Abū Ya‘lā and Abū al-Hasan ibn al-Zāghūnī, among others, as well as the position of Ibn Karrām and his followers. It is also the view of the general body of leading scholars of hadith, jurisprudence, and Sufism.

Likewise, al-Qādī ‘Iyād’s explanation that those who affirm superiority mean a greater reward concerns something that al-Ash‘arī and Ibn al-Bāqillānī do not dispute. Reward is, after all, one of the things Allah Most High has created, and no one disputes that some of it is better than other parts. The disagreement concerns Allah’s speech itself, which is His speech. Thus, his account of the disagreement contradicts his explanation of the position of those who affirm superiority.

He has explained the reasoning of those who reject such superiority. Some deny any degrees of superiority among the attributes whatsoever, on the grounds that what is eternal admits no degrees of superiority, and the Quran is one of the attributes. Others single out the Quran on the grounds that, according to their fundamental premise, it is one indivisible whole: two distinct meanings cannot be conceived within it, let alone anything superior or inferior. This is the fundamental premise of Abū al-Hasan and those who agree with him, as we shall explain, if Allah Most High wills.

None of those whose statements we have cited affirming that some of Allah’s speech is superior to other parts holds that Allah’s speech is created, as is maintained by certain adherents of innovation, such as the Jahmiyyah and the Mu‘tazilah. Rather, all of them say:

“Allah’s speech is uncreated.”

Were all those who held this view to be listed, they would be numerous, for this is the position of the vast majority of Muslims, earlier and later, both adherents of the Sunnah and adherents of innovation. As for the early generations—such as the Companions and those who followed them in righteousness—no disagreement among them is known concerning this principle. Rather, it is affirmed by mass-transmitted reports from them.