and action, or it may refer to both together. Whoever says, “Recitation is what is recited,” means by “recitation” the Quran itself as heard, which is indeed what is recited. Whoever says that it is something different means by “recitation” the servant’s movement and action, which are not the Quran. Those who prohibit saying either “Recitation is what is recited” or “Recitation is different from what is recited” do so because the term “recitation” encompasses both meanings. Likewise, Imam Ahmad and others prohibited saying, “My utterance of the Quran is created,” or “My utterance of the Quran is uncreated.” This is because “utterance” may mean the words uttered themselves, which are Allah’s speech, or it may mean the act expressed by the verbal noun of “to utter,” which is the servant’s action.

Some of the people of hadith stated without qualification, “My utterance of the Quran is uncreated,” while others stated without qualification, “My utterance of it is created.” Ibn Qutaybah said, “The people of hadith have not disagreed over any of their positions except on the question of utterance.” This was the disagreement among the people of hadith and the Sunnah who lived in the time of Ahmad ibn Hanbal and his companions who knew him.

After them came a group who said, “Recitation is different from what is recited.” By “recitation” they meant Allah’s actual Arabic speech, which is the Quran, while by “what is recited” they meant a single meaning subsisting in Allah’s essence.

Others said, “Recitation is what is recited.” By “recitation” they meant the actual sounds heard when the Quran is recited. They regarded those audible sounds as the very speech that is uncreated, failing to distinguish between hearing speech from its speaker and hearing it from someone conveying it on his behalf. Each of these two groups thus introduced innovations that none of the people of the Sunnah and knowledge had previously asserted. There was therefore no one among the people of