As for Abū Hanīfah and his followers, Abū Ja‘far al-Tahāwī stated in the creed that he introduced with the words, “An exposition of the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah according to the jurists of the faith”—Abū Hanīfah al-Nu‘mān ibn Thābit al-Kūfī, Abū Yūsuf Ya‘qūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ansārī, and Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybānī:

“The Quran is the speech of Allah. It originated from Him as speech, without specifying how, and He sent it down to His Prophet as revelation. The believers accepted this as truth and affirmed that it is truly the speech of Allah Most High, not created like the speech of His creatures. Whoever hears it and claims that it is human speech has disbelieved. Allah has condemned and censured him, threatened him with His punishment, and warned him when He said:

‘I will cast him into Saqar.’

Since Allah threatened with Saqar whoever said:

‘This is nothing but human speech,’

we know that it is the speech of the Creator of humankind and does not resemble human speech.”

As for Ahmad ibn Hanbal, his statements on such matters are well known and transmitted through numerous independent reports. He became renowned for the ordeal inflicted upon him by these Jahmiyyah. They openly proclaimed their denial of Allah Most High’s attributes and the realities signified by His names, and their assertion that the Quran was created, so that the true import of their position amounted to negating the Creator, glorified and exalted is He. They called people to this and punished those who would not comply, whether by execution, cutting off their livelihood, dismissal from office, imprisonment, or beating. They declared those who opposed them unbelievers.

But Allah Most High kept Imam Ahmad steadfast until, through him, Allah extinguished their falsehood and granted the people of faith and the Sunnah victory over them. He humbled them after their ascendancy and consigned them to obscurity after their prominence. It became widely known among both the learned and the common people of the Muslim community that the Quran is the speech of