If it is objected, “But Allah Most High does not speak to His servants,” the reply is: Indeed, He has spoken to them. Among them are those to whom Allah spoke from behind a veil, directly and without an intermediary, such as Moses. Others He addressed through His angelic messenger: these are the prophets. Allah addressed the rest of humanity through His messengers. He sent down to them His speech, which His messengers conveyed from Him, saying: “This is the speech of Allah, which He uttered and commanded us to convey to you.”
For this reason, the early Muslim scholars said: Whoever denies that Allah speaks has denied the mission of every messenger. The very essence of their mission is to convey to His servants the speech He has uttered. If His speech is denied, their mission is thereby denied.
Allah Most High said concerning al-Sāmirī in Surah Tā Hā:
20:88 “Then he brought forth for them a calf—an image that lowed—and they said, ‘This is your god and the god of Moses, but he has forgotten.’ Did they not see that it could not answer them, nor had any power to harm or benefit them?”
Answering here means speaking and addressing others. Allah Most High said:
16:76 “Allah presents an example of two men: one of them is mute, unable to do anything, and a burden on his master; wherever he sends him, he brings no good. Is he equal to one who commands justice and follows a straight path?”
Thus, He made the absence of the attributes of speech grounds for denying divinity. Sound natural dispositions and sound minds recognize this, as do the heavenly scriptures: whoever lacks the attributes of perfection cannot be a god, a disposer of affairs, or a lord. Rather, he is blameworthy, flawed, and deficient, deserving no praise either in this world or in the Hereafter. Praise in this world and the Hereafter belongs only to the One who possesses the attributes of perfection and qualities of majesty for which He deserves praise.
This is why the early Muslim scholars entitled the books they wrote on the sunnah, affirming the Lord’s attributes, His being above His creation, His speech, and His addressing others, “Tawhīd.” For negating these things, denying them, and disbelieving in them amounts to denying and rejecting the Creator. Affirming His oneness consists in affirming His attributes of perfection and declaring Him free of any likeness or deficiency.
Yet those who deny the divine attributes called their denial of these attributes and their stripping the Creator of them “tawhīd.” They called affirming them for Allah “likening Him to creation,” “ascribing a body to Him,” and “regarding Him as composed of parts.” Thus they gave falsehood the name of truth to make it attractive, adorning it so that it would gain currency. And they gave truth the name of falsehood to repel people from it. Most people judge a coin by its outward stamp; they lack the discernment of expert assayers:
18:17 “Whoever Allah guides is