Section: A refutation of their claim, “and all other Muslims say that the Book is the word of Allah.”

They say: “The rest of the Muslims maintain that the Book is Allah’s speech, and speech can belong only to one who is living and nāṭiq (capable of speech). These are essential attributes, functioning like personal names, and each attribute is distinct from the next. Yet the God is one, the Creator is one, the Lord is one—indivisible.”

It is said to them: As for the Muslims’ statement that the Book—meaning the Qur’an—is the word of Allah, that is true, and speech can be ascribed only to a speaker.

The Muslims affirm that Allah is living and speaks, that He spoke the Torah, the Gospel, the Qur’an, and the rest of His speech besides. The Qur’an reports Allah’s speech in many places. But does He properly receive the designation nāṭiq (speaking) and is His speech to be called nuṭq (utterance)? On this point there is a difference of opinion: some Muslims allow the usage, while others forbid it because the Sacred Law does not employ it. Nowhere in the Torah, the Gospel, or the Psalms is Allah described as nāṭiq, unlike the words “say” and “speech.”

After innovations appeared, the Muslims disagreed among themselves—just as the People of the Book had once disputed—over Allah’s speech: is it intrinsic to Him, or a created entity separate from Him?

The view held by the predecessors of the ummah, its leading scholars, and the vast majority is that Allah’s speech is intrinsic to His very being,