has not spoken and does not speak. Rather, He brought something into being that spoke on Allah’s behalf, and created a sound which He caused to be heard.’ They claimed that speech requires an inner cavity, a tongue, and two lips.

We said:
‘Can something brought into being, or anything other than Allah, say:
“O Moses! * Indeed, I am your Lord” (Tā Hā: 12),
or say:
“Indeed, I am Allah; there is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance” (Tā Hā: 14)?’

Whoever says this is claiming that something other than Allah claimed lordship. If matters were as the Jahmī claimed—that Allah brought something into being—then that thing would have been saying:
‘O Moses, indeed, I am Allah, the Lord of all worlds’ (al-Qasas: 30).

Yet He, exalted be His praise, said:
‘And Allah spoke directly to Moses’ (al-Nisā’: 164).

And He, Most High, said:
‘When Moses came at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him’ (al-A‘rāf: 143).

And He, Most High, said:
‘I have chosen you above the people through My messages and My speaking to you’ (al-A‘rāf: 144).

This is the explicit wording of the Quran.

As for their statement, ‘Allah does not speak,’ what will they do with the hadith narrated by al-A‘mash, from Khuthīmah, from ‘Adī ibn Hātim al-Tā’ī, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah said