to be uttered without qualification; even if the words can be understood in a sound sense, the ḥulūlīs (incarnationists) and ittiḥādīs (unionists) seize on them as proof.

We have no report that He, exalted is He, ever manifested Himself to anything except Mount Ṭūr, which He then reduced to rubble.

Regarding His manifestation to our Prophet ﷺ there is disagreement: ʿĀʾishah rejected it, whereas Ibn ʿAbbās affirmed it (1).

In any case, disparaging remarks that contemporaries level against one another may be tolerated, but concealing them is preferable to spreading them—unless the scholars of the age unanimously agree on declaring a shaykh unreliable, in which case their verdict is adopted. Allah knows best.

Hishām transmitted several reports from Ibn Lahiʿah contained in a letter the latter sent him, and the statement of the eminent Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥawārī is enough for you:

“If I ever transmit ḥadith in a town where someone like Hishām ibn ʿAmmār is present, my beard deserves to be shaved.”

Abū Bakr al-Marrūdhī said in his book al-Qaṣaṣ:

“A letter arrived from Damascus saying, ‘Ask Abū ʿAbd Allah for us, for Hishām has declared: The utterance of Gabriel, peace be upon him, and of Muḥammad ﷺ with the Qur’an is created.’”

I asked Abū ʿAbd Allah, and he replied, “I know him to be flighty. Even al-Karābīsī did not dare mention Gabriel or Muḥammad.”

This man has adopted Jahmite speech in other matters as well.

I say: Imām Aḥmad would shut the door to discussion on this subject altogether and would not allow it. He deemed heretical anyone who said, “My utterance of the Qur’an is uncreated,” declared misguided whoever said, “My utterance of the Qur’an is eternal,” and pronounced disbelief on whoever said, “The Qur’an is created.”

Rather, he would state, “The Qur’an is the revealed speech of Allah, uncreated,” and he forbade delving into the issue of utterance.

There is no doubt that our act of pronouncing the Qur’an is our own doing, while the Qur’an that is pronounced and recited is the speech of Allah—magnified be He—uncreated. The recitation, the vocalization, the writing, and the sound are our actions, and they are created. Allah knows best.