Continuation of the discussion on the attribute of speech for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), the statements of the people of innovation regarding it, and the refutation of them.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Some of them said: Allah speaks with letters and sound, and His speech is not just the meaning, but His speech is both the wording and the meaning.
This, and what came before it, is the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah and the Jahmiyyah, and this is the doctrine of the people of the Sunnah and the community, and their doctrine is the truth, because the evidence points to it. Allah said regarding Musa:[Maryam 19:52] So when he was far away, He said: because the call is for the one who is far, and when he was near, meaning when Allah brought him near, He said: meaning with a voice that is not a call. And in the authentic hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 7483, and this is a matter in which no person doubts, and had there not been a disagreement on it, we would not have spoken about it, but it occurred, and it is necessary to clarify the truth.
The Mu'tazilah say: The Qur'an is created among the created things; it is sounds that Allah creates, and the letters are written, so it is like the rest of the created things. And there is no doubt that if we say this, we invalidate the command and the prohibition, because the command would be a sound heard in this manner. Say, "a sound heard in this manner," meaning it is like an echo. Do you see now that the sun, the moon, and the mountains are created in this manner? They say this is a sound created in this manner, like the sound of thunder.
The Asha'irah say: Speech is a meaning that subsists in itself, but they create its sounds. So if we say that the commands and prohibitions are created, the command and the prohibition are invalidated, because if Allah created a word in the form of "Say," it does not convey a command. Allah the Exalted created letters in this form, so they do not convey a prohibition. For this reason, it is true of the one who said: Those who say the Qur'an is created, whether they make it an expression of Allah's speech or they say it is Allah's speech, they have invalidated the command and the prohibition and all the legislations.
This, and what came before it, is the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah and the Jahmiyyah, and this is the doctrine of the people of the Sunnah and the community, and their doctrine is the truth, because the evidence points to it. Allah said regarding Musa:
And We called him from the side of the mount at [his] right and brought him near, confiding [to him].
و ناديناه من جانب الطور الأيمن وقربناه نجياWe called him
ناديناهand brought him near, a close call
وقربناه نجياAllah will say (on the Day of Resurrection), 'O Adam!' Adam will reply, 'Labbaik wa Sa`daik! ' Then a loud Voice will be heard (Saying) 'Allah Commands you to take out the mission of the Hell Fire from your offspring.'
أن الله ينادي يوم القيامة يا آدم فيقول: لبيك وسعديك فينادي بصوت إن الله يأمرك أن تخرج من ذريتك بعثا من النارThe Mu'tazilah say: The Qur'an is created among the created things; it is sounds that Allah creates, and the letters are written, so it is like the rest of the created things. And there is no doubt that if we say this, we invalidate the command and the prohibition, because the command would be a sound heard in this manner. Say, "a sound heard in this manner," meaning it is like an echo. Do you see now that the sun, the moon, and the mountains are created in this manner? They say this is a sound created in this manner, like the sound of thunder.
The Asha'irah say: Speech is a meaning that subsists in itself, but they create its sounds. So if we say that the commands and prohibitions are created, the command and the prohibition are invalidated, because if Allah created a word in the form of "Say," it does not convey a command.