Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (13/101)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

says, ‘My utterance of the Quran is uncreated,’ is an innovator.’

Thus he forbade people on both sides from plunging into that debate.

As for Dāwūd, he stated, ‘The Quran is originated (muḥdath).’ A number of eminent hadith scholars rose against him, rejected his statement, and declared him an innovator. After him there came a group of speculative theologians who said, ‘The speech of Allah is a meaning subsisting in His very essence, and these revealed books merely point to it.’ They refined the issue and pushed it still further. We ask Allah for guidance and adherence to the truth: the Glorious Quran—its letters, its meanings, and its words—is the speech of the Lord of the worlds, uncreated; whereas our articulation of it and the voices with which we recite it are part of our created deeds. The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Beautify the Quran with your voices.’ (1)

Yet because what is pronounced cannot exist without our pronouncing it, what is written cannot be separated from the act of writing, and what is recited cannot be heard except through the recitation of a reciter, the matter became difficult to grasp and isolating the ‘pronounced wording’ from the ‘act of pronouncing’ proved hard to do. The mind perceives the difference between the two, but delving into this is perilous—may Allah grant us safety in our religion.

There are lengthy discussions on the question; refraining from them is preferable, especially in these troubled times.

He lived in Khurasan, then spent part of his early life in Tirmidh. A client (mawla) of Banu Rasib from the tribe of al-Azd, he was unanimously censured by the early scholars for his extreme stance on tanzih (transcendence) and for denying the divine attributes and interpreting them away, which led to their total negation. The first figure from whom the doctrine of taʿtil (negating the divine attributes) is known in Islam was al-Jaʿd ibn Dirham. Al-Jahm ibn Safwan learned it from him, publicised it, and therefore it was associated with his name. He was killed in 128 AH, alongside al-Harith ibn Surayj in his revolt against the Umayyads. See: al-Tabari, 7/210, 221, 236, 237; al-Qasimi, Tarikh al-Jahmiyya wa-l-Muʿtazila, p. 10 ff. The Salaf used to label anyone who denied the attributes, said that the Quran is created, and that Allah will not be seen in the Hereafter, as “Jahmi.” Imam Ahmad, as related by Ibn Jarir, held that whoever says, “My recitation of the Quran is created,” is a Jahmi, while whoever says, “It is uncreated,” is an innovator. (1) Reported from the hadith of al-Baraʾ ibn ʿAzib by Ahmad (4/283, 285, 296, 304); al-Darimi (2/474); Abu Dawud (no. 1468); al-Nasaʾi (2/179-180); and Ibn Majah (no. 1342). Its chain is sound, and it was authenticated by Ibn Hibban (no. 660) and al-Hakim.

قَالَ: لَفْظِي بِالقُرْآنِ غَيْرُ مَخْلُوْقٍ، فَهُوَ مُبْتَدِعٌ. فَزَجَرَ عَنِ الخَوْضِ فِي ذَلِكَ مِنَ الطَّرَفَيْنِ. وَأَمَّا دَاوُدُ فَقَالَ: القُرْآنُ مُحْدَثٌ. فَقَامَ عَلَى دَاوُدَ خَلْقٌ مِن أَئِمَّةِ الحَدِيْثِ، وَأَنْكَرُوا قَولَهُ وَبَدَّعُوْهُ، وَجَاءَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّظَرِ، فَقَالُوا: كَلاَمُ اللهِ مَعْنَىً قَائِمٌ بِالنَّفْسِ، وَهَذِهِ الكُتُبُ المُنْزَلَةُ دَالَّةٌ عَلَيْهِ، وَدَقَّقُوا وَعَمَّقُوا، فَنَسْأَلُ اللهَ الهُدَى وَاتِّبَاعَ الحَقِّ، فَالقُرْآنُ العَظِيْمُ، حُرُوْفُهُ وَمَعَانِيهُ وَأَلفَاظُهُ كَلاَمُ رَبِّ العَالِمِيْنَ، غَيْرُ مَخْلُوْقٍ، وَتَلَفُّظُنَا بِهِ وَأَصْوَاتُنَا بِهِ مِنْ أَعْمَالنَا المَخْلُوْقَةِ، قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: (زَيِّنُوا القُرْآنَ بِأَصْوَاتِكُم) (١) . وَلَكِنْ لَمَّا كَانَ المَلْفُوْظُ لاَ يَسْتَقِلُّ إِلاَّ بِتَلَفُّظِنَا، وَالمَكْتُوْبُ لاَ يَنْفَكُّ عَنْ كِتَابةٍ، وَالمَتْلُو لاَ يُسْمَعُ إِلاَّ بِتِلاَوَةِ تَالٍ، صَعُبُ فَهْمُ المَسْأَلَةِ، وَعَسُرَ إِفْرَازُ اللَّفْظِ الَّذِي هُوَ المَلْفُوْظُ مِنَ اللَّفْظِ الَّذِي يُعْنَى بِهِ التَّلَفُّظُ، فَالذِّهِنُ يَعْلَمُ الفَرْقَ بَيْنَ هَذَا وَبَيْنَ هَذَا، وَالخَوْضُ فِي هَذَا خَطِرٌ - نَسْأَلُ اللهَ السَّلاَمَةَ فِي الدِّيْنِ -. وَفِي المَسْأَلَةِ بُحُوْثٌ طَوِيْلَةٌ، الكَفُّ عَنْهَا أَوْلَى، وَلاَ سِيَّمَا فِي هَذِهِ الأَزْمِنَةِ المُزْمِنَةِ.

= بخراسان ثم قضى فترة من حياته الأولى في ترمذ وكان مولى لبني راسب من الازد وقد أطبق السلف على ذمه بسبب تغاليه في التنزيه وإنكار صفات الله، وتأويلها المفضي إلى تعطيلها. وأول من حفظ عنه مقالة التعطيل في الإسلام هو الجعد بن درهم وأخذها عنه الجهم بن صفوان وأظهرها فنسبت إليه، قد قتل سنة (١٢٨ هـ) ، مع الحارث بن سريج في حربه ضد بني أمية. (انظر: الطبري: ٧ / ٢١٠، ٢٢١، ٢٣٦، ٢٣٧، وتاريخ الجهمية والمعتزلة: ١٠، وما بعدها، للقاسمي) . والسلف كانوا يسمون كل من نفى الصفات وقال: إن القرآن مخلوق، وإن الله لا يرى في الآخرة جهميا. والامام أحمد يرى فيما يحكيه ابن جرير عنه - ان من قال: لفظي بالقرآن مخلوق. فهو جهمي، ومن قال: غير مخلوق، فهو مبتدع. (١) أخرجه من حديث البراء بن عازب أحمد: ٤ / ٢٨٣، و٢٨٥، و٢٩٦، و٣٠٤، والدارمي: ٢ / ٤٧٤، وأبو داود: (١٤٦٨) ، والنسائي: ٢ / ١٧٩ - ١٨٠، وابن ماجة (١٣٤٢) وإسناده صحيح، وصححه ابن حبان: (٦٦٠) ، والحاكم.