What the scholars are unanimously agreed upon is that the Qur’an is the speech of Allah, uncreated. It remains the speech of Allah wherever it is recited and wherever it is written. It is one Qur’an, a single discourse, even though the modes by which it is recited or written vary—namely, the voices of human beings and the ink they employ. For the speech (1) belongs to the one who originates it, not to the one who merely transmits it.
Thus, when we hear a ḥadith scholar relating the Prophet’s—peace and blessings be upon him—statement, “Actions are only by intentions” (2), we say: “These are the words of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—in both wording and meaning,” while knowing full well that the voice is that of the narrator, not that of the Messenger himself. The same holds for anyone who conveys another person’s words, whether poetry or prose.
Likewise, when we say, “This is the speech of Allah” with respect to what we hear from a reciter or see in the muṣḥaf, we are referring to the speech in and of itself, without consideration of the accompaniments of transmission such as the reciter’s voice or the scribe’s ink.
Accordingly, whoever says:
= See: Majmuat al-Rasail wal-Masa’il li Ibn Taymiyya – Kitab Madhhab al-Salaf al-Qawim fi Tahqiq Masalat Kitab Allah al-Karim, vol. 3/1, pp. 380–381. Shaykh al-Islam (may God have mercy on him) expounded this issue in his seminal work Dar Ta'arud al-Aql wal-Naql, vol. 2, pp. 310–323.
(1) In S: al-Kalam.
(2) Reported by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others on the authority of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him), who said: “I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say, ‘Verily deeds are….’ ” See Sahih al-Bukhari 1/2, chapter “How Revelation Began,” and Muslim with the wording “Verily deeds are by intentions” (3/1515, Kitab al-Imarah, chapter “The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘Verily deeds are by intentions’,” hadith no. 155). Scholars unanimously accept its authenticity and hold it in the highest esteem; it is one of the hadiths upon which the religion is established. Al-Shafiʽi (may God have mercy on him) said: “This hadith is one-third of knowledge and encompasses seventy branches of fiqh.” Imam Ahmad (may God have mercy on him) stated: “The foundations of Islam rest on three hadiths,” citing the hadith of ʿUmar (may God be pleased with him) as one of them. See: Jamiʽ al-Ulum wal-Hikam by Ibn Rajab, p. 5.