He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked about two men who debated. One said, “The Quran is letters and sound,” while the other said, “It is neither letters nor sound.” One of them also said, “The dots and vowel marks in the written copy of the Quran are part of the Quran,” while the other said, “They are not part of the Quran.” What is correct concerning this?

He—may Allah be pleased with him—replied:

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all worlds. Many people dispute this “question” and mix truth with falsehood concerning it. If the person who says that the Quran is letters and sound means that this Quran which Muslims recite is Allah’s speech, which the Trustworthy Spirit brought down to Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the last of the prophets and messengers; that Gabriel heard it from Allah, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—heard it from Gabriel, and the Muslims heard it from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—as Allah Most High says:

“Say, ‘The Holy Spirit has brought it down from your Lord in truth.’”

And He says:

“Those to whom We have given the Scripture know that it has been sent down from your Lord in truth.”

Then he is correct in this, for this is the position of the early generations of the Muslim community and its leading scholars. The evidence for it from the Quran, the Sunnah, and scholarly consensus is abundant.