on the basis of philosophical speculation that the one who originated it was either Gabriel or Muhammad. (1)

If, however, you maintain that it was produced in mid-air, you place yourselves on a par with the Muʿtazilah and nullify your own proof from His words,

“Indeed, it is surely the word of a noble messenger.” (2)

Some of your leading scholars have in fact cited these two verses in support of your view: His saying,

“Indeed, it is surely the word of a noble messenger,” (2)

and His saying,

“No fresh reminder ever comes to them from their Lord,” (3)

Now, if by this they mean that Allah produced it, their argument collapses because of the verse,

“Indeed, it is surely the word of a noble messenger.”

And if they mean that the messenger produced it, their claim is overturned by the verse’s attribution to the other messenger. In that case you would be worse than the Muʿtazilah, who at least said that Allah produced it.

Should you contend instead that the intention is that whoever recites it has produced it, you will have made it the speech of every person who utters it—saintly or sinful—such that, in your estimation, what Muslims recite and hear is human speech, not the speech of Allah.

Yet Allah, exalted is He, says:

“When We substitute one verse in place of another—and Allah knows best what He sends down—they say, ‘You are but a fabricator.’ No, most of them do not know. Say: ‘The Holy Spirit has brought it down from your Lord in truth.’” (4)

Here He tells us that Gabriel brought it down from Allah, not from the air and not from a tablet.

He also says:

“Those to whom We gave the Book know that it has truly been sent down from your Lord,” (5)

and:

“The sending down of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise,” (6)

as well as:

“Ḥā Mīm. (1) A revelation from the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.” (7)

Thus you have aligned yourselves with the Muʿtazilah in such a way that, according to your doctrine