—such as one who says that His speech is created, or that He does not speak by His will and power—such people have not, in reality, affirmed that He speaks, nor have they affirmed any speech for Him.

For this reason, they make unintelligible statements. One says, “It is a single meaning subsisting in His essence.” Another says, “It consists of letters, or letters and sounds, eternal and beginningless, inseparable from His essence.” Yet another says, “It is created and separate from Him.”

Thus, when the falsity of their position became apparent to some of their followers, who had not grasped the precise nature of these three positions, they became bewildered and suspended judgment. They said, “We affirm what Muslims generally hold: that the Quran is the speech of Allah. As for whether it is created, consists of letters and sound, or is a meaning subsisting in His essence, we assert none of these things.”

It is well known that guidance in these fundamentals and knowledge of the truth concerning them—which means knowing what the Messenger brought, in agreement with sound reason—are more beneficial and more important than much of the knowledge they discuss. This is especially so since hearts naturally seek to know the truth concerning these matters, and because of the disagreements people have witnessed about them.

These people mention this suspension of judgment in their statements of creed and their writings on the foundations of religion. I have seen some of them, among the leading scholars and religious authorities in Egypt and Syria, who have written works on the foundations of religion. When discussing “the question of the Quran”—whether it is created or eternal, whether it consists of letters and sounds or is a meaning subsisting in His essence—they forbade these assertions and said, “One must say what has been said by