and he said, “How excellent his words were! May Allah grant him well-being.” He did not disapprove of anything he had said.
Imam Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Bukhārī, the author of the Ṣaḥīḥ, stated in his book “The Creation of Deeds” (1):
“It is related from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—‘that Allah will call out with a voice that is heard from afar just as it is heard from near.’” (2) Such a description applies to none but Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
Al-Bukhārī added (3): “This is clear evidence that Allah’s voice does not resemble the voices of created beings, for His voice is heard from a distance exactly as it is heard from close by, and the angels swoon at His voice, whereas when the angels call out to one another they do not swoon.” He also said: “Do not set up rivals to Allah” (4); none of Allah’s attributes has an equal or a likeness, nor is any aspect of His attributes to be found in created things.
Dāwūd ibn Shaybah narrated to us (5); Hammām narrated to us; al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid informed us (6); he said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl told me that Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated to them
‘Abd al-Wahhāb spoke and said: “Whoever claims that Allāh spoke to Mūsā (Moses) without a voice is a Jahmite, an enemy of Allāh and an enemy of Islam.” Abū ‘Abd Allāh smiled and said: “How well he expressed that! May Allāh preserve him.”
4. The style is awkward and does not resemble that of the manuscript.
(1) Khalaq Af‘āl al-‘Ibād (On the Creation of the Servants’ Actions), pp. 98–100.
(2) See above, pp. 430, 542, where it appears: “Allāh will gather the servants and call them with a voice…”.
(3) In Khalaq Af‘āl al-‘Ibād: “said Abū ‘Abd Allāh.”
(4) In Khalaq Af‘āl al-‘Ibād: and He, the Exalted and Majestic (azza wa jalla), said: “So do not set up rivals for Allāh.”
(5) In Khalaq Af‘āl al-‘Ibād it reads “Shayba,” which is incorrect. The correct name is Abū Sulaymān Dāwūd ibn Shubayb al-Bāhilī al-Basrī, from whom al-Bukhārī, Abū Dāwūd, and others transmitted. Abū Ḥātim described him as ṣadūq (truthful). He died in 222 AH. See Ibn Abī Ḥātim, al-Jarḥ wa al-Ta‘dīl, vol. 1, pt. 2, p. 415, entry 1899; and Ibn Ḥajar, Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, vol. 3, p. 187.
(6) In the printed edition: “akhbaranā”; in Khalaq Af‘āl al-‘Ibād: “thanā.”