What is the meaning of the statement "My word regarding the Qur'an is created," and what is the validity of this phrase?

The Shaykh : This statement may be obscure to some of those present, so here is an example. Suppose a mufti is asked a question, and let us assume his knowledge of hadith is weak. They say: "O my master,The Shaykh : I was on the seashore and found a very large dead fish. Is it permissible to eat it?" He says to him: "No." What is the evidence? He says: "Allah the Exalted said: The Qur'an is explicit on this matter. Is this answer correct?

The questioner: No, of course not.

The Shaykh : Why?

The questioner : Because there is a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that fish is lawful.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. So now you are following the Sunnah, combining the Qur'an and the Sunnah. As for the one I mentioned, he erred when he relied solely on the Qur'an. Look now at the hadith that you thought was authentic, and your proof was that they taught it to you in school. No, the doctors are teaching it in the universities. By what do you judge? He says: "By the Book of Allah." Only that? No. He says: "By what do you judge?" He says: "By the Book of Allah." If you do not find it there? Then by the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah. Is this statement correct?

The questioner: No, of course not.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. So the matter about which you seek a ruling is settled. This hadith is weak in its chain and denounceable in its text. Take the lesson now and keep it in mind, so that you know that the knowledge currently circulating in Islamic universities has been infiltrated by confusion, by fraud, and by things that have nothing to do with Islam, near or far. Before this, we were discussing a very, very important topic, which is that the adhan ends and we must stand for prayer. Islam today lives among old sects and new parties, and every party is pleased with what it has. And the Muslims in all parts of the world are calling for help with no one to help them. And this is the calamity of the Afghans; after twelve years of jihad, the blood of the fighting, innocent people, was spilled. And finally in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and so on. And no one to help them? Because all the Muslims are far from the methodology of the Book and the Sunnah. Therefore, we said that purification and education are necessary. Purification includes many, many things. Purifying the beliefs from shirk (associating partners with Allah), idolatry, and contradictions to the correct Book and Sunnah. The Sunnah has been infiltrated by things that are not part of it, and this is the example before you now. And in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) there are rulings for which Allah has not sent down any authority, some of which are fabrications and some are erroneous ijtihad (independent legal reasoning). All of this needs purification. The discussion will continue, and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
Abu Layla : O brothers, anyone who has a question should raise his finger, and when he is given permissionThe Shaykh : he speaks, otherwise he does not speak without permission, so that the work is organized, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : Okay, the one who has a question should raise his finger. Please, go ahead.

Another questioner : The question is: What is the ruling on one who says: "My word regarding the Qur'an is created"? How valid is this phrase, and what does it mean? What does it signify? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : I believe that this question, as they say in this era, is irrelevant, meaning that no fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) or 'aqidah (creed) follows from it, unless there is actually a person who says: "My word regarding the Qur'an is created." In that case, we ask him: What do you mean by this word? Because this word can be used with two completely contradictory meanings: a correct meaning and an invalid meaning. Therefore, it is authentically reported from Imam Ahmad that whoever says this word, "My word regarding the Qur'an is created," is a Jahmi. While his student, Imam al-Bukhari, used to say, "My word regarding the Qur'an is created," or that whoever says "My word regarding the Qur'an is created" is correct. How is this? Because this word means two completely opposite things. I don't know, it is as if I am forced to delve into a matter that is considered part of the condemned science of kalam (theology), but I had hoped that this question would not be raised. Since it has been raised, is there anyone today who says "My word regarding the Qur'an is created" to your knowledge?

Another questioner : I mean, I read this question, but I did not memorize it and I did not understand its meaning...

The Shaykh : Listen.
The questioner: There are people, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Listen to the answer now. I think you all know that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not speak in detail regarding the verses of attributes and the hadiths of attributes; rather, as came from some of the imams, they passed them on as they came. For example, linguistically, and the meaning came: Your Lord is an attribute of the Creator, not an attribute of the created. So do not delve into them, and do not say what the Mu'tazilah, for example, and others say, such as "Your Lord came" meaning "the punishment of your Lord came" or "the command of your Lord came." These are figurative interpretations (ta'wil). They passed them on as they came. This was the position of the Companions toward what is known among scholars of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) or scholars of kalam (theology) as the verses of attributes and the hadiths of attributes: they passed them on as they came. But later, when the scope of the Islamic world expanded and something of the Quran's prophecy began to be realized, when people began, due to the Islamic conquests, to enter the religion of Allah in multitudes, and as you know, we give a very close example: a Muslim man, but let us call him a "geographical Muslim," meaning a Muslim in name only. You do not know anything of his Islam except that his name is, for example, Ahmad ibn Abdullah. But he repented after a long time, may Allah accept his repentance. This man did not understand anything about Islam except what he heard from the old women and the common people, and so on. This is the image of the Muslim from father to grandfather. So if, for example, a Christian, George, the son of Taniush, knew in general that Islam is the truth, he said, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," and he became a Muslim. He has what we have, and upon him is what is upon us. Now, if years have passed since his Islam and he has learned something of Islam, he might interpret some of the Quranic texts or the Prophetic hadiths, influenced by his previous Christian culture. Here, he begins to enter Islam with concepts and interpretations that the earliest Salaf did not know. Therefore, we say, as we explained in a past lesson, we are Salafis (followers of the Salaf) because we do not impose our minds, our desires, our traditions, and our customs upon the speech of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). No. We look at the position of the Salaf and follow them, fearing such new opinions that have recently infiltrated some Muslims. The Companions did not say, "The Quran is created" or "uncreated," because the word "created" or "uncreated" did not occur to them, nor was it mentioned at all on their tongues. But in reality, they knew with certainty that the Quran is the speech of Allah, and the speech of Allah is one of His attributes. And an attribute of His, like His Essence, cannot be created. But they did not use this word until the Mu'tazilah came, and their first was Jahm ibn Safwan, to whom the Jahmiyyah (the sect that denied the divine attributes) who are the deniers (mu'tadilah) are attributed. He began to spread among people ideas that the righteous Salaf did not know, such as saying, "The speech of Allah is created." The position of the people of the Sunnah and the community toward this word must be one of two positions: either they remain silent as the Salaf remained silent, and in that case, their silence is exploited by the party of Jahm and his followers. Therefore, they found it necessary to confront the misguided religious innovation (bid'ah), because the phrase "the speech of Allah is created" is an insult to the Divine Essence, meaning that it is a creation of Allah, and that the speech is not an attribute of the attributes of Allah. And you will hear that the entire Quran is verses of address from Allah to the angels, an address to Iblis the accursed, and His address to the prophets and messengers, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (peace be upon him), and so on. So they were forced to confront him by saying that the speech of Allah is one of His attributes, and an attribute of His is not created, so the speech of Allah is uncreated. This created a two-sided problem as well. The problem resulting from this disagreement was that some people from the people of the Sunnah said, "The speech of Allah is correct, it is one of the attributes of Allah, but this written speech in the language between the two covers, this speech that I am speaking of, I say: is the speech of Allah. But when I speak of it, is it created or uncreated? My utterance is created, or uncreated? My utterance is created. But this divine speech, which is one of the attributes of Allah, is uncreated." The Imam al-Bukhari, of course, for some of the sheikhs, said this word to remove this doubt, so that the speech of Allah, which is ancient and one of His attributes, does not get mixed with the speech of the servant of Allah, which is a new occurrence. So I say, "The speech of Allah is one of His attributes, uncreated. My utterance of the Quran is created." The Imam Ahmad denied this phrase with the strongest denial, meaning the saying of the one who says, "My utterance of the Quran is created." Why did the Imam Ahmad say this? Everyone has a perspective, and as Allah the Exalted said: The Imam Ahmad said: This phrase is a corridor (dehliz) that the Jahmiyyah use to mislead people, implying that when I say "the speech of Allah is created," I mean my utterance. It is a corridor, a trap. So he blocked this door and said, "No one should say, 'My utterance of the Quran is created,' because the Jahmiyyah who deny the attributes, who explicitly say that the speech of Allah is created, will come to the common people from this angle, from this door, and say, 'My utterance of the Quran is created.' Then, who will notice their treachery? The Imam Ahmad noticed some of the objectives of the Jahmiyyah, so he blocked this door. The Imam al-Bukhari, so that the attribute of the Creator does not get mixed with the created, said: "My utterance of the Quran is created, but the Quran, as it is an attribute of the speech of Allah, is uncreated." So I ask you now, what did you benefit from this speech?!

The questioner : Nothing.

The Shaykh : Nothing, but you must believe that the speech of Allah, and among it the Quran, is not created because it is one of the attributes of Allah, and that is sufficient. "And sufficient for the believers is the fight" (meaning, we are content with what sufficed the righteous Salaf). But when I want to argue with the Mu'tazilah, and now we are afflicted with one in Oman who explicitly says, "I am a Mu'tazili, I am a Mu'tazili," then we come and are forced to detail this detail for him. Brother, when you say "the speech of Allah is created," do you mean your utterance? Or did Allah, when He spoke to the angels, spoke to Moses, and spoke to all the prophets, speak to them through a medium, as the Mu'tazilah say, through the tree? The tree said: The tree said, "Do you speak like this?" This is a great misguidance. But if they want to confuse people, as the Jahmiyyah did in the past, we detail it for them. If I narrate a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I am conveying to you the wording of the Messenger of Allah, and this is not my wording. And if I say to you, "Allah said: " I am saying the speech of Allah, and this is not my speech. There is a difference between the speech of Allah, which is uncreated, and my utterance, which I pronounce, which is created. Perhaps my time will come now and I will not be able to speak a single word. This is what we should know in this issue. But it is not permissible for the general Muslims to enter these labyrinths and these misguidances, because they harm and do not benefit. Even if you say, "The speech of Allah is uncreated, the speech of Allah is uncreated," the arguer with falsehood may come and twist it around you and throw it, God forbid, at the top of your head. You must say, "What sufficed the righteous Salaf suffices us, and sufficient for the believers is the fight."

Another questioner : O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Please, I have not finished.

Another questioner : I do not intend to ask if it is possible to understand from the speech that the utterance, as an utterance, is created, but the one who utters it is the speech of Allah.

The Shaykh : This is the speech of Allah.