Now, once Allah threatened Saqar for the one who said, “This is nothing but the speech of a mortal,” we knew—indeed, we were certain—that it is the speech of the Creator of mankind, utterly unlike human speech. Whoever attributes to Allah any attribute that belongs to human beings has fallen into disbelief.

Allah the Most High said: “He pondered and assessed; so may he be destroyed for how he assessed! And again, may he be destroyed for how he assessed! Then he looked; then he frowned and scowled; then he turned his back and waxed proud and said, ‘This is nothing but magic handed down; this is nothing but the speech of a mortal.’” (al-Muddaththir 74:18–25). He then said: “I shall cast him into Saqar” (al-Muddaththir 74:26)—and Saqar is the Fire.

Therefore, whoever claims that the Qur’an is not the speech of Allah but the speech of a human being—or of an angel—is exactly like al-Walid ibn al-Mughira. The only distinction is that such a person professes Islam, whereas al-Walid never did. A mere claim to Islam is of no benefit; if someone disbelieves in the Qur’an, that profession will not save him, for this is outright apostasy—Allah protect us.

It thus becomes clear that one must affirm, in reality and not merely in words, that the Qur’an is the very speech of Allah. Had it been the speech of the Messenger ﷺ, there would have been no blame on al-Walid ibn al-Mughira for attributing it to Muhammad ﷺ. Why, then, did Allah threaten him with such a severe punishment? Because he uttered a grave and horrific statement when he ascribed the Qur’an to someone other than Allah. Anyone who adopts this view and follows this path is like al-Walid ibn al-Mughira and will dwell forever in the Fire.

In short: whoever likens Allah to any attribute of human beings has committed disbelief, for in so doing he has belittled the Majesty of Allah, Exalted is He.