Thus they say: “The name is distinct from what it names; Allah’s names are distinct from Him; and whatever is distinct from Him is created.” These are the people whom the early generations condemned and sternly denounced, because Allah’s names are part of His speech, and Allah’s speech is uncreated. Rather, He Himself speaks it, and He names Himself with the names it contains.

The Jahmiyyah say: “His speech is created, and His names are created. He Himself has not uttered speech that subsists in His essence, nor has He named Himself with a name that He Himself has spoken.” They may instead say that He spoke it and named Himself with these names, meaning that He created them in something other than Himself—not that He Himself uttered them as speech subsisting in Him. Thus, discussion of His names is one aspect of discussion of His speech.

Those who agree with the early generations that His speech and His names are uncreated say that His speech and names are attributes of His essence. But does He speak by His will and power, and name Himself by His will and power? There are two positions on this. Denial is the position of Ibn Kullāb and those who agree with him. Affirmation is the position of the imams of the people of hadith and the Sunnah, as well as many groups of speculative theologians, such as the Hishāmiyyah, the Karrāmiyyah, and others, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

(The point here is that the imams of the Sunnah are known to have denounced those who said that Allah’s names are created; and for those who stated without qualification that the name is distinct from what it names, this was