As a matter of fact, corporalists faced problem of this Verse many epochs before. When they rested upon the material meaning of 'face' mentioned in God's saying, (Everything is perishable except his face.), they received a striking slap as they lacked convinced exegeses. As much as it is seemed, that problem remained unsolved because of their insistence on rejecting interpretation. The same thing has been done by AlAlbani. Hence, they acted cussedly and claimed their god's total termination except the face. We seek Allah's guardian against such claims!!
AsSuheili's ArRawdhulEnif, part 2 page 179:
AlAshari states: 'Face' mentioned in God's saying, (There shall remain only the face of your Lord.), is treated as same as the eye and hand that are exclusive attributes of Allah, the Exalted, and are neither realized by intellects nor by reported tenet.
AsShatibi's Alitisam, part 2 page 330:
Corporalists claimed that including the essence of the Creator, every thing is perishable saving His face. They cited God's saying, (Everything is perishable except his face.), as their evidence.
One of the disadvantages of their ill exegesis of the Verse, is that Hanbalite jurisprudents has not discussed swearing by Allah's face. I reviewed a considerable number of references of Hanbalite jurisprudence, but I could not grasp a single item concerning this topic. For Hanbalite corporalists, swearing by a part of Allah is not given the formal appearance of ritual swearing. Hanafites, on the other hand, discuss this topic and rule of legality of swearing by God's face since it is a metaphorical expression of His Person. "Oath would be invalid if its speaker was a corporalist," they add.
AlKashani's BedaiusSenaii, part 3 page 6:
Swearing by face of Allah is decided as legal oath. Ibn Suma'a relates this to Abu Yousuf who relates it to Abu Haneefa. 'Face' attached to Allah is an expression intending His Person. The Glorified the Exalted says, (Everything is perishable except His face). 'Face' stands for 'person'. Allah also says, (And there will endure for ever the [face] of your Lord, the Lord of glory and honor). Similarly, 'face' stands for 'person'. AlHassan Bin Ziyad: Abu Haneefa: "Swearing by Allah's face is not reckoned with oaths." Ibn Shuja: "This form is not within people's oaths. It is the vile's."
Abu Haneefa's verdict of excluding swearing by Allah's face from circle of oaths, is nearer to his ideology. He turned to antagonizing the Prophet's household and tending to corporalism after he had been a Zaidite a follower of Zaid Bin Ali Bin AlHussein. He, however, declared his repentance before the Abbasid ruler who admitted and designated him as the supervisor of the large new built mosque of Baghdad. Proximately, antagonizing the Prophet' household and welcoming corporalism are concurrent matters. At any rate, it is unacceptable to overlook the earlier narrative of Abu Haneefa's students.
AlKashani's BedaiusSenaii, part 3 page 143:
'Face' stands for the person. 'Face' mentioned in God's saying, (Everything is perishable except His face), stands for His Person. Saying, "I guarantee soandso's face," indicates guaranteeing that person. It is provable that such organs represent the whole body. By the same token, saying, "Your face is divorced," is decided as a form of legal divorcement.
AsSerkhasi's AlMabsout, part 8 page 133:
Swearing By The Face Of Allah:
Abu Yousuf and Mohammed decided this expression as a legal oath, since 'face' stands for the person. God, the Exalted, says, (And there endure the face of your Lord;). AlHassan decides that 'face' mentioned in the previous Verse stands for God's Person. Abu Shuja relates that Abu Haneefa reckons such an oath to the vile; the ignorant who intend ordinary faces. This proves disregarding that expression as a legal oath.
Abu Shuja's describing the swearers by God's face as ignorant, testifies that corporalism was widespread during Abu Haneefa's time; early the second Hijri century. Numerous narratives of the Prophet's household (peace be upon them) show that corporalism was widespread in the first century as well. Imam Mohammed AlBaqir refuted their dissidents' exegesis of the Verse.
Ibn Babawayih's AlImametu WetTabsira, page 92:
Abu Hamza: Abu Ja'far (peace be upon him):
God says, (Everything is perishable except His face). How is it rectified that everything perishes, but the face exclusively endures? Allah is more majestic than being described.
AlKuleini's AlKafi, part 1 page 143:
AlHarith Bin AlMughira AnNasri:
Abu Abdillah, Imam Ja'far AsSadiq was asked about God's saying, (Everything is perishable except His face). He was told that dissenters claim that except for God's face, everything shall be perished. He commented, "Praised be Allah. They have said a critical thing. By 'face', God intends the characters through whom people should be advancing towards God."
Some attempt at escaping that perplexity by claiming that 'perishable' mentioned in the Verse does not stand for termination. In his AlMufredat, page 544, ArRaghib explains 'perishable' as terminated. He records, "…This is called termination. It is intended in God's saying, (Everything is perishable except His face)."
