He was also asked, “Have you heard anyone say that the Quran is created?” He replied, “These heretics do.”

Al-Bukhārī said: “Abū al-Walīd said: ‘I heard Yahyā ibn Sa‘īd, when it was mentioned to him that some people were saying that the Quran is created, say: “How do they account for ‘Say, He is Allah, One’? How do they account for His words, ‘Indeed, I am Allah; there is no deity but Me’?”’”

He said: “Abū ‘Ubayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām said: ‘I have examined what the Jews and Magians say, yet I have seen no people more astray in their disbelief than these. Indeed, I consider anyone who does not declare them unbelievers to be ignorant, except someone who is unaware of their disbelief.’”

He said: “Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd al-Hāshimī said: ‘Whoever says that the Quran is created is an unbeliever. If the Quran were created, as they claim, why should Pharaoh be more deserving of remaining in the Fire forever for saying, “I am your lord, the Most High”? They claim that he is created, yet the one who said, “Indeed, I am Allah; there is no deity but Me, so worship Me,” has also made the same claim as Pharaoh. Why, then, should Pharaoh be more deserving of remaining in the Fire forever than this one, when, in such a person’s view, both are created?’ Abū ‘Ubayd was informed of this and approved of it and admired it.”

What these early scholars—may Allah be pleased with them—meant is that whoever says that Allah’s speech is created, and that He created it in the tree or elsewhere—as this Jahmī Mu‘tazilī about whom the question was asked has said—is in fact saying that it was the tree that said to Moses:

“Indeed, I am Allah; there is no deity but Me, so worship Me.”

Whoever maintains that it was a created being who said this regards that created being as being like Pharaoh, who said:

“I am your lord, the Most High.”

Both are created beings, and both made that claim. Thus, if Pharaoh’s statement constitutes disbelief, then the statement of these people also constitutes disbelief.