rāhawayh, may Allah have mercy on him [them both], and they suffice you in knowledge, following, and jurisprudence (Fiqh).

[See: Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl (2/420)]

Second: The consensus of the Predecessors (Salaf) in the three favored generations that the pronoun refers to Allah Almighty.

• Ibn Taymiyya, may Allah have mercy on him, said in Bayān Talbīs al-Jahmiyya (6/373) while refuting al-Rāzī for his interpretation of this hadith: "And the discussion on that is to say: There was no dispute among the Predecessors (Salaf) of the three generations in saying: The pronoun refers to Allah, for it is widespread through multiple routes from a number of the Companions, may God be pleased with him [them], and the context of all the hadiths indicates that." End quote.

I say: Thus, the return of the pronoun to the Most Merciful in this hadith is a consensus of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamāʿa; no one opposed it except the Jahmiyya who negate the Attributes, and that was after the passing of the three favored generations, as Ibn Taymiyya, may Allah have mercy on him, said in Bayān al-Talbīs (6/376): "When the Jahmiyya spread in the third century, a group made the pronoun in it refer to other than Allah Almighty." End quote.

For this reason, the denunciation by Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamāʿa was severe against whoever interpreted this hadith and returned the pronoun in it to Adam, peace be upon him, or to the one being struck, and they attributed them to innovation and the Jahmiyya.

• The Imam of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamāʿa, Imam Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Whoever says: 'Allah created Adam in the form of Adam,' then he is a Jahmī."

[Narrated by al-Khallāl in al-Sunna as in Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābila (1/93)]