with the contingent in a fashion that is hard to distinguish (1) except after articulation and deliberate (2) reflection, so that through it one may reach the level of understanding and clarification (3) of what we have set forth; once that level is attained, the intellect proceeds (4) to secure its objective.
I say: The claim that the sound heard from the servant—or any part of it—is the very sound of God, or that it is eternal, is a reprehensible innovation (5) that clashes with the self-evident dictates of reason. None of the leading scholars of the religion has ever voiced such a view; rather, the vast majority of Muslims, including the companions of Imam Ahmad and others, have rejected it. Only a small, scattered faction from various groups has espoused it (6)—and it is uglier and more objectionable than the statement of those who said, “Our utterance of the Qur’an is uncreated,” for those people never said, “Our sound,” nor did they say, “Eternal.” Even so, Imam Ahmad’s condemnation of them was most severe.
(1) In the original copy: ila (“to”). This is an error. The reading confirmed in MSS S and T is min (“from”).
(2) In the original copy: al-thānī (“the second”). This is an error. The reading confirmed in MSS S and T.
(3) In MSS S and T: at-tabayyun.
(4) In MS T: yamḍī (“he proceeds”).
(5) In Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá (6:526–527), the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) explains that the claim that the worshippers’ voices in the Qurʾān—or their verbal expressions—are eternal (qadīma azalīya) is one of the newly invented innovations (bidʿa muḥdatha) and is more evidently corrupt than any other. The Salaf (may Allah have mercy on them) were the farthest removed from this view, and clear reason shows that whoever asserts the eternality of the worshippers’ voices necessarily espouses a corrupt doctrine.
He then clarifies that the root of this error lies in their dispute over the issue of the utterance (al-lafẓ). It is reported from Imam Aḥmad and others that anyone who says the Qurʾānic utterance and recitation are created is a Jahmī, while anyone who says they are uncreated is an innovator (mubtadiʿ). By “utterance and recitation” (al-malfūẓ wa-al-matlū) is meant the pronounced and the recited, which is the Speech of Allah; so whoever deems Allah’s Speech revealed to His Prophet to be created is a Jahmī. And by this is meant the noun (al-maṣdar) and the attributes of the servants (ṣifāt al-ʿibād); therefore, whoever claims that the actions and voices of the servants are not created is a misguided innovator.
(6) In MS S: min (“from”). This is an error.