Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked about someone who said, “Allah did not truly speak to Moses.” Another person replied, “Rather, He did truly speak to him.” The first then said, “If you say that He spoke to him, speech can only consist of letters and sound, and letters and sound are brought into being. Whoever says that Allah spoke to Moses with letters and sound is an unbeliever.” Is the matter as he says, or not?

He answered:

Praise be to Allah.

As for someone who says that Allah did not truly speak to Moses, if he has not heard the Quran, he is to be informed that this is explicitly stated in the Quran. If he denies it after that, he is to be asked to repent; if he repents, so be it, otherwise he is to be put to death. His statement is not accepted if it follows his denial of the explicit text of the Quran. Indeed, even if he were to say, “What I mean is that He created a sound in the air and caused Moses to hear it,” his statement would still constitute disbelief. This is the position of the Jahmiyyah, whom the early generations declared unbelievers, saying, “They are to be asked to repent; if they repent, so be it, otherwise they are to be put to death.”

However, someone who believes in Allah and His Messenger in general, but has not received the knowledge that would make the truth clear to him, is not to be judged an unbeliever until the proof has been established against him, opposition to which constitutes disbelief. For many people