Second, it may be said:
Allah has spoken these letters found in the Arabic Quran by pronouncing their names, as in His sayings: “Alif Lām Mīm,” “Alif Lām Mīm Sād,” “Alif Lām Mīm,” “Tā Sīn,” “Hā Mīm,” “Kāf Hā Yā ‘Ayn Sād,” “Hā Mīm,” “‘Ayn Sīn Qāf,” “Nūn,” and “Qāf.” All of this is Allah’s speech, uncreated.
Third, when these letters occur in the speech of His servants—and likewise when names found in the Quran, such as Adam, Noah, Muhammad, Abraham, and others, occur in their speech—it is said:
Allah has spoken these names and letters, but He did not speak them in isolation, for a name alone does not constitute speech. Rather, He spoke them within His speech that He revealed, as in His saying:
“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,”
and His saying:
“And when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, make this city secure,’”
through to His saying:
“My Lord, make me steadfast in prayer, and some of my descendants as well,”
and His saying:
“Indeed, Allah chose Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of ‘Imrān above all people,”
and other such passages.
When we speak and mention these names, our speech is created, and the letters of our speech are created. As Ahmad ibn Hanbal said to a man, “Are you not created?”
He replied, “Yes.”
Ahmad said, “Does your speech not come from you?”
He replied, “Yes.”
Ahmad said, “Is your speech not created?”
He replied, “Yes.”
Ahmad said, “Allah Most High, however, is uncreated, and His speech comes from Him and is not created.”
Thus Ahmad and others explicitly stated that the speech of Allah’s servants is created, and they merely