Abū Bakr ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, in the first volume of the “Book of the Sunnah” within al-Muqni‘, was presented with the objection: “If you say that He has always been speaking, that would be purposeless.” He replied:

“Our scholars hold two views. The first is that He has always been speaking, just as He has always been knowing, because the opposite of speech is muteness, just as the opposite of knowledge is ignorance.”

He said: “Some of our scholars say: ‘He has affirmed that He is the Creator, yet He cannot be creating at all times. Rather, we say that He creates when He wills to create. His not creating at all times does not invalidate His being the Creator. Likewise, His not speaking at all times does not invalidate His being one who speaks. Rather, He speaks and creates, even though He is not creating at all times or speaking at all times.’”

When this question was put to Judge Abū Ya‘lā in his book Īdāh al-Bayān fī Mas’alat al-Qur’ān (Clarifying the Explanation Concerning the Quran), he said: “We say that He has always been speaking, without being spoken to or addressed, and without commanding or forbidding. Ahmad explicitly stated this in Hanbal’s report.” He continued his discussion until he cited from Abū Bakr what the latter had related in al-Muqni‘. He then said: “Perhaps the scholar among our companions who holds this view follows Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s statement in ‘Abd Allāh’s report: ‘He has always spoken whenever He wills.’”

He said: “Whoever holds this view holds that the Quran came into being. We have already interpreted Ahmad’s words, ‘He speaks whenever He wills,’ at the beginning of this discussion. This is not analogous to His being described as creating and providing, because those attributes