—the Qur’an itself; and that anyone who says, “The recitation is uncreated,” is in effect claiming that human deeds are uncreated.

When such perplexity arose and this affliction descended, people sought refuge with their scholars and men of judgment, but even these differed among themselves.

One group maintained, “Recitation is nothing but an act; it is created like all other acts performed by human beings, while the Qur’an is something distinct from it.” They compared recitation and the Qur’an to striking and the thing struck, or eating and the thing eaten, and a number of people followed them.

A second group asserted, “It is the very Qur’an itself; whoever says that recitation is created has in fact asserted that the Qur’an is created,” and some aligned themselves with this view.

A third group declared, “This is an innovation. Earlier generations never discussed it, never imposed it upon themselves, and never became involved in it.”

Conflicting reports have reached us from Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and we have seen each faction