For it has a unique character of its own: conveying it cannot be likened to conveying any other speech, just as it is itself unlike any other speech. No created being can produce its like, whereas the human speech that people convey can be matched. Thus, this speech that is heard—the Quran—may in no way be attributed to anyone other than Allah, except in the sense of conveying it, as in His statement, exalted is He:

“Indeed, it is the word of a noble messenger.”

Allah, glorified is He, has addressed us through it by means of the Messenger, as explained above. I have discussed these matters at length in their appropriate place: matters that bewilder minds and over which people have fallen into confusion. This, however, is an answer to a request for a fatwa, so it is appropriate here only to indicate the broad principles and establish that speech must be attributed to the one from whom its wording and meaning originated, not to the one who transmitted and delivered it on his behalf. It truly is the speech of the one who originally spoke it and whose attribute it is, whether it is heard from him or from someone conveying and delivering it through his own actions and voice. At the same time, it must be understood that people’s actions and attributes are created, and that the statement of Allah, His Messenger, and the believers—“This is Allah’s speech, and what lies between the two covers is Allah’s speech”—is literally true, beyond doubt. The “Quran” that Muslims recite, write, and memorize is the speech of Allah Most High; and Allah’s speech, however conveyed, is uncreated. As for the human actions and attributes accompanying its transmission and recitation, these are created.

Yet this matter involves ambiguities and difficulties whose precise clarification and detailed explanation lie beyond the scope of this fatwa. The person requesting it is ready to leave and in a hurry to take it, and because in