The imams of the Sunnah, such as Ahmad and others, have argued that “Allah’s speech is uncreated” on the grounds that the Prophet sought refuge in it, saying:

“Whoever stops at a place and says, ‘I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created,’ will not be harmed by anything until he leaves that place.”

Likewise, His act of granting protection and His pleasure are uncreated, for he sought refuge in both. The well-being present in a servant’s body, however, is created, since it results from His granting protection.

Since creation is His act, while the created thing is what His act produces, and since He created all creatures by His will, this demonstrates that creation is an act that occurs by His will. It cannot subsist in anything other than Him. This therefore demonstrates that His acts subsist in His own essence, while occurring by His will and power. Al-Bukhārī reported the scholars’ consensus on the distinction between creation and the created thing. Sound reason plainly indicates this as well.

For both rational and scriptural evidence establish that everything other than Allah Most High is created and originated, coming into existence after not having existed, and that Allah alone possesses eternity and beginninglessness. He Most High says:

“He who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days.”

Thus, when He first created the heavens, either He performed an act constituting the creation of the heavens and the earth, or He performed no act, and created things came into existence without an act. It is evident that if the Creator were in exactly the same state before, during and after their creation, their creation could not be assigned to one time rather than another without a cause necessitating that selection.

Furthermore, that a created thing should come into existence without a newly occurring cause is impossible according to the most elementary dictates of reason. If it is said that will and power account for the selection, the reply is that the eternal will stands in the same relation to all times. Moreover, a will to single out one of two identical alternatives is inconceivable without a cause that necessitates