and will call to His servants on the Day of Resurrection with a voice, and He speaks revelation with a voice. It has not been transmitted from anyone among the early generations that he said Allah speaks without a voice or without letters, or that he denied that Allah speaks with a voice or with letters. Likewise, none of them said that the voice Moses heard was beginningless, or that this call was beginningless. Nor did any of them say that the voices heard from reciters are the voice with which Allah spoke. Rather, reports from them are abundant distinguishing between the voice with which Allah speaks and the voices of His servants.

The leading scholars of the Sunnah regarded those who denied that He speaks with a voice as belonging to the Jahmiyyah. Thus, when Imam Ahmad was asked about someone who said that Allah does not speak with a voice, he replied: “These are Jahmīs; their entire position revolves around denying the divine attributes.” He then mentioned some of the reports stating that He, glorified be He, speaks with a voice. Those who compiled works on the Sunnah . . . (1) included a selection of these reports. Al-Bukhārī likewise devoted a chapter in his Sahīh to this subject, using as its heading the words of Allah Most High:

“Until, when fear is lifted from their hearts.”

In The Creation of Deeds, al-Bukhārī cited numerous reports clarifying the distinction between the two voices. Al-Bukhārī’s ordeal involving his associates, Muhammad ibn Yahyā al-Dhuhlī and others, occurred years after Ahmad’s death. Ahmad spoke of al-Bukhārī only with praise. Whoever reports that Ahmad spoke ill of al-Bukhārī has fabricated a lie against him.