The meaning of the statement: "Whoever says that the Qur'an is created is a Jahmi, and whoever says that my utterance of the Qur'an is created is an innovator"?

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the meaning of the statement of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him): "Whoever says that the Qur'an is created is a Jahmi, and whoever says that my utterance of the Qur'an is created is an innovator"? What is the difference between the two, and what is the meaning of this statement?

Answer:
Whoever says that the Qur'an is created has explicitly stated that it is created, so he is a Jahmi. As for whoever says that my utterance of the Qur'an is created, he is an innovator because his statement is ambiguous: he may have intended the act of uttering it, or he may have intended what is uttered. If he intended the act of uttering it, then it is correct that it is created, for the act of uttering is created. However, if his intention was what is uttered, then he is a Jahmi. Therefore, there is a distinction here. Whoever says that his utterance of the Qur'an is created requires a distinction: did he intend the utterance itself or what is uttered? Yes.