the remembrance of Allah Most High. The view of those who judge that burning such pages is the sounder course is more correct, and this is precisely what ʿUthmān did.

Judge Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī, “the Tongue of the Ummah,” said: “It is permissible for the ruler to burn scrolls that contain Qur’ān if his ijtihād leads him to that conclusion.”

Section
A rebuttal of the Hulūlīs and Ḥashwīs who claim that letters and sounds are pre-eternal

Our scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—have stated that ʿUthmān’s action, may Allah be pleased with him, itself refutes the Hulūlīs and the Ḥashwiyya who maintain that letters and sounds are eternal, that reading and recitation are uncreated, that faith is eternal, and that the spirit is eternal.

The entire Muslim community—and indeed every religious community among Christians, Jews, Brahmins, and every monotheist and even skeptic—agrees that what is eternal cannot be produced, that no power can affect it in any way, that non-existence cannot befall it, that the eternal can never become contingent and the contingent can never become eternal. “Eternal” is that whose existence has no beginning, whereas “contingent” is that which came to be after not having been. This faction, however, has shattered the consensus of all rational people, whether of the religions or otherwise, for they claim:

“It is possible for what is contingent to become eternal; when a servant recites the Speech of Allah he produces an eternal Speech of Allah. Likewise, if someone carves letters in brick or wood, casts them in gold or silver, or weaves a garment and embroiderers upon it a verse from the Book of Allah, he has produced Allah’s eternal Speech, so that His Speech becomes woven—eternally woven, carved—eternally carved, minted—eternally minted.”

They are therefore asked: “What is your verdict concerning the Speech of Allah Most High—may it be melted, erased, or burned?” If they reply, “Yes,” they have left the religion. If they reply, “No,” they are told: “Then what do you say of letters formed into a verse from the Book of Allah—of wax, gold, silver, wood, or paper—which fall into the fire and melt away? Do you say that the Speech of Allah has burned?”

If they answer, “Yes,” they have abandoned their own doctrine. If they answer, “No,” they are told: “Did you not say that this very writing is the Speech of Allah—and it has burned? Did you not say that these letters are His Speech—and they have melted?”

Should they then concede, “The letters have burned but His Speech remains,” they will have returned to the truth and the correct answer, in accord with what the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, as the people of truth report: “If the Qur’ān were enclosed in a leather pouch and thrown into the fire, it would not burn.”

The Exalted also said—in a sacred hadith—“I have sent down to you a Book that water cannot wash away; you recite it while asleep and while awake.” This ḥadīth is related by Muslim. By this it is established