The reply is:

If what is meant is that they said it quietly with their tongues, this provides no support for their argument. This is the explanation given by the Quran commentators. They said: They would say, “Death be upon you,” and when they left, they would say among themselves—that is, to one another—“If he were a prophet, we would be punished for saying to him what we say.”

Even if we suppose that what is meant is that they said it in their hearts, this is “saying” qualified by reference to the self, like his words:

“what they say to themselves.”

Hence they said:

“Why does Allah not punish us for what we say?”

Here they used the word “saying” without qualification, meaning what they uttered with their tongues, since this refers to the secret conversations and greetings they had been forbidden to engage in. As Allah Most High says:

“Have you not seen those who were forbidden from secret conversations, yet return to what they were forbidden and converse secretly in sin, aggression, and disobedience to the Messenger? When they come to you, they greet you with a greeting Allah has not used to greet you, and say within themselves, ‘Why does Allah not punish us for what we say?’”

Moreover, the first interpretation is the one held by most Quran commentators, and comparable passages support it. For the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah says: ‘Whoever remembers Me within himself, I remember him within Myself; and whoever remembers Me in an assembly, I remember him in an assembly better than it.’”

This does not mean that he does not utter it with his tongue; rather, it means that he remembers Allah with his tongue. Likewise, His words:

“Remember your Lord within yourself, humbly and fearfully, and without raising your voice in speech,”

refer to remembrance with the tongue.

The word qualified by reference to the self is hadīth (discourse): one says hadīth al-nafs (inner discourse). It has not been found that they used the expressions kalām al-nafs (the self’s speech) and qawl al-nafs (the self’s saying) as they used hadīth al-nafs. Hence the word hadīth is used for dreams seen during sleep, as in the words of Jacob, peace be upon him:

“and teach you the interpretation of dreams,”

and the words of Joseph:

“and You have taught me the interpretation of dreams.”

These occur within the self, not on the tongue. Thus, the word hadīth may