Commentary on the preceding verses and the continuation of the refutation of those who deny speech for Allah
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The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him), when he refuted the doctrine of the Qadariyyah, also refuted the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah. He said:
"And likewise, the speech of anyone other than a speaker *** is also impossible, not within the capacity of anyone"
The Mu'tazilah say: Allah has speech, but He is not the speaker, because His speech is created. It is created either in the tree, or in the air, or in Jibril, or in Muhammad. How can it be correct for us to say He is a speaker, when the speech is not an attribute of Him, but is separate from Him? For this reason, he said:
"It is not possible except for the one in whom the speech subsists"
The one in whom the speech subsists is the one who is a speaker.
If someone were to say: Do you not say that the heavens, the earth, man, trees, and stones are created, and that they are separate from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and are not part of His attributes?
We say: Yes, we say that. But these are entities that subsist in themselves. Is speech an entity that subsists in itself? Never. Speech is an attribute that cannot subsist in itself. So when Allah describes Himself as a speaker, we know that speech is His attribute. If you describe Him as the Creator, these people may be confused and say, "Creator means created," meaning the created thing, and that creation is not an attribute of Him. But we say in refuting them: The created things are entities that subsist in themselves, unlike what? Unlike speech. It is not possible to describe Allah as a speaker and mean by that that there is created speech that Allah created. Otherwise, it would follow that my speech, your speech, and the speech of so-and-so and so-and-so are what? Speech of Allah. For this reason, the statement of the Jahmiyyah and the Mu'tazilah that the speech of Allah is created became an easy ladder for those who assert the unity of existence. They said: We say that all speech in existence is the speech of Allah, just as you say that Allah attributes speech to Himself, but it is not an attribute of Him.
"And likewise, the speech of anyone other than a speaker *** is also impossible, not within the capacity of anyone"
The Mu'tazilah say: Allah has speech, but He is not the speaker, because His speech is created. It is created either in the tree, or in the air, or in Jibril, or in Muhammad. How can it be correct for us to say He is a speaker, when the speech is not an attribute of Him, but is separate from Him? For this reason, he said:
"It is not possible except for the one in whom the speech subsists"
The one in whom the speech subsists is the one who is a speaker.
If someone were to say: Do you not say that the heavens, the earth, man, trees, and stones are created, and that they are separate from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and are not part of His attributes?
We say: Yes, we say that. But these are entities that subsist in themselves. Is speech an entity that subsists in itself? Never. Speech is an attribute that cannot subsist in itself. So when Allah describes Himself as a speaker, we know that speech is His attribute. If you describe Him as the Creator, these people may be confused and say, "Creator means created," meaning the created thing, and that creation is not an attribute of Him. But we say in refuting them: The created things are entities that subsist in themselves, unlike what? Unlike speech. It is not possible to describe Allah as a speaker and mean by that that there is created speech that Allah created. Otherwise, it would follow that my speech, your speech, and the speech of so-and-so and so-and-so are what? Speech of Allah. For this reason, the statement of the Jahmiyyah and the Mu'tazilah that the speech of Allah is created became an easy ladder for those who assert the unity of existence. They said: We say that all speech in existence is the speech of Allah, just as you say that Allah attributes speech to Himself, but it is not an attribute of Him.