For this reason, the discussions that Ahmad and the other leading scholars held with the Jahmiyyah on this point were devoted to clarifying the distinction between Allah’s Speech and His words on the one hand, and His creation on the other—affirming that the former is not the latter. They would invoke this difference whenever Allah or His Messenger informed us that He spoke by way of revelation, and—(1) precisely because He speaks by revelation—this served as one of their most powerful proofs.

Whoever says, “The Qur’an is created,” is in fact claiming that Allah brought it into existence, separate from Himself, just like all other created things. On that view none of the rulings that apply to created things could ever revert to Him; rather, it would stand in the same category as the creation of the heavens and the earth, the speech of the poisoned dhirāʿ (foreleg) (2), the testimony of hands and feet (3), and the rest of the entities, actions, and attributes that Allah, exalted is He, has brought into being. It is known by sheer necessity that anything of that sort must be described by Allah as “created,” exactly as He describes the rest of creation. Moreover, it may not be ascribed to Allah in any special or unique way that sets it apart from other created things, for on their view it enjoys no such special connection. Consequently, it would not be Allah’s Speech or His word at all.

The Qur’an, however, throughout, affirms for itself a unique status of being Allah’s own utterance and speech, while never once attributing to it the property it shares with all other things—namely, being created. Thus, the Qur’an itself establishes the difference between the utterance and what is uttered, between what is created and what is merely brought about.

Imam Ahmad (4) said: “Allah, exalted is He, has mentioned His Speech in many places…”