(1) See Al-Sunnah by ’Abd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, pp. 28–30, where Imam Aḥmad (may Allah have mercy on him) repudiates and brands the lafẓīyah (verbalist) position as a bid‘ah (innovation). (2) In Al-Fatāwā (vol. 12, p. 238), the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) notes that Abū Bakr al-Marwazī—one of Imam Aḥmad’s most distinguished companions—composed an extensive treatise on this issue, which Abū Bakr al-Khallāl transmitted in his work Al-Sunnah, collecting Imam Aḥmad’s statements and those of other Ahl al-Sunnah on doctrinal matters. At that time some hadith scholars were unequivocally asserting that the Qur’anic utterances (al-lafẓī) are uncreated, in opposition to those who held they are created. When Imam Aḥmad (may Allah have mercy on him) learned of this, he vehemently repudiated it. See also Ibn Taymiyya, Dar’ Ta‘āruḍ al-‘Aql wa al-Naql, vol. 2, pp. 312–313. (3) See Al-Musnad min Masā’il Abī ’Abd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, transmitted by Abū Bakr al-Khallāl, “Al-Sunnah” (manuscript), folios 190–202. Therein Imam Aḥmad (may Allah have mercy on him) includes what Abū Bakr al-Marwazī and others reported from various scholars—among Imam Aḥmad’s companions and beyond—who reproved those asserting either that the Qur’anic utterances are created or that they are uncreated. For example, in folio 200 he states: “Abū Bakr al-Marwazī reported to us: I heard ’Abd Allāh ibn Ayyūb al-Mukharrimī say: ‘The Qur’an is uncreated speech, and whoever says that its utterances are created has nullified fasting, pilgrimage, jihad, and the obligations of Allah; whoever nullifies any of these is a disbeliever in the Mighty God. Whoever says the Qur’anic utterances are created is a Jahmī, and whoever says they are uncreated is a misled innovator. I met Ibn ’Uyaynah, Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym, Wukay‘ ibn al-Jarraḥ, ’Abd Allāh ibn Numayr, and a number of scholars from the Hijāz, Basra, and Kufa; none of them said the utterances of the Qur’an are created or uncreated. We also have an authentic report that Abū ’Abd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal forbade saying that the Qur’anic utterances are uncreated; whoever opposes what Abū ’Abd Allāh said thereby establishes his innovation.’ ” In folio 201 he further records: “Abū Bakr al-Marwazī told us: I heard Abū Bakr = …”