—His scriptures by means of it, and to rebut anyone who opposes this, whether from among the Christians or others.

We do not deny that among those who lay claim to Islam there are factions: some are hypocritical free-thinkers and outright heretics; some are simply ignorant or given to innovation; some repeat exactly what the Christians say, and some utter statements even worse than theirs. Our refutation, therefore, is directed at all of them alike, while freedom from error belongs solely to the Book of Allah, the sunnah of His Messenger, and whatever His believing servants have unanimously agreed upon. That alone is invariably true; as for the matters over which Muslims have differed, they necessarily contain both truth and falsehood.

Second reply:

It may be said: Those who have spoken about the Quran as they have are not saying the same as the Christians.

The Christians have attributed to Allah an eternal, pre-existent offspring whom they call “the Word.” They claim that this Word is a deity that creates and provides and that it united with the Messiah, so that they have made the Messiah—who, in their view, is that Word—a god who creates and provides.

Yet within the well-known communities of Muslims there is no one who says that the speech of Allah is a deity that creates and provides. Rather, Muhammad and the other messengers—peace be upon them—conveyed to creation the speech of Allah that He Himself spoke.

Accordingly, the Companions and the Successors who followed them well held that the Quran, the Torah, the Gospel, and everything else that is the speech of Allah are indeed the very speech which He uttered; that Allah sent it down and dispatched His angels with it; and that it is not a created thing separate from Him that He created in something other than Himself.