al-Qādir, Ibn al-Zāghūnī, and others:

“A letter is one and the same, and the letters of the alphabet are uncreated wherever they are used, because they are part of Allah’s speech. The essential nature of a letter is one and does not vary.”

It has been reported that Imam Ahmad—may Allah be pleased with him—rebuked those who said that letters were created. When he was told that someone had said, “When Allah created the letters, they prostrated before Him, except for the alif,” Imam Ahmad said, “This is disbelief.” Other imams are also reported to have condemned this. Those holding the former view do not dispute this, for they too condemn anyone who says, “Letters are created,” since such a statement includes the letters of Allah Most High’s speech, whether in the Quran or elsewhere. They confine their discussion to the letters occurring in the speech of created beings, excluding those occurring in Allah’s speech. They say:

“Even if the essential nature of the letters and the name is the same, this is comparable to words that occur in the Quran and have also been spoken by created beings. A speaker sometimes intends to utter another’s words, even if, from our perspective, his wording matches them. This is possible only with a small amount of speech—less than a short surah—for Allah has challenged creation to produce a surah like it and has declared that they will never do so.”

Those holding the former view said:

“Thus, the wording of one utterance matching that of another does not entail that