Ahmad and others answered as follows: The Messiah himself is not speech. Jesus is a human being, a man born of a woman, whereas the speech of Allah is neither human, nor a man, nor born of a woman. Rather, the Messiah was brought into existence by the word, while the Quran is itself the very speech of Allah—so how can the two be equated?

It has been said: “Most disputes among rational people stem from the sharing of names.” No intelligent person, when he hears Allah’s words about the Messiah—peace be upon him—that he is “His word which He cast to Mary,” imagines that the intent is that the Messiah himself is the speech of Allah, or that he is an attribute of Allah, or that he is a creator.

Then it is said to the Christians: Even if, hypothetically, the Messiah were identical with the divine Word, the Word is not a creator. The Quran is the word of Allah, yet it does not create; the Torah is the word of Allah, yet it does not create; Allah’s words are many, and none of them is a creator. So if the Messiah were the very Word, it would still be impossible for him to be a creator. How much more so when he is not the Word itself but was created by the Word and was singled out with the title “Word” only because he came into being outside the usual human pattern, being created by the divine command rather than through the familiar human process.

As for His saying, “a spirit from Him,” this does not imply that the spirit is severed from the Essence of Allah, just as He says: “He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, all from Him” ⦗al-Jāthiyah 45:13⦘.