The Asha'irah's belief regarding the attribute of speech for Allah, that it is internal speech, and their evidence for it, and the refutation of them.
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The Shaykh : ... today, with great regret, the Maturidiyyah and the Asha'irah; these people were unable to be as explicit as the Mu'tazilah. They were unable to say that Allah does not speak, because that would be a blatant contradiction of the texts of the Qur'an. So they say that Allah speaks, however He speaks, and He says but the reality is that their school of thought is that Allah does not speak.
So this is an example of how they affirm internal speech. They say that the speech of Allah is internal speech ... and they cite some things as evidence ... he only wants to ... previously ...
This is all a matter of verification ...
And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
And clearer than this is that if, for example, one wants to meet a king because he has a need with him, if it is ... possible ... one can imagine this or that that the ... king ... so and so and so ... so and so because so and so, and so on. If you please ... so-and-so, what must he say to him ... does he start, or do I ... what is imagined ... what must I ... answer, what is this called? It is internal speech. And they cited this as proof for the existence of this very speech as an absolute proof, regardless ... with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If it comes in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away and the Companions heard [him say] that they should choose a successor ... the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so 'Umar wanted to put Abu Bakr al-Siddiq forward ... he said "And I had prepared in my mind a speech" I said to him ... speech from here, "I had prepared in my mind" meaning I had arranged in my mind a speech. This is the internal speech, so they cited this argument to prove that there is internal speech. And the reality is that we, or I personally, a person cannot deny internal speech. It is necessary that every reality, like each of us ... as I gave you some examples earlier, and ... Arabic expression, so this is 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, one of the most eloquent to speak the Arabic language, saying about himself "I prepared a speech in my mind" and this is explicit that it is speech in one sense, and explicit that he had not yet spoken it in another sense. So this is a reality that there is no room for denying it, but we say ...
What is the evidence that the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is of this type that ... 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, whatever he spoke of this type, the servant can ... the one hand or the right hand, internal speech means this ... or in this instance, but his speech that predominates always ... is the true verbal speech. So if this internal speech is established, what is the evidence that it is the speech of Allah? The answer is: what is the evidence for this other than illusions that arise in the minds of Muslims from speech ... so ... because of these illusions, they resort to internal speech, and only ... .
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : So we refute, following our scholars from the scholars of the Salaf, this internal speech ... the nature of the divine speech that we mentioned earlier, if I may express it that way, is that it is audible speech. Is internal speech audible? The answer is no; internal speech is not audible. As for the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) which He made explicit in the Qur'an, it is audible speech, where He (Mighty and Majestic) said[Taha 20:13] so ... all the communications that take place between Allah and His prophets and messengers, between Allah and His angels, between Allah and His righteous servants, between Allah and some of His disbelieving servants, all these communications mean that even the disbelievers hear them.
... the believer and the disbeliever hear it. Likewise, when the believer speaks, the believer and the disbeliever hear it. This is the nature of human speech. Likewise, we say that the attribute of speech for the divine, may He be exalted, is that it is audible.
Whether from the righteous or the wicked, the texts of the Book and the Sunnah are explicit in that. Therefore, it is not permissible to interpret the divine speech mentioned in the Qur'an and the Sunnah as being internal speech, because internal speech is not heard. And if it is necessary that we describe Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with internal speech, we say this is one thing, and the true verbal speech is the other. The Book and the Sunnah speak of the divine speech, and they mean this second category, the audible verbal speech, and not the internal speech. And even some of the early scholars did not believe that Allah has internal speech, rather this would not harm if the text of the reminder to the true verbal speech is established.
And Allah spoke to Moses directly
وكلم الله موسى تكليماSo this is an example of how they affirm internal speech. They say that the speech of Allah is internal speech ... and they cite some things as evidence ... he only wants to ... previously ...
This is all a matter of verification ...
And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
And clearer than this is that if, for example, one wants to meet a king because he has a need with him, if it is ... possible ... one can imagine this or that that the ... king ... so and so and so ... so and so because so and so, and so on. If you please ... so-and-so, what must he say to him ... does he start, or do I ... what is imagined ... what must I ... answer, what is this called? It is internal speech. And they cited this as proof for the existence of this very speech as an absolute proof, regardless ... with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If it comes in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away and the Companions heard [him say] that they should choose a successor ... the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so 'Umar wanted to put Abu Bakr al-Siddiq forward ... he said "And I had prepared in my mind a speech" I said to him ... speech from here, "I had prepared in my mind" meaning I had arranged in my mind a speech. This is the internal speech, so they cited this argument to prove that there is internal speech. And the reality is that we, or I personally, a person cannot deny internal speech. It is necessary that every reality, like each of us ... as I gave you some examples earlier, and ... Arabic expression, so this is 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, one of the most eloquent to speak the Arabic language, saying about himself "I prepared a speech in my mind" and this is explicit that it is speech in one sense, and explicit that he had not yet spoken it in another sense. So this is a reality that there is no room for denying it, but we say ...
What is the evidence that the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is of this type that ... 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, whatever he spoke of this type, the servant can ... the one hand or the right hand, internal speech means this ... or in this instance, but his speech that predominates always ... is the true verbal speech. So if this internal speech is established, what is the evidence that it is the speech of Allah? The answer is: what is the evidence for this other than illusions that arise in the minds of Muslims from speech ... so ... because of these illusions, they resort to internal speech, and only ... .
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : So we refute, following our scholars from the scholars of the Salaf, this internal speech ... the nature of the divine speech that we mentioned earlier, if I may express it that way, is that it is audible speech. Is internal speech audible? The answer is no; internal speech is not audible. As for the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) which He made explicit in the Qur'an, it is audible speech, where He (Mighty and Majestic) said
so listen to what is revealed
فاستمع لما يوحى... the believer and the disbeliever hear it. Likewise, when the believer speaks, the believer and the disbeliever hear it. This is the nature of human speech. Likewise, we say that the attribute of speech for the divine, may He be exalted, is that it is audible.
Whether from the righteous or the wicked, the texts of the Book and the Sunnah are explicit in that. Therefore, it is not permissible to interpret the divine speech mentioned in the Qur'an and the Sunnah as being internal speech, because internal speech is not heard. And if it is necessary that we describe Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with internal speech, we say this is one thing, and the true verbal speech is the other. The Book and the Sunnah speak of the divine speech, and they mean this second category, the audible verbal speech, and not the internal speech. And even some of the early scholars did not believe that Allah has internal speech, rather this would not harm if the text of the reminder to the true verbal speech is established.