any speech beyond a single meaning? And what proof is there that it is impossible for His speech to be anything other than one single meaning (1)? They themselves admit that no such proof exists. After showing that the matter is either impossible or at least uncertain, al-Razi stated (2):
“Regarding the evidence that this is indeed the case, one cannot rely on consensus because of the report (3) related by Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini, and we have found no explicit text for it. Nor can it be said that there is any rational proof (4); therefore the question remains without evidence.”
The seventy-sixth angle:
The Jahmites frequently claim that those who affirm the attributes resemble the Christians. They level this accusation sometimes because the latter uphold the divine attributes (5), and sometimes because they say, “God’s speech was sent down, and it resides in hearts and in written copies.” Yet it is the Jahmites who in fact resemble the Christians (6) in the very matter for which God declared them disbelievers, not the affirmers whom God has confirmed by His word.
(1) In the original: “wahid” (one), which is an error. The correct reading appears in manuscripts s and t.
(2) In Nihayat al-ʿUqul fī Dirāyat al-Uṣūl (manuscript), folio 157.
(3) In s: alladhi (“which”).
(4) It cannot be claimed that it was omitted in Nihayat al-ʿUqul.
(5) In the original: al-nasara (“the Christians”), which is a copying error. The reading confirmed in s and t.
(6) Sheikh—may God have mercy on him—says in al-Jawab al-Sahih 2:301: “Imam Ahmad mentions in his Kitāb al-Radd ʿalā al-Jahmiyya—and others mention it—that the Nasara al-Hulūliyya (incarnationist Christians) and the Jahmiyya al-Muʿṭilla (the negating Jahmiyya) objected to the Ahl al-Sunnah. The Nasara said: ‘The Qurʾān is God’s speech and uncreated, and the Messiah is the Word of God, hence uncreated.’ The Jahmiyya said: ‘The Messiah is the Word of God and created, and the Qurʾān is the speech of God, so it is created.’ Ahmad and others replied: ‘The Messiah himself is not speech—he is a human born of a woman—whereas God’s speech is neither human nor born of a woman; rather, the Messiah was created by God’s speech, but the Qurʾān is itself God’s speech. How can the two be equated?’