Shaykh al-Islām, the mufti of mankind, Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-‘Abbās Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah, was asked about people who say:

“The speech of human beings and others is eternal—whether true or false, obscene or otherwise, verse or prose—and there is no difference between Allah’s speech and theirs in respect of eternity, except with regard to reward.”

Some of them—indeed, most of them—also say that the sounds made by donkeys and dogs are likewise eternal. When what was transmitted from Imam Ahmad in refutation of their position was read to them, they reinterpreted it, saying that Ahmad had said this only out of fear of people. Are these people correct or mistaken? Must the ruler—may Allah Most High grant him success—restrain them from this or not? Do they become disbelievers by persisting in it or not? And is what was transmitted from Ahmad true, as they claim, or not?

He replied—may Allah be pleased with him:

All praise is due to Allah. Rather, these people are mistaken in this, committing an error that is forbidden by the consensus of the Muslims. They have uttered an abominable statement and a falsehood—indeed, disbelief and absurdity. They must be forbidden from saying this, and the rulers must punish any of them who do not desist, as recompense for what