not speaking until Allah created speech for him.
He thus rejected likening Him to an inanimate object that does not speak, or to a human being who was capable of speech until Allah created speech for him, and was therefore capable of speech at one time but not another. He explained that anyone who describes Allah in this way combines disbelief—by denying his Lord the attribute of speech, one of the greatest attributes of perfection, and rejecting what the revealed texts declare—with likening Him to His creation.
Ahmad then said:
“Rather, we say that Allah has always spoken whenever He wills. We do not say that He once existed without speaking until He created…”
He thus explained that speech is subject to His will and that He has always spoken whenever He wills. This refutes both those who do not regard speech as subject to His will, such as the Kullābiyyah and those who agree with them, and those who say, “He once existed without speaking until speech arose in Him,” such as the Karrāmiyyah and others like them.
He also said:
“We do not say that He once existed without speaking until He created speech. We do not say that He once had no knowledge until He created knowledge and thereby came to know. We do not say that He once existed without power until He created power for Himself. We do not say that He once existed without light until He created light for Himself. Nor do we say that He once existed without greatness until He created greatness for Himself.”
He thus declared Him, glorified is He, far above ever lacking the attributes of perfection. We do not say that He newly acquired attributes of perfection; rather, He has always possessed them. Among these attributes of perfection is that He has always spoken whenever He wills—not that speech lies outside His power and will. This is why he did not say, “He has always known whenever He wills,” nor, “He knows however He wills.” Elsewhere, in a report transmitted from him by Hanbal, he said:
“Allah has always been knowing, speaking, and forgiving.”
Ahmad and the other imams spoke extensively about this principle, but this is not the place to discuss their statements at length. One example is what al-Bukhārī mentioned at the end of his Sahīh, in the Book of Divine Oneness and the Refutation of the Jahmiyyah. He said:
“Chapter: What has been reported concerning the creation of the heavens, the earth, and all other created things. This is the Lord’s action and command. Thus, the Lord Most High, with His attributes, His action, and His command—in one copy, ‘His speech’—is the Creator who brings things into being, not