I also said on an occasion other than this gathering:

“Imam Ahmad—may Allah have mercy on him—received more of the Sunnah and the statements of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, than others did. He also endured more through the inquisition and the task of refuting proponents of innovation. His knowledge and teaching in this field were therefore more extensive, and he became more prominent than others as an imam of the Sunnah. Otherwise, the matter is as one of the righteous scholars of the Maghrib said: ‘The doctrine is that of Mālik and al-Shāfi‘ī; the prominence is Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s.’ This means that all the imams of Islam followed what Ahmad followed, although some surpassed others in knowledge, explanation, making the truth manifest, and refuting falsehood.”

When we reached the passage in the creed, “And the descriptions the Prophet gave of his Lord in the authentic hadiths that the scholars have accepted,” and then the hadith of Abū Sa‘īd, reported from the Prophet in both Sahīh collections:

“Allah will say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘O Adam!’ He will reply, ‘At Your service and ready to obey You.’ Then a call will be made in a voice: ‘Allah commands you to send forth a contingent to the Fire.’”

—and the remainder of the hadith—the emir asked them, “Is this hadith authentic?”

I replied, “Yes. It is in both Sahīh collections.” No one disputed this. The disputant had to acknowledge it, and those present agreed.

The emir requested a discussion of the question of letters and voice, since a request to that effect had been made.

I said: “This claim that many people attribute to Imam Ahmad and his followers—that the voices of those reciting the Quran and the ink in copies of the Quran are eternal and without beginning—as reported by Fakhr al-Dīn Ibn al-Khatīb (*)