The inquiry (1) seeks a clear and unequivocal exposition of what a person must believe so that he may be regarded as a Muslim:

– Is the text contained in the maṣāḥif—the written copies of the Quran—the eternal speech of Allah, or is it merely an expression of His speech and not the speech itself? Is it created or uncreated?

– Does the speech of Allah consist of letter and sound, or is His speech an attribute that subsists in Him and never leaves Him?

– Is His statement (2), “The Most Merciful rose over the Throne” (3), to be taken as a real, literal fact or not?

– If someone lets the Quran stand upon its outward meaning without interpreting any part of it and says (4), “I believe in it as it was revealed,” is that sufficient [in] (5) doctrine, or is he required to interpret it?

I answered as follows:

What a person is obligated to believe—concerning this matter and all others—is that which the Book of Allah indicates, the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ establishes, and the predecessors of the believing community unanimously affirmed, those whom Allah Most High praised for following the truth and condemned those who pursued any path other than theirs (6). Namely:

• The Quran that Allah sent down to His servant and Messenger is the speech of Allah, exalted be He; it is revealed and uncreated, from Him it originated and to Him it will return.

• It is “a noble Quran in a well-guarded book that none may touch except the purified,” and it is “a glorious Quran on a preserved tablet.”

• Regarding it, Allah has said, “And indeed, it is in the Mother of the Book with Us, exalted and full of wisdom” (7).

• It is also in the hearts of people, as the Prophet ﷺ said: “Review the Quran, for it slips away (8) even more quickly (9)…"